Not far up ahead, after catching up with Ashrore, we saw Hidra waving at us from a lay-by on the HeadCore Highway, near the edge of its reach and not far from Central Area 15. Thankfully it was sheltered, being not far from a tunnel that ran underneath one of the main shopping districts in the area, fourth biggest in Region 15. Not far away we could just see the peak of the Great Arch Monument, glistening white as rain ran down its smooth, marble-like surface.

Siala and Rena looked unharmed, Hidra having picked them up and gotten them out of the way instantly. Harly was out cold on the back of the Zoomus, with his head wrapped in Hidra's jacket to keep his face together and stop him leaving a blood-trail. Ashrore on the other hand...

'You need to get to a hospital,' I said.

She waved me away. 'I'll be fine.'

'Fine? Half your tail's been shot off.'

'It'll heal.'

I went to argue the matter further, but her glare beckoned, taunted me to try. I didn't argue the matter further. I have brains of some capacity.

'You guys ok?' I asked Siala.

'Hidra turned up just as we got out the building' she said. She put on a weak smile.

'The slut's a pretty good driver, as well,' Rena said. Siala almost punched her, but Hidra held her back.

'I've been called worse,' Hidra said. 'And after getting shot at, this isn't much bother.'

'Yeah, how is the place? And how did you get here so fast?'

Markro held up his hand to silence Rena's questions, and she quietened instantly. Markro here was the clear leader, and always had been. His chiselled jaw was clenched tight, his eyes running calculations and analysis furiously.

'So you're one of them,' I said.

'She was one of them,' Rena corrected. 'Not after she found out who they were shooting up. Found out they were going to launch a direct attack on the club, but didn't know when. Left and came here to warn the boss in person so that they couldn't intercept a Halo, but the bastards clued in to it all.'

'Whoa, whoa whoa,' Hidra said, holding a hand up. 'Slow the fuck down. You worked for us, left us, and then worked for them?'

Siala looked across at the unconscious Harly. 'I had, personal differences within the workforce,' she said. 'I used to work for the boss before any of you, when it was Serbgae, Harly and myself doing the underhand work the boss has some of you guys doing.'

'Oi!' Rena called out. 'What about me?'

'You were there as well, Rena,' Siala added, 'now can I continue?'

'If you must,' Rena said, flying over to me and sitting on my shoulder. 'Your shoulder isn't as wet as hers is to sit on,' she whispered in my ear.

'I had to leave for, my own reasons. Went back to Androssios IV but, as you might know, there's a bit of an uproar at the moment there so work wasn't stable. Ended up lending my services to a smaller branch of some larger doings, who eventually called themselves Red Rose. You kinda know the rest.'

'Did you know what they were doing over here?' Markro asked.

'Of course not,' Siala cried, holding up her hands in protest. 'I was strictly on the Androssios side of things, mostly on IV and sometimes going through the nine of them. Celestria wasn't on my radar for years.'

'And now you're back to save the guys you used to work for from the guys you used to work for,' I said.

'Poetic, issssn't it?' Ashrore commented. She put a hand back on the idle Zoomus to steady herself. She might not be complaining about the wound to her tail, but it was clearly taking her balance.

The rain was coming down harder now outside the lay-by. I went to the edge, looking out into the traffic to check for pursuers. The lights through the cascading torrents were smudged, like coins at the bottom of a fountain's pool, or like looking at the world through a constantly shattering glass.

Just then, Markro's Halo-Core vibrated. He took it out and the boss' face emerged.

'Markro,' he said. His face was cut in a thousand places, and he had a bandaged wrapped around his forehead where old and fresh bloodstains merged into an impressionistic mess of crimson.

'Holy shit,' Markro said.

'Is everyone ok? Siala and Rena fine?'

Siala moved closer to the Halo-Core so that the boss could see her. 'I'm fine. Rena's with Xayne.'

'That's good to hear. Any casualties?'

'Harly's out cold from taking a shot to the ear. Ashrore's taken a hit to her tail but she won't see anyone about it. Let's be thankful it wasn't her ass.'

'It'ssss nothing,' Ashrore complained.

'Ashrore, go see a doctor about it, pronto. Someone escort her. Hidra.'

The stripper saluted. 'Come on, Miss Purr-fect, let's hit the road.'

'I can sssstill sssshoot though...'

'You heard the boss, bitch. Shift your ass or I'll take the entirety of your tail off right here and now.'

Hidra clambered onto the Zoomus, and Siala went over to physically shift Ashrore from leaning onto the side and got her on behind. Single Seater Zoomus' aren't built for two people to be on, but they suffice when needs must. The engine kicked on and the machine lifted off the ground, the blue of the engine shining right in our eyes. Hidra revved the throttle and signalled, cruising up to speed and into the rain, heading into the centre of Region 15 and out of the HeadCore Area.

'How's the club?' I asked the boss once the two girls had left.

'Pretty beat up, I can tell you. Won't be up again for a few months.' The boss turned his face away from us, and there was silence on my end.

'At least you can finally do that redecorating you've always wanted,' Rena piped up, 'that's if you still haven't got around to it.'

'Always one for the sarcasm, weren't you, Rena?'

Rena looked fairly pleased with that remark.

'The police have got it all locked down now. If you can get back here without taking a shot in the back, you'll have police protection. I'm so glad that I keep the chief of 26 with his supply of Hoorsflesh, or we'd really be fucked.'

'Ok boss, we'll get over there now,' Markro said.

'Nice shooting, all,' the boss said, and his face disappeared.

The rest of us stood there for a bit, the sound of kars and Zoomus' and the splatter of rain drowning out all of our thoughts as we stood there and the reality hit us. Something was over, dead, lying in rubble under red lights in Region 26. Our home, however temporary it may be, however covered in filth and perversion and home to some of the most unsavoury characters imaginable, was lying with its sign on the ground, all the bulbs smashed and the windows now with their glass lying, obliterated, by their feet.

Solemnly we mounted our Zoomus' again, and set off in the rain, ever wary of an attack from behind. We went to pay our respects for Dirty Work.