“So you’re the new guards?”  Jake was a big guy, towering over everyone except for Kev.  He looked them over and the Identify trick Armand was pulling must have worked because he nodded and gestured for them to sit at his table.  The pub they’d arranged to meet in was a strange mix of old fashioned bar and modern convenience.  Human staff worked the tables rather than drones and the smells of tobacco and stale beer hung thick in the air.


    “Little young aren’t you?” he asked as they sat down in a booth that was somewhat secluded from the main room.  “I’m not sure if I should order beers for you!”


    “Bluejuice will be fine,” said Ryn as she smiled politely at him.


    “Bluejuice?  Expensive tastes for kids like you.”


    “We’re good so we make good money.  You’ve seen our references,” said Armand.


    “Aye, I’ve seen them.  What happened on the Ponferrada run?” he asked as he accepted his drink and asked the waiter to fetch drinks for the teenagers.  Ryn waited until the waiter had moved away before answering.


    “We got caught up in the Imperium’s war.  None of the primaries died,” Ryn replied defensively.


    “But you lost the stock?” he asked sharply, narrowing his eyes at her.


    “We had a choice.  Protect the stock or protect the people,” Ryn snapped back.  “Which would you have picked?  It was all insured anyway.”  The old man pushed his grey hair back from his eyes and smiled broadly.


    “Sometimes the stock is worth more than the people and sometimes it isn’t insured.  What would you do then?”


    “Protect the stock.” Kev’s voice was firm and he mentally leaned ever so slightly on the man, exerting a touch of his power to establish a bond of trust.


    “Sure.  Sure.  Ah, drinks!”  The waiter delivered a tray to the table and waited patiently while Jake paid with Essence.  “Drink up!” he said, raising his glass as the waiter retreated to give them some privacy.


    “We’re a close knit team but I think you guys might be ok.”  Ryn and her friends lifted their drinks in a toast to their new boss.  “We’re leaving Easingwold later today.  We’ve got some mobility specialists who’ll keep the carts moving at a fair clip.  You guys can keep up?”


    “Sure,” said Kev confidently.


    “Alright.” Jake hunched down and leant forward.  “We’re running some fun stuff for some fun people.  As long as we don’t draw any attention this run will be gravy and you’re up five hundred essence a piece.  I see you’re all in the late twenties, in terms of levels.”  He smirked at Ryn and Andrea before his eyes snapped back to Kev and Armand.  “You’ll need to tread carefully too, kid.  Some of our merry band aren’t the nicest people left on Earth.”


    “I will be fine but I appreciate your concern,” Armand said coldly.


    “Not worried about you.  I’m worried about getting the job done without any fucking drama.  You can handle yourself, no doubt, but I need to know you can handle yourself without jeopardising the run.”


    “I will not be a problem, nor will my female colleagues,” Armand ground out.  He briefly regretted not assuming an illusion to make him seem more mature than his natural form.  Jake eyed him for a moment then nodded.


    “Good.  So how did you kids get so strong?” he asked, waving at the waiter to come and refill his drink.


    Kev began to spin a tale.  He kept their origins as close to the truth as possible.  He and Ryn had been born in the UK but in a remote village that wasn’t on the portal network.  After they managed to get their first Essence earlier than they should, they wandered and gained levels quickly, eventually making their way onto the continent via the portal to Toledo in Wayfaire.


    There they had served as bouncers and caravan guards until they met up with Andrea, or Thea as she was currently.  Doing short runs across northern Spain until they had bumped into Armand’s alternative identity.  More caravan runs, now stretching into Southern France on occasion, until at last they’d been caught up in the war and had managed to jump into the high twenties as a result of safeguarding the lives of their fictional employers.


    Without Kev’s deft manipulation of the man’s thoughts there was no chance he would have bought the fanciful story but between that and the electronic records Bob had fabricated their false history fell into place quite convincingly.


    “So you had to burn a few Imps and a few Sigs?” he asked, the alcohol starting to slur his words slightly.


    “No Sigs.  We’re good and we aren’t fucking stupid,” Ryn replied.  Jake laughed and slapped his leg, sending a thud into the floor that made the glasses rattle on the table.  A strong bruiser then, she noted.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    “Very wise.  We stay away from anything against the Accords, even now.  No point drawing the attention of the Mech or Traveller.”


    “Traveller went off world I heard,” said Ryn, earning a sharp look from Kev.


    “So they say.  Never know with that bastard.  I saw him at London.  When we took down the worms.  Meteors falling from the sky to lay waste to everything, porting us about like game pieces on a board.”  Jake spat to one side.  “Bastard kept all the Essence for himself.”  Kev reached out and took control of Ryn. Her blood ran cold as she felt this presence take hold of her body and mind.  She smiled slightly and laughed.


    “Those Sigs were all the same,” her own voice said without any volition on her part.


    Wait Ryn.  This is a delicate.  Don’t blow it before we even get started.  Kev’s though was like ice in her veins.  She had never felt so violated and she was sure the colours swirling around her made it clear to Kev how she felt about this.


    “Oui.  The fucking Court are just as bad!” snapped Armand as he stayed in character.


    No choice.  We know what really happened back then.  Your mum nearly died and walking into the fire changed you while you were in her womb.  Don’t let this asshole get to you.


    "No joke?  I’ve not gone on the continent but I heard things are pretty fucked up.  You’re either a noble, in the Reich or an Imp if you want to get anywhere fairly.”


    Calm down Ryn, Kev repeated in her mind several times as he gradually removed the control he had forced on his friend.


    “Not much different to here,” Ryn hissed, some of her anger at Kev colouring her words.  “People with power always abuse it!”  Jake nodded sagely before standing up and pulling something from his pocket.  He laid a slip of paper down on the table and grinned at the teenagers.


    “Bring the chit to the warehouse at the east end of Mill Lane before five this evening.  We’ll get you set up and let you know what the arrangements are.”  he belched loudly.  “See you then.”  Without any further words he left and moved quickly out of the pub.


    “Kev…” Ryn’s voice was thick with rage but she kept it low.


    “I had to!  And I’m Jim, remember?” Kev replied.


    “What happened?” asked Armand.  “I thought it went very well?”  He leant back into his chair and took a long drink.  “I’m going to order some extra Bluejuice to go into storage for the road.”  He rose and made his way to the bar, studiously ignoring the muttered comments from other patrons as he went.


    “It was but Ry- Kat nearly blew it.”


    “Because of what he said about your father?” whispered Andrea.  She had opted to borrow Sally’s power, making her far stronger and faster than she ought to be, approximately on par with a bruiser of the level she was masquerading as.


    “Yes,” hissed Ryn in reply.  “That wasn’t-”


    “We know Kat.  I bloody know.  I’ve read the memories out of their minds.”


    “K- Jim! What the hell?” Ryn replied quietly but fiercely.


    “It was an accident.  While I was doing some work for them with the M’s,” Kev said, mugging furiously to try and get Ryn to leave the topic alone.  Talking about the Monarchs now would probably be a bad thing.  Kev was monitoring the thoughts of everyone in the room and none of them were spying on the team but an overheard word could be passed on casually and have just as catastrophic consequences for their mission as deliberate sabotage.


    “We are in at least,” said Andrea softly.  “It will be like the old times eh?” she said slightly more loudly, trying to move them back to acting in character.  Ryn grimaced but on reflection concluded a small group having a quiet chat with someone who dripped shadiness like Jake would probably involve some hushed whispering afterwards.


    “It’ll be a good run.  Good Ess for low effort,” said Kev.


    They played the parts they had been assigned for a while after Armand got back from the bar.  They talked quietly about fake adventures, subtly trying to one up each other in creating a more interesting false story.


    “And then there was that time on the Line-” Armand began but Ryn kicked his shin under the table.  No one would believe they’d spent time on the line at their age.


    “It’s not far off time.  Let’s head to this warehouse,” said Kev, drawing himself up before he tipped back his glass and finished his drink.


    As they headed towards the door the waiter approached and whispered something to Kev, leaning up to get close to his ear.  Kev grimaced and nodded down at the man before hurrying to catch up with his friends.


    “What was that?” asked Andrea quietly as they wended through the quiet streets of Easingwold.  The walls were still there but much of the town now stretched out past those early limits.  The monsters in this area of the UK had been thoroughly tamed or destroyed and even level fives could walk around outside the walls without fear.


    “A warning.  Jake isn’t a trustworthy chap it seems and has a reputation for not hiring the same people twice,” Kev muttered, ducking past the eaves of a low slung cottage.


    “What, he always uses new teams?” asked Ryn.


    “He always has to use new teams is what I took to be the meaning,” Kev muttered as they moved past a food stall at the end of the street.  The blue light of a portal shone round a corner but they ignored it and moved east into rougher parts of town.


    Easingwold had been under the control of Wayfaire, via the Baroness of Thirsk, since the end of the waves so there were a number of B-1000s patrolling around, all of which somehow managed to avoid going close to the kids.  Human fighters also wandered here and there, not following any set pattern.  They probably weren’t part of any formal organisation, just locals with half decent levels that allowed them to swan around confidently.


    The sun was just starting to set as they reached Mill Lane.  The long street was cobbled and the buildings on either side were dirtier than the rest of town they had seen.  From where the team stood the nearest houses were homes, two up, two down buildings designed for couples or small families.  As the shadows stretched behind them down the street they saw the homes began to give way to warehouses and workshops.  Prices here must be cheap as the homes would be exposed to the noise of goods handling and crafters and tinkers plying their crafts at all hours of the day.


    “Nice neighbourhood,” muttered Kev as they made their way towards their goal.


    “This is worse than the Downs in Wayfaire,” Ryn whispered back.  Despite knowing intellectually that she was stronger than anyone here other than her friends she still hunched down on herself, shoulders clenching up to her neck slightly.  One thing her Dad had often pointed out was that it didn’t matter how strong or fast you were, if you didn’t see an attack coming you’d be just as dead.