"We're on the same side." "I'm not so sure we are." "We're not." "I'm not trying to save Westerley, Alvis." "I'm trying to save you." "You framed Alvis!" "You gave the Company a reason to bomb the shit out of us all!" "Hey!" "The Company didn't tell me about the bombing." "Is that a wall?" "Containment fence, all around Old Town." "No communication, no one in or out." "Now that we're a whole team again, that's our next mission... getting into Old Town, getting Pawter and Alvis out." "You've never been on Arkyn before today, right?" "Of course not." "None of us have." " Why?" " I saw something else in that memory." "It doesn't make any sense." "I saw you." "Hey." "You okay?" "I'm fine." "You know that girl you saw on Arkyn, killing all the Scarbacks?" "Yeah." "How do you know it was me?" "Well, I know your face." "It's a good face." "Look, Alvis knows Scarback history." "When we get to Old Town, maybe he can tell us what the hells is going on." "It's good to have you back." "It's nice to just... be a team again." "That's us, the teamiest." " RECLAMATION APPREHENSION COALITION" " Approaching RAC headquarters." "Docking protocol initiated." " Stop." " Stop." "Relax." "Reinstating D'av is just a formality." "Yeah?" "What's taking them so long?" "Khlyen's AWOL." "Turin's dead." "Maybe they've run out of asshole bosses with rubber stamps." "Or counterpoint:" "the whole Rack is still controlled by Sixes, they know exactly what we did on Arkyn, and they're out there deciding what they're gonna do with us." "Team Awesome Force." " It would appear reports..." " Grab him!" "Of my demise are greatly exaggerated." "What the hells?" "Stand down!" "That went a lot better in my head." "Khlyen stabbed you." "You should be dead." "See?" "He's a goddamn Six." "Check him." "Hey, hey, easy!" "Shit." "He isn't healed yet." "Let him up." "Well, that was fun." "Someone wanna tell me why I shouldn't throw you all in the brig right goddamn now?" "Why are you still working here?" "Why are you?" "Khlyen and his people cleared out." "Thought you went with him." "I don't work for Khlyen." "I don't believe you." "The Rack is clean again, and I intend to keep it that way... back to neutrality, back to warrants." "Well, for once, we both want the same thing." "We just need D'av put back on the team, officially." "Ask me nicely." "Pretty please." "Fine." "Why not?" "Keep your enemies close, all that shit." "Maybe I'll get lucky, and he'll try and kill you both again." "Welcome back." "That's it?" "Fist to heart." "You're back." "Now we need a warrant for Old Town." "Can I cook you breakfast too?" "We need to get a friend back inside the Company's wall." "Can't do that without a warrant." "RAC's only got one active warrant in Old Town, and you don't want it." "We'll take it." "Your funeral." "Get out of my house, and, Dutch," "I'll be watching you." "Never doubted." "Pree, the warrant gets us into Old Town." "You sure you're ready to go home?" "Honey, it's time." "I've seen walls before, but those walls were walls." "This is..." "Forgive me." "I'm aroused." "We're Reclamation Agents." "Open up." "Reclamation Agents." "We have a warrant from Special Officer Liam Jelco." "This is stupid." "I feel stupid." "I'm talking to a wall." "Sweetie..." "Wait." "Let it." "I love you, wall." "Impressive." "Invasive." "On what planet were you a warlord?" "Denied." "Mad." "Wall is mad." "Denied." "We should be back on Lucy." "Do it now." "Now, now, now, now." "Denied." "Oh, shit." "Johnny, wake up." "Did we die and go to Leith?" "No, not another wall." "I'm gonna do a waist-lock." "Try to yank you down." "That's creative." "Oh, no, don't stop." "I want to see how the whole yanking thing works out." "Who the hells are you?" "Wild guess." "Officer Liam Jelco." "Welcome to Spring Hill, a little Company bio-dome" "I had set up outside Old Town to keep an eye on our wall." "Let us down." "We're here to answer your warrant." "I was expecting three agents." "So why are there four of you?" "Hey!" "He's a noncombatant." "We're escorting him home to Old Town." "How do I know this friend of yours isn't an anti-Company terrorist?" "Because you have my word." "Freeze!" "Now, are we gonna serve this warrant for you or not?" "Well, I think you'll do nicely." "If you'll follow me..." "Except the terrorist." "Who are you calling a terrorist, bitch?" " Hang tight, Pree." " Gotta say, first impressions... not a fan." "One of our bombers was recently shot down over Old Town." "Drone images show it crashed into Westhole prison." "Took out a wall in the Blue Unit." "Cut out all communications." "Blue Unit?" "Where we keep our most dangerous political prisoners." "We can't have the enemies of the Company running free." "My job is to extinguish the Old Town rebellion, not feed it." "Why not just send in Company Officers?" "Oh, I did, twice." "They were very rudely shot down at sight." "Guess the Company aren't real popular in Old Town, what with them bombing the shit out of it." "Yes, well, I'm hoping people still see you Killjoys as neutral." " We are neutral." " Oh, that's adorable, but nobody's neutral." "Still, if Old Towners trust you, it's good enough for me." "Now, your warrant's for the eight prisoners who escaped the Blue Unit." "But this one's your priority." "Tarren Tighmon." "Six years ago, he was head of the miners' union, until his first negotiation, when he gunned down the Company reps." "That's one way to barter." "Intel says Tighmon escaped and is already agitating." "He's gone to ground, always moving, impossible to find." "We'll find him." "We always fill our warrant." "Then we shall get along fine." "Well, pop along." "Take in the light while you can." "It gets darker from here on." "TRAITOR" "I don't much care for New Old Town." "Some of those body bags are... kid-sized." "We'll get Pree safe inside The Royale, and then we'll track the prisoners." "Does anybody else hear that?" "Someone's in The Royale." "Stop." "Wait for us." "We don't know who's in there." "But you do know they have shit taste in music." "Hey." "Welcome to Gared's place." "Who's this fool?" "D'avin, sweep upstairs." "Maybe Pawter came back and left word of where she is." "On it." "Scan the room for facial recs of our targets." "If I broke out of prison, the first thing I'd want is sexers and beer." "What are you gonna do?" "Be a distraction." "Hey, Gared, this is Pree's place." "But I'll make you a deal." "I'll fight you for it." "You?" "Unless you can't take on a Killjoy and want everyone to know about it." "Ahh." "Johnny?" "Quick like a bunny." "Scanning." "Scanning faster." "I thought you'd have more rhythm." "Johnny, anything?" "Give me a second." "Here's a tip, go for the... face." " Shit." " Hey, you okay?" "Okay, look, I ID'd one of our escapees." "He's in the corner." "Then let me get rid of this asshole now." "And stay down!" "My leg!" "Nice one." "Thanks." "Where is he?" "Buck Welnar, for numerous nasty crimes, including conspiracy against the Company, we have a warrant for your arrest." "Alive or dead?" "Alive, Bucky, very much alive." "Hands." "Show me hands." "I can't come with you." "Company'll torture me, make me give up Tighmon." "You know where he is?" "I know the guy's the only hope this place has left." "See, you tell us where Tighmon is, and he can keep you company." "You'll have a buddy in Westhole." "So you haven't seen Westhole." "What's to see?" "Oh, they're all there, Killjoys, just waiting for you." "But I'm not going out like that." "Don't!" "So do you want to grab the proof of death pic?" "What the hells?" "Good news:" "We found one of our eight escapees." "Bad:" "He found his gun." "Worse news:" "The remaining seven are holed up in the prison, waiting for us." "So an ambush?" "Yeah, definitely." "You ready, boys?" "Is there any sign of Pawter upstairs?" "No, not that there's a lot of "upstairs" upstairs." "Let me find out where she is." "And Alvis too?" "Just be careful." "I like you in one pretty piece." ""Careful." Where's the fun in that?" "All right, bitches." "Who's up for cleaning brains off of brick?" "WESTHOLE PRISON" "Hold." "All clear." "Smells like ass, though." "Wow." "What is that smell?" "Taint." "Decaying, moldy, taint-y taint." "Eh, taint from what, though?" "We got bodies." "Weird bodies." "In every cell." "It's like they're mummified." "Guys." "Does anybody else hear breathing?" "Step out where we can see you with your hands up!" "Stand down." "We're Reclamation Agents." "You're Reclamation Agents?" "Oh, thank gods!" "Thank the gods!" "Thank you." "Thank you, thank you." "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you." " Okay, chill, huh?" " Hey, sorry." " Who are you?" " What are you?" "I'm Carl." "Give me that." "Give us a minute." "Hey, brother, you do recon." "I'll get with the facial scans again." "But they don't have faces." "Well, then I'll count." "What happened here, Carl?" "There... there was this ship crash, and then some of the prisoners escaped." "I didn't know what to do, so I followed the handbook." "Handbook?" "Yeah, "In case of prisoner break,"" ""Push the red button."" "I thought a tranquilizer gas would come out, not... this." "What's back there, Carl?" "The guard station." "I count six dead dusties." "The guy at The Royale makes seven prisoners." " All we're missing is..." " Tighmon." "Carl, was he here when you pushed the red button?" "No, he'd already made it out, but he came back." "Weapons cage is cleared out." "Tighmon took the big guns, little guns, bullets too... and the spare tank." "What spare tank?" "What spare tank, Carl?" "The spare tank for the red button." "It's why I'm still in here where it's safe." "Like, a puff of gas took out this whole wing." "Imagine what a tank could do." "Now, let me get this straight." "Not only have you not caught Tighmon, but he now has a tank of extremely fatal weaponized chemical." "Oh, I must say, I'm very impressed." "Do you have a comments card I can fill out?" "Look, you have to evacuate Old Town." "There's no telling who or how many people he plans to kill." "And what if he smuggles it out during this evacuation or if it spreads across Westerley?" "Or the rebels use it to attack Qresh again?" "No, I won't evacuate!" "Do your job!" "Find Tighmon and kill him!" "You can't just turn it into a kill warrant." "That's not how this works." "Why not?" "I hired you." "I work for the RAC, not the Company, and you're my client, not my boss." "We have a lead on Tighmon." "We find him, we bring him in, and then we are done." "Make me happy, Killjoys, because good luck to you getting out of Old Town if you don't." "That guy's the dickiest dick who ever dicked." "Yeah, but he's the dick with the keys to the wall." "So how do we play this?" "Now we really have to get this body bag to Pawter." "Pree said she was last seen at the tenements." "I'm just gonna say it..." "Pawter's people bombed this place." "What if someone hurt her?" "Don't worry." "Everybody needs a doctor." "God damn it, hold him!" "Guys, in here." "Pawter." "It's about damned time, Johnny Jaqobis." "That first night out of the tunnels," "I must have treated 70 patients." "We ran out of antibiotics the next night, then medication." "It's been ten days." "When is the Company gonna give us supplies?" "The Company is not coming in, at least until we find out what did this." "Brace yourself." "It's pretty bad." "Last week, a guy came in carrying his own intestines, but if it makes you feel better..." "A mummy!" "So messed up." "This guy was alive last night." "Don't inhale the dust." "Impossible." "There's no moisture in his body." "His desiccation rate would've had to have been..." "It's a Company chemical." "Of course it is." "And we're chasing someone who stole an entire tankful." "It'd be nice to know how to survive it." "From what I can tell, it's an anhydrous sodium hydroxide with an accelerated cobalt chloride complex." "Water diffuses it, but..." "You'd have to swallow a lake." "But you want a second opinion, we can always ask a Company officer." "They called it The Aridity Solution." "There is no surviving it, don't think." "You breathe it in, you die." "No." "You dry up, then you die." " It's good to see you, Hills." " You too." "Pawter's the only person I get to see anymore." "She's got me hidden." "'Cause people want to kill you." "Well, people want to kill anybody who was ever associated with the Company." "What do you know about Liam Jelco?" "He's controlling the wall." "Not a fan, huh?" "Jelco's expertise was extraction and torture, not management." "Guess he's gotten a promotion." "From breaking people to breaking whole towns." " Nifty." " Don't joke." "I'm about to lose half my patients and the rest of my mind." "Somebody has to stop him." "Why not you?" "Look, you need to get in touch with Qresh." "Why would I do that?" "So you can get in your mother's face, have her make the Nine Families get involved down here." "Johnny Jaqobis, you beautiful idiot." "It's not that easy." "And the rest of my patients would die while I'm gone." "No offense, Pawter, but one doctor's not gonna save all of Old Town." "Okay, Hills is saying that Alvis and Tighmon go way back." "So where do we find Alvis?" "He's in hiding." "The Company wants him dead, but killing him would turn him into a martyr." "So they have their informants spreading stories." "That Alvis is to blame for the bombings." "The Company is hoping that Old Town will kill Alvis for them." "Sometimes I think Alvis is too." "He's kind of in a dark place." "We gotta go find him." "Scarback scum!" "Hey!" "I'd get very gone very fast, Westie!" "And I'll take that bag." "What was that about?" "New hobby... restitution." "Pawter needs meds and jakk for her patients." "I give her whatever I can find." "By using yourself as bait?" "Most people are trying to get out of Old Town, you know?" "That's me." "I'm quite the contrarian." "It's good to see you, Alvis." "There are things I need to talk to you about, but right now, I need a favor." "Anything." "We're on a cleanup warrant after the prison break." "You're working for the Company?" "I needed a warrant to get past the wall and here to you." "We're looking for Tarren Tighmon." "You know him?" "Yeah, I can help with that." "How did you hurt your leg?" "Some bitch stomped on it." "Well, if I'm gonna set this, you'll want painkillers." "Luckily, I have a friend who just sent a fresh batch." "I can spare you one." "I think I'll take 'em all." "You don't even need surgery." "Now you need surgery." "What is wrong with you bitches?" "Tighmon!" "We know you're in there!" "Tell Tighmon Alvis wants to talk." "Well, now we know he's definitely not alone in there." "The miners' former union boss was killed in the bombings." "What I hear is, they took Tighmon back as leader." "Yeah, well, Tighmon's a murderer." "But he's a hero to these guys." "Look, I'll do the talking." "You guys scan for this Aridity thing." "What Aridity thing?" "Dusty!" "That Aridity thing." "That's what we do to Company pigs." "Look." "We're Killjoys." "We're here to talk." "They're with me, Tighmon." "Just you, Alvis." "And her." "No way." "I'll be fine." "I'll leave my com on so you can hear what's happening." "Five more minutes, and we're shooting our way in." "Lucy, get me the tunnel maps." "Tighmon is housing the miners' families until they get back to work." "He's all they got." "Tarren Tighmon, this is Dutch." "I have a warrant for you." "And I have something that can kill a lot of people." "But I'm thinking... maybe we negotiate." "I don't speak for the Company." "I'm just a Killjoy." "None of us are what we used to be." "There are people all through this place." "Our wives, kids, other miners." "I want them out of Old Town." "That's the deal." "And what about everyone else?" "There are more people in Old Town than miners and their families, Tighmon." "You judging now?" "Scarbacks got us into this." "Scarbacks are the ones trying to force the Company out of Old Town, not run away." "But yet you're lurking in the tunnels, praying to your gods." "How's that forcing the Company out?" "I remember you in the mines, almost getting beat to death for talking back to a Company foreman." "Where's that Alvis?" "Bring him back." "When did you become such a coward?" "What do you want, Tighmon?" "I want you to speak for us." "Somebody has to." "Go back to the Company and talk some sense into those assholes." "They can have me and the gas, but they're gonna let everybody else here go." "They won't." "It's your job to see your warrant through." "Well, this is how you do it." "So promise me you'll try." "I'll try." " Company drone!" " Get down!" "How'd they find him?" "Jelco!" "Got to get out of here before they realize that we led the Company to Tighmon." "Alvis, move!" "Take the gas." "Stairwell." "Go!" "Where's Tighmon?" "Dead." "The Company must have followed us." "Asshole pulled a knife on me." "It's only gonna get worse." "Jaqobis thinks I need to talk to my mom, get the Nine involved." " Jaqobis is right." " What are you doing?" "Spring Hill's got a holophone." "I can get you in there." "You abandoned your post when the bombings started." "They're gonna throw you in Westhole." "Well, it's only fair, seeing as how I threw you in Westhole once." "That's right, jerk." "And if things go sideways, your mom can get me out, with a royal pardon." "Don't put faith in my family." "I'm not." "My faith's in you, Red." "I had it under control." "I was talking Tighmon down." "Well, I wish you'd talked faster;" "I wouldn't have to do your job for you." "Now, bring me that tank." "What are you gonna do with it?" "I told you, I can't let my troops inside, especially now that chemical's on the loose." "And I told you, we don't work for you." "Look, all the prisoners are dead;" "the warrant is complete." "Let us out, or you're dealing with the RAC." "Oh, I see, this is the part where we call each other's bluff." "All right." "What's he doing?" "Something evil, I'm next to positive." "People of Old Town." "God, there's more of him." "My name is Officer Liam Jelco, and I sympathize with your suffering." "Oh, he is so full of shit." "However, I do need your help, and as a reward," "I am offering free passage out of Old Town to Leith, to where a new Company-provided home awaits you." "All I need are two things." " Dutch..." " I'm not gonna like this, am I?" " REWARD TO BE PROVIDED" " This tank of gas, which was stolen from me, and second..." "Yep, I'm gonna hate it." "This Killjoy... alive." "Or dead." "Doesn't matter much to me." "Once again, big reward." "Get creative." "Bastard." "Dutch, we need to get to ground, now." "Who's behind you?" "All of Old Town, trying to kill me." "Jelco tracked us to Tighmon." "Johnny, scan me now." "A tracker." " D'av?" " I got one too." "Yeah, which I'm assuming means..." "They messed with them while we were unconscious." "Jelco used us to fish out Tighmon right from the start." "Pree, flush these." "Jelco tracked the shit out of us;" "we'll shit the track out of him." "That makes no sense." "Because I'm angry." "Now, how do we get out of here?" "We need to get over that wall." "Or under it." "Spring Hill is a bio-dome." "They must've dropped in some kind of ventilation shaft or drainage system." "Yeah, but all that hot air and sewage has to come out of someplace." "Yeah, while you two were talking to Tighmon," "I had Lucy do a reading on the tunnels." "Show me." "Here." "This a maze of mechanical systems." "If it's anywhere, it's right there." "Get Hills and Pawter." "Meet us down there." "All right." "Alvis, lead the way." "Of course." "Let's go." "Safeties off." "We don't know what's down there." "Let's go, Pree." "I can't." "What?" "You're not coming?" "Baby, this is my home." "I'm not losing it again." "Just get out of here, alive." "SPRING HILL COMPOUND" "Officer Hillary Oonan." "Welcome back to the Company." "Thank you, and this is..." "Illenore Seyah Simms." "It's an honor." "I'd like a private call with my mother" " and a ship to Qresh." " That's not going to happen." "But at least you're not stuck inside Old Town anymore." "Are you disobeying me?" "I'm protecting you." "Officer Oonan should really have warned you about the bombing." "Had you evacuated..." " I would have resisted." " One moment." "Bit of a roll going on here." "Officer Oonan should really have warned you about the bombing... wait, you did warn her." "You warned all of Old Town." "I pulled the alarms." " I told him to." " She didn't." "Oh, I know." "You disobeyed the Company, abandoned your post." "I don't agree when the Company decides an entire town of people has to die to quell a revolution." "Have me court-martialed, send me to prison, I don't care." "I saved people." "Doing that saved me." "And where are your saviors now?" "No!" "Hills!" "I know these last days have been hard." "I apologize, but you're safe now." "We'll take good care of you." "I'm sorry." "I'm so sorry." "We're in Spring Hill's water supply system." "You two go ahead." "I'll send Johnny on when I see him." "Aren't you coming?" "I organized the resistance." "I can't exactly be seen in a Company bunker." "But we'll figure that out." "Even if you get me out of Old Town, where am I gonna go?" " Arkyn." " Back to Red 17?" "Back to the moon." "And whatever lab he said the Scarbacks were attacking." "That way." "Scarbacks haven't been seen in Arkyn in over 200 years." "200 years?" "What the..." "Hey!" "Alvis?" "Tighmon was right." "I can't keep praying for something to change." "I'm sorry, Dutch, but the Company has to pay." "Alvis, open the door!" "Pay how, Alvis?" "What the hells is he doing?" "He's gonna gas Spring Hill." "Alvis!" "There are people up there!" "You're not a mass murderer!" "You're a Scarback!" "You take peoples' suffering;" "you don't cause it!" "You're gonna give it to Jelco?" "No, I was gonna give it back empty, and we can still do that." "Just... just open this door!" "Just go, Dutch!" "I don't want to hurt you!" "This is our chance." "What?" "Till the bombers come back and total everything this time?" "Guys!" "What's going on?" "Get this door open." "Alvis is gonna gas Spring Hill." " No!" "No, Pawter's up there." " What?" "Pawter and Hills are in the Company compound." "Look, you gotta stop him." "Alvis!" "Alvis!" "Pawter and Hills are in Spring Hill!" "They're trying to convince the Nine Families to help." "Save Old Town!" "Without anybody else dying." "No, no, there's still time to reverse the air flow." "No!" "No!" "Get that door open now, Johnny." "Are you crazy?" "Only way to save Alvis." "There's water in there." "But the gas..." "I'll be fine." "Gift from Carl." " Come on, Johnny." " Got it." "What the hells is he doing?" "Pawter said you'd have to swallow a lake." "He's giving him a goddamn lake." " I'm going in too." " No." "No, you are not." " Yes." "Yes, I am." " Dutch, no!" "It's clear!" "The gas is gone!" "Help me hold him down!" "Is it working?" "Come on, Alvis, you little freak." "Guys, it's been too long." "We don't want to drown him." "We've only got one shot at this." "Okay, now." "Shit." "Shit, Dutch, he's not breathing." "It's not working." "Alvis." "Yeah." "It's empty." "I released it into your sewage system." "And thank you for exposing a weakness in our wall security." "We'll be fixing that." "Just so we're clear, I always finish my warrants." "Consider this one a bonus." "Oh, now I feel terrible." "I didn't bring you anything." "Why are you here, Jelco?" "The mines are closed;" "workers can't work." "What's the point of your goddamn wall?" "The Old Town rebels attacked Qresh, made the Nine look weak." "This is payback?" "Oh, this is image management." "The whole Quad is watching." "They need to see the price you pay for disobedience." "So you just sit here in your bubble and make the Quad watch people starve to make a point?" "Well, you know what they say:" "Feed a cold, starve a rebellion." "I'm going to make Old Town wish for the good old days when they had food and water and honest work to do, and one day, they'll tell the Quad and all those other little gestating rebellions" "the truth." "They need the Company." "The Company is good." "And that is the day when I'll take down my goddamn wall." "Now, it's been a fun visit." "You and your moist friends need to get out." "Not without Pawter Simms and Hillary Oonan." "We know that they're here." "Officer Oonan has a headache." "As for Seyah Simms, she'd love to say good-bye." "Are you okay?" "I'm fine." "She's a guest of the Company now." "I am, and that's a good thing." "There's a lot I can do from in here." "Hey." "A little out of your league, Killjoy." "You stay safe." "You want to tell me what..." "Can you hear me?" "Don't answer, just make a sound." "Look, I don't want you feeling alone in there." "If you need me, we're there." "What's so funny?" "Gared!" "Welcome to Pree's place." "I heard your friends are gone." "Why don't you make me a drink and get the hells out?" "Leave?" "This place?" "No." "No, The Royale is the heart of this town." "There's a beat to it, and the people of Old Town, they're its blood." "They stumble in here weak and flow out stronger, and drunker, but more hopeful, more alive." "What if I give you money?" "All you can drink?" "Free sexers upstairs." "No, I'll get that anyway." "I guess it's only fair, considering what I did to get the place." "What'd you do?" "Worse than that, honey." "Tonight, happy hour goes all night!" "Since when did revenge become part of Scarback dogma?" "I got a little lost back there." "Well, I guess I'd be a hypocrite if I said I don't understand what that feels like." "Do you want to make it up to me?" "Come with us to Arkyn." "I told you." "There are no Scarbacks on Arkyn." "But there were, at some point." "Maybe." "What are you looking for?" "Truth." "There's something going on in the Quad." "I think it started on Arkyn, and I think I need your help." "As luck would have it, my schedule's wide open right now." "I also don't seem to have a home, so..." "If you need me, I'm in." "Lucy?" "Lucy?" "Lucy!" " Johnny!" " Yeah, I know." "Lucy's not answering me either." "I tried sweet-talking her too." "Why is she bringing us back to Westerley?" "She likes the Badlands this time of year?" "Somebody's controlling her." " Jelco." " No, not possible." "I had her locked up tight when we were in Old Town." "Khlyen." "Touchdown." "Suit up, grab your guns." "He took D'av away from me once;" "he doesn't get to take my ship too." "Killjoys." "Bloody Turin." "Down here." "He must have had an illegal beacon and bring Lucy down." "Turin, what the hells do you want?" "Do you know what?" "I don't even care." "Put your fist through his gut this time." "Gladly." "Easy there, Man-Rage." "I had to bring you somewhere safe to talk to you." "Why?" "I thought you said everything was fine at the Rack." "I lied." "I don't know who's listening in anymore." "The whole place is compromised." " By what?" " The Level Six program." "I don't know what its real purpose is, but I'd like to." "Wouldn't you?" "We'll find our own answers." "Thanks." "Where's that?" "The Red 17 Base on Arkyn?" "Oh, come on, I've been tracking you assholes for weeks now." "Red 17 is gone." "It's cleansed." "Khlyen's people bombed the shit out of it after you sneaky bastards escaped from there." "Assuming we believe you, what do you want from us?" "I want you to take some unofficial assignments." "Let's call 'em unsanctioned warrants." "See, I've been putting the pieces together ever since Khlyen showed up in the Quad." "I'm close, but I got too many eyes on me." "So this is the deal." "You use me, I use you, because until we know what the RAC's real endgame is, we're all being used."