In The Grand Scheme Of Things

[Distance_warrior@hotmail.com]

Artemis Sworn stood at the edge of the Matcan base dock well into the afternoon. Slowly he looked down to check his watch. Four hours! That bumbling fool he had roped into helping him was four hours late. Relying on outsider help was not something he took lightly, as few people could ever aid his genius, however the lack of decent hardware forced his hand in the matter. So he pulled a few strings and managed to get himself a minion with slightly larger guns, or so he thought.

His supposed recruit was one Sarah McFarlen a recent addition to the rouges and she was very, very late. In the time since she was scheduled to meet him at the docking bay he had managed to hack enough records to compile a brief history of her life and a comprehensive dossier and had already accurately calculated her combat abilities and reaction time from old home movies of her. However, in Artemis’ eyes she had a single large character flaw, her morality. She had been recorded on several occasions handing captured pilots over to local law enforcement and didn’t have a single death on her hands. In Sworn’s experience morals only caused problems. He was about to return to the bar and initiated plan B when a familiar name came over the News; John King. Immediately drawing the connection Sworn spun around to watch the news.

**Over the News Caster**
“... allegedly wearing the uniform of one John King who had his ship stolen and destroyed in the Badlands several weeks ago. Now in other news the LPI has announced that crime in liberty has...”
Blast. Artemis had missed it. A quick hack into the caster from his data pad and the broadcast was as it was 3 minutes ago.
“Hey” came the disgruntled voice from beside him “I was watching tha...” the mans voice was cut off with a subtle spray from Artemis’ can of mystique.
”Wuh hu what was I doing?”
“Being quiet”
“Ok.....why?”
“shhhh”

**Over the news caster**
“Earlier on today an unidentified female assailant was caught on camera in Rochester base fighting with a number of resident Junkers. As the situation intensified a male assistant came rushing to the scene of the crime. The duo then made their rather unconventional escape which involved among other thing blowing a hole in the side of Rochester base with explosive ordinance.

While the identity of either assailant remains a mystery; we have been informed that the female assailant is a Liberty Rouge and an image of her face was recovered from the security tapes.”

And there it was. The same face Artemis had seen on a dozen home movies and family photos in the past four hours, broadcasted on the News for the world to see.

“The assailant performed the crime allegedly wearing the uniform of one John King who had his ship stolen and destroyed in the badlands several weeks ago.”

While Artemis was distracted with the news a lone and battered Greyhound slid into the dock. The passenger emerged from the dented ship with a grateful sigh; cut short when she saw the broadcast. The girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
“Oh no… Dad is going to kill me.”

Artemis turned to look upon a face that was somewhat more mangled than the one on the news cast but the same face nonetheless, the face of his future assistant and the now infamous assailant and all he saw was the biggest problem he had ever encountered. All he saw was Sarah McFarlen.

This was going to be hell he thought.