Wrack and .............. ruin?

[Stoat]

Damian? thought Stoat. I don't know any Damian, do I?

He turned the paper over, in case there was anything on the other side. It was, as he suspected, blank. He held the note up to the light, but could see nothing else. Moving to the kitchen, he heated the paper over the open flame from the hob. Despite the paper singing nicely, no other message appeared. He thought of letting the note burn, but no doubt DeVirgo was already learning of it's delivery.

He thought back to the figure that had thrown to note to him, and grinned. He must surely have read too many bad pulp fiction novels to have made such a melodramatic appearance. Still, it didn't help him any in figuring out who this Damian was.

He opened the doors, and looked down at the two comatose guards. He kicked one hard. As his foot connected with the unfortunate guard's ribs, it occurred to him.

Damoclass! It would be just like the megalomaniacal Core guildmaster to arrange such a ridiculous method of delivering a message. Stoat could imagine what Damoclass planned to say to him. Some pointless speech extolling the Core's ideology, and how he was now integral to the achievement of their goals, yada yada yada. DeVirgo had probably sanctioned the whole bloody affair.

He kicked the guard again for good measure, before re-entering his apartment. Moving straight to his comms unit, he keyed in a brief message to DeVirgo:

Okay Max. You've had your fun, you and Damoclass both. I've had enough of this now. I'm heading back to Leeds, with or without your blessing. Get me a Bottlenose fitted out, and an escort worthy of my position as Bretonian guildmaster, and I'll get out of your hair. And yes is the answer to your proposal. Just give me the time to set things straight before you tie me to the sacrificial rock. I'm heading for Rostock. Get the escorts assembled there.

Gathering a few posessions, Stoat took a look around his quarters, and wondered if he'd see them again. Shaking such melancholia off, he strode through the doors, the two guards still insensate on the floor, and headed for the shuttlebays. The fact that he made it that far told him all he needed to kow.

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