I've been busy this morning and can now present chapters 2 and 3 of our current company plotline!
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Chapter 2
It was time to take out the Garlean convoy. The patrol routes had been studied, Locke had been busy making explosives and the pack was running like a well oiled machine. They all met in Northern Thanalan and split up into groups. Inarah led the charge northwest to set explosives along the convoy's route, Kilid's party headed northeast to the rendezvous point and Platinum brought up the rear with the rest of the healers.
Each group ran into minor scuffles with Garlean patrols or local wildlife but the assault largely started off smoothly. The convoy hit the line of explosives and the accompanying soldiers were initially too busy with the ensuing fire to take much note of the Jackals. Their magitek reapers and vanguards suffered enough damage from the blasts that it didn't take long for the pack to make short work of them.
Everything went off without a hitch until the soldiers noticed the company and attacked. The Jackals fought fiercely at first; as time went on, however, it became clear that most of their enemies were actually conscripts and wanted no part of the bloodshed. They were given a chance to surrender but those who did were swiftly turned on by their fellow soldiers and shot dead where they stood, with hands held up in appeasement.
When the smoke cleared, there was plenty of magitek scrap and others valuables to be salvaged from the wreckage, but the deaths seemed to weigh heavily on the hearts of the victors. To complicate matters further, upon one of the fallen soldiers was a bundle of parchment; it appeared to be a contract between the Empire and a mercenary company called the Bloody Axes. The date and location for the contracted hit was precisely the same as the Jackals' ill-fated Coerthas job. More curious still, there was a hastily written addendum upon the contract which read, "Kill them. The Crowe will not tolerate delays."
Who was this Crowe and why did she or he want to eliminate the Jackals?
Chapter 3
With the Thanalan job now complete, Inarah and Aeron were due to again meet with The Ruby about both payment and answers. She explained the true nature of her interest in the company; she worked for the Maelstrom itself, particularly in keeping tabs on the Garlean Empire. She proposed that the Jackals continue working for her, and in turn the Maelstrom, by continuing to put down threats from the Garleans. In return, she would encourage the Maelstrom to turn a blind eye to the company's less legal operations and provide easy avenues for selling the spoils of victory. Should they refuse, however, the threat of the law bearing down upon them was very real indeed.
The Ruby also revealed that one of the pack was in actuality a former Garlean soldier: Thya Kazhuun. Whether Thya still held any loyalty to the Empire, she wouldn't say, but it was clear that the Jackals were entangled in this far more than they probably could ever have dreamed, and perhaps did not have much of a choice in accepting The Ruby's proposal.
Inarah and Aeron decided that, for the time being, they would keep this bombshell of information from the rest of the pack. The last thing they needed now was another round of distrust and controversy. Putting on happy faces, they merely delivered the good news that the items were sold off for a tidy profit and everyone would receive a bonus for their efforts.
Chapter 2
It was time to take out the Garlean convoy. The patrol routes had been studied, Locke had been busy making explosives and the pack was running like a well oiled machine. They all met in Northern Thanalan and split up into groups. Inarah led the charge northwest to set explosives along the convoy's route, Kilid's party headed northeast to the rendezvous point and Platinum brought up the rear with the rest of the healers.
Each group ran into minor scuffles with Garlean patrols or local wildlife but the assault largely started off smoothly. The convoy hit the line of explosives and the accompanying soldiers were initially too busy with the ensuing fire to take much note of the Jackals. Their magitek reapers and vanguards suffered enough damage from the blasts that it didn't take long for the pack to make short work of them.
Everything went off without a hitch until the soldiers noticed the company and attacked. The Jackals fought fiercely at first; as time went on, however, it became clear that most of their enemies were actually conscripts and wanted no part of the bloodshed. They were given a chance to surrender but those who did were swiftly turned on by their fellow soldiers and shot dead where they stood, with hands held up in appeasement.
When the smoke cleared, there was plenty of magitek scrap and others valuables to be salvaged from the wreckage, but the deaths seemed to weigh heavily on the hearts of the victors. To complicate matters further, upon one of the fallen soldiers was a bundle of parchment; it appeared to be a contract between the Empire and a mercenary company called the Bloody Axes. The date and location for the contracted hit was precisely the same as the Jackals' ill-fated Coerthas job. More curious still, there was a hastily written addendum upon the contract which read, "Kill them. The Crowe will not tolerate delays."
Who was this Crowe and why did she or he want to eliminate the Jackals?
Chapter 3
With the Thanalan job now complete, Inarah and Aeron were due to again meet with The Ruby about both payment and answers. She explained the true nature of her interest in the company; she worked for the Maelstrom itself, particularly in keeping tabs on the Garlean Empire. She proposed that the Jackals continue working for her, and in turn the Maelstrom, by continuing to put down threats from the Garleans. In return, she would encourage the Maelstrom to turn a blind eye to the company's less legal operations and provide easy avenues for selling the spoils of victory. Should they refuse, however, the threat of the law bearing down upon them was very real indeed.
The Ruby also revealed that one of the pack was in actuality a former Garlean soldier: Thya Kazhuun. Whether Thya still held any loyalty to the Empire, she wouldn't say, but it was clear that the Jackals were entangled in this far more than they probably could ever have dreamed, and perhaps did not have much of a choice in accepting The Ruby's proposal.
Inarah and Aeron decided that, for the time being, they would keep this bombshell of information from the rest of the pack. The last thing they needed now was another round of distrust and controversy. Putting on happy faces, they merely delivered the good news that the items were sold off for a tidy profit and everyone would receive a bonus for their efforts.
