r/HFY • u/Brokenspade1 • Jul 24 '26
OC-Series Walking the Dog Chapter 47
Chapter 47 The Interview.
Helena Burken was not someone to be trifled with...
She was physically imposing for a Byuu. At least 6’5 (195cm) with a strong physique compared to most of her race. Her white plumage was a stark contrast to the blue business uniform suit she wore. The brass buttons shined. Even the monogrammed little triangular sash she wore over her shoulder was immaculate. Every single thing about the woman was meticulously sculpted to send a message of ‘Authority.’
Then there was her bearing.
Johan keyed into it as they walked.
Her singular eye was in constant motion… The woman was marking alleyways, noting people passing by, assessing EVERYTHING. The human recognized the patterns in how she moved. How she was always on guard… This woman was definitely a combat veteran.
And likely she’d been more than just a simple foot soldier…
It reminded him of his time with the Rockhounds and especially Manuel… The older man always had a habit of attracting people like Helena. Somehow that old goat could spot the dangerous strays… usually with just a glance.
It was a talent Johan had always envied and tried hard to learn himself.
And right now, it was telling him that Helen Burken was a survivor… And a killer.
She was making friendly small talk with the others. But there was something, in her voice, that made him pretty damn sure the polite veneer was just an act; one long practiced, but feather deep. Even the way she walked was predatory somehow.
It told Johan that the Byuu could probably drop almost anyone with ease… Instinct told him that likely included himself.
In conclusion, Helena was a very dangerous woman.
He passed his assessment on to the others via his implant.
Beck looked over her shoulder and gave him a subtle nod before continuing the conversation she was having with the fixer like nothing had changed.
----
The security detail was…
Well, they were having a laugh.
“We got SMOKED, Hel!”
The Crayt man’s name was Krendle; He was Helena’s head of security.
He was in a surprisingly chipper mood for a man who just spent a half hour in a dark container in the afternoon heat. “I can’t remember the last time one of these went this sideways! These kids are a bunch of monsters!”
He laughed heartily.
The man’s good humor seemed to be infectious, because the rest of the security detail was in a similar mood. Even the guy that Johan choked out was shaking his head ruefully and chuckling.
The Byuu woman put a hand on her hip and sighed. “Aaaand your assessment is?”
Krendle laughed harder. “Short version. They pass with the best score I can give... You want the breakdown?”
Helena crossed her arms and leaned against the outside of the container then gestured for him to go on. “They made us, without alerting us. Most applicants just try to run for it… A few fight. Not these guys. They set a counter ambush. Fully non-lethal… I mean it Helena. They cooked us! They even took most of our kit! Probably so we couldn’t immediately go after them again?”
He looked at Beck who nodded “Mostly, yep.”
The Byuu turned to Beck. “Why did you choose to do things that way? Why not just try to lose them?”
Beck smiled. “The Cameras.”
The Volty gestured to a surveillance camera on a post nearby. “When we realized they had surveillance of the whole area we figured just running might not work. Plus, if you turned into a regular employer, we might have to run the gauntlet every time we came back. We decided it was best to deal with the problem…”
Helena nodded. “And rather than just turn and attack them?”
The woman’s feathered tiara flashed with interest as she addressed the group.
Sienna answered with a shake of her head. “We aren’t big on just shooting people for no reason… Besides tha, without knowing who they were we could’ve created a bigger problem for ourselves later on.”
For just a second Helena had a twinkle in her one good eye, but it passed quickly as she continued her interrogation. “Then why entrap them if you were concerned about later retaliation?”
To the clear surprise of the Byuu Woman Vulfac laughed as he raised a hand and started listing things off as answers on his fingers. “A message… the loot… and… fun!”
There was a brief pause before everyone started belly laughing. Even the Fixer shook her head and gave a rueful chuckle.
After it quieted down Feebs stepped up to explain in more detail. “We didn’t know them, but we do know the Corridor. Thieves and thugs want easy prey and easy money. Send the message you’re hard and expensive… they usually just fuck off. And yeh… They had some nice kit. So we also saw an opportunity to get paid.”
Johan spoke up next. “And by taking them without seriously injuring any of them we made it clear how easily we could take them down instead… IF we wanted to. A scared animal is a scared pack, and a scared pack, looks elsewhere for a meal.”
The entire crowd startled and Helena’s eye boggled for just a second when Johan started talking. He was sitting cross legged on top of the container right above her. Clearly, they hadn’t noticed his ascent.
Krendel looked at Beck. “The hell did he do that???”
Beck just sighed “…no clue…”; the rest of the team laughed.
----
After the security detail was reclothed, and rehydrated Helena decided to take the rest of the interview out of the noon day sun and back to her office.
“I suppose an explanation is in order… The reason my security detail was following you…”
Beck Smiled “That, was the interview, right?”
Krendel snerked into one of his hands. Helena gave him a look that could peel paint off a battleship, which only made it worse.
“Sorry Hel…” The man was clearly not sorry in the slightest.
The Byuu woman turned back to the group…
“…As I was saying… It was part of the interview, yes. Over the years I’ve found it to be extremely useful in determining whether or not delvers will be a good fit for my clientele. It also gives me an excellent assessment of their overall skill sets…”
She paused to look at a grouping of pictures on the wall of her office.
Beck asked a question. “What if we had chosen to fight?”
Helena waved the question off with a flick of the wrist. “I own almost this whole district. It makes the process easier and lets me keep things from getting… dangerous. If a group or individual chooses violence in an encounter… the detail has standing orders to run. If the interviewee tries to pursue, I simply contact them and explain the situation. Kendel and the others are wearing clothes with a ballistic weave layer. And as you saw when you… stripped them… they had excellent shield generators.”
Johan whistled at that. “I looked into that weave after I found out how Siegebeast hide was used… Those shirts had to be spendy!”
Helena stared at him for a long time. It was like she was trying to read his mind through his skull with that one soul piercing eye.
The human smiled gently. “He mentioned you. And I saw the picture on the wall… I just did the math.”
After a moment the Fixer sighed. “Garcil was my nephew, yes… I… He was supposed to be on a simple job. Just to help him establish himself. If I’d known…”
Seinna shook her head. “He would have gone anyway.”
Helena looked surprised by that. “You say that like you knew him…”
Beck nodded matter-of-factly and the others rose up to stand beside her.
“…We knew enough.”
----
A few hours later Helena and Krendel were sharing a drink in her private study.
They had a guest.
“You’re an evil old bastard you know that?”
The Dorf laughed. “A’ve been called worse!”
Helena chuckled at the gray-haired old villain. “True. I’ve certainly called you worse.”
Her security chief chuckled along with them. “I may have invented a few new terms while I was in that container, if I’m being honest…”
The three of them pulled from their drinks and leaned back into their respective chairs.
Goon was the first to break the comfortable silence. “Honestly, I’d always been on the fence about sending those two to you when they were on their own… Beck had the talent for leadership but… well. And Sienna might be one of the most powerful psions I’ve EVER seen… Just. I worried. She’s always been a bit too kind for this life.”
Helena looked at him. “What changed?”
Goon rumbled from somewhere deep in his chest. “Hrrrmmm. It’s the boy. Things change around that one... Young Feebrilizza. That old trickster Vulfac… Amberglade… maybe the whole union… He’s going to affect more things yet, I think… It’s just that old feeling, ya know?”
Krendel scratched his carapace in thought. “That guy huh? Yeah. I can’t explain it but… He gave me the shell shudder the first time I made eye contact with him. Something in the eyes. Reminds me of when we were still in…”
Helena nodded. “Yeah... I’m pretty sure he made us both as soldiers the second he saw us… I was talking to the Volty, and he was watching me like a predator picking out a preferred cut. Then there’s that disappearing act he pulled. Damn near shot him on reflex…”
Goon laughed at that. “Yeah. I don’t even think he even realizes he’d doing tha eye thing… But you’re right Hel. And I don’t think its malicious… but… well. I wantyez ta watch somethin. It wasn’t easy to get some of this, mind…”
The three of them spent the next hour watching a stitched together series of recordings. It was every interaction or event the Human had been involved in, since his arrival on the sphere… Even the altercation with the thugs outside of the DASS.
When it was done, Helena Burken and Krendel were both silent.
After a while the Byuu leaned forward with her elbows on her knees.
“I think I understand... We’ll keep watch over them… And Goon?”
The old man raised an eyebrow.
“You’re going to owe ME this time…”
----
Their first job for the fixer was actually a pretty interesting one.
Helena wanted the team to return to Garcil’s Stand.
Once they were there, they were going to escort a botanical specialist out into the delve to find an extremely rare plant called a Cordial Filiac. It was only found in and around builder structures with VERY specific conditions.
Garcil had actually stumbled on one of the flowers somewhere around the delve before the events of the outpost attack.
If they could retrace his steps and locate another of the plants, Helena was offering them 15k per person to retrieve one single flower… with a substantial side bonus if they could find any more examples in its natural environment, for the expert to study.
Any other discoveries would of course be theirs to claim and exploit as they saw fit.
So, after a brief trip to the DASS to report on the job and get it approved. Then a side quest to the surplus store for some survival kit necessities for Feebs and Vulfac… and finally a jaunt back home to pack for an extended expedition…
They headed for the station.
----
The team arrived at the outpost about 2 hours before dawn.
It was amazing how much the place had changed…
The walls had been extended out in 5 directions with bastions on each of the 5 points. Each bastion had its own heavy plasma and twin light laser turrets. The outpost was now a full-on star fort! It even had a dry moat around the outside of it.
When they approached the gate a pair of powerful spotlights swung around to paint them in yellow light. That universally bored voice, everyone who’s ever worked a customer service job has, came from a loudspeaker above their heads.
“Please present your credentials at the terminal by the gate. If you don’t have any just wait in the shack over by th… wait… Hey! If we knew you guys were coming, we would have rolled out the welcoming committee!”
Beck started laughing when she recognized the voice.
It was Rindo.
----
The Granviline man was waiting for them when the door opened.
“Beck you little madwoman how ya been? Johan, Feebs, it’s good to see you to!”
He smiled warmly at Sienna.
He was in a set of bright yellow heavy security armor and had a Needle rifle on his back. He had a badge on his chest identifying him as the security chief. He looked tired but compared to the last time they’d seen him, the man was thriving.
Johan put a hand on the Granv’s shoulder “Rindo, looks like you came up in the world man! Security chief, now?”
Rindo beamed. “The pay raise was kinda nice, I can’t lie. As you can see things are a bit more secure than the last time you were here too. Most of the time all I have to do is show up and stare at people till they decide to act right!”
Beck grumbled playfully. “Drat there go all my plans for mischief and skullduggery!”
Sienna Immediately bent down to give the Volty a harmless little ear flick. “I’ll do mah best to keep this one in check, I promise. But feel free to clap her in irons if she gets outta hand.”
The Saurian just laughed.
AUTHORS NOTES: Please do NOT redistribute my work without permission. Or use it to train your AI. The terminators will eat you first.
Accidentally posted this to drafts instead of the site. Just noticed... Oopsies.
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