Re: The Question of Heresy (Game Thread)
Argus is a big man, unusually so for a hiver, perhaps to the point that he may have originated from off-planet, though if such is the case, it begs a lot of questions as to how he ended up as a gang lieutenant in a low midhive sub district as squalid as the Corscala.
He remains silent at first, looking down at Mordeci as though he were some sort of rodent that had become a thing of curiosity by dint of having approached a larger predator rather than scurry away from it.
Argus wears a hiver jacket torn away at the shoulders to reveal well-developed arm muscles, electoo'd heavily with insignia's of chipped human skulls with needle like teeth dripping with some kind of ichor or blood. Beneath these he had tally marks lining his bicep, marked crudely with some kind of monoblade. He wore a colorful double sash of yellow and green, with shiny trinkets tucked or sewn into it so as to make for a rather bling piece of kit for someone of his station. A nasty looking handcannon is tucked into the front of his trousers, and his hand rests close to it on his hip as he stares off with Mordeci.
Behind him, the three other gangers seem to grin like jackal-mutts, their lower jaws hanging low, showing their lower teeth and tongues. They guffaw and one slaps the other with a grimy hand, chuckling as he does so: "'Ear that Povi? Hat man thinks we're gentle men. Can you scrounge that?"
The thug, Povi, shakes his head incredulously. "Throne on one leg, he is, Frizzo my chum... Fancy uphiver come down to slum it in poor ol' Corscala. Waving his fancy guns like 'es the fucking Combine hisself..."
"They don't look half bad, boys," the third lesser thug says, weighing in with the other hyenas behind Argus. "Always wanted meself a shotty. An they say ammo's cheap for dem las-os. Cheap as a shit-fed fire they is."
"Enough." Says Argus in an accent that differs from the others, holding up his off hand in a fist to quiet the thugs behind him. His eyes then roam past Mordeci to look at Lili.
"I told you yesterday. You ask a lot of questions. Now you ask questions, and you've got new friends with guns. You don't take my warnings to heart, little girl, do you?"
Lili seems to get angry at this, but she makes a half step behind Zieg.
"Well, I'm leaving - you'll be happy to know. My friends from uphive were just showing me to the station. You'd be stupid to mess with them. They're all trained soldiers!" She says, to which Argus makes no visible reaction. The thugs behind him though do stop smiliing and seem to have their hands edging closer to their own guns. Argus grunts and holds up his fist again to stop them.
"It's too late for that now, stupid girl. Your questions got noticed. You could have left, should have left days ago, if you knew what was good for you. But you stayed too long. Now, if you want to live, you have to stay. Chord Luntz knows you have some scrivener talent. He could use a girl like you. I could use a girl like you. You stay with us, we'll take care of you. Maybe we'll even help you find your brother. But you go with them..."
He nods to the acolytes. "You'll die within days. You're being watched."
Lili scowls darkly. "Like I'd want any part of you obscura-pushing parasites or your 'protection!' If Saul's gone, and you know anything about what's going on, then you lot let it happen!"
"Insolent girl!" Argus says, his eyes going wide. "You think the Warden can protect you? You think the law is here to keep you safe? Corscala is gang territory now. We are the protectors. Luntz is the only one who can keep you safe."
"Luntz is a drug-dealing, whore-mongering, cockroach." Lili spits back at Argus, causing the large man's jaw to tighten. The large veins in his neck visibly pulse beneath his skin.
"If you want to know what happened to your brother. I suggest you stay at the Corscala Hostel tonight. Then, if you want to live, you will re-evaluate what you think of us."
Lili looks away, her eyes hard, but still clearly searching for an answer that isn't presenting itself to her. Meanwhile, Argus and his ganger thugs stand before the acolytes for the moment, should the agents of the inquisition wish to do something in response to all this.