18. Lazarus Found
The characters Lady Drakon finds to do her bidding never cease to amaze me. Truly, the most… unfavourable people. Yet it would appear that Lady Drakon has always been drawn to such characters and, alas, it is not my place to judge.
As per Lady Drakon’s orders, I assembled a small crew to carry out the cleaning operation. We arrived at the warehouse in Watson a few hours after the edgerunners left. A veritable carnage if I have ever seen one, and franky, I appreciated the artistry. It was rather surprising to see there were three extra bodies than were actually reported; however, that can possibly be chalked up to after-battle adrenaline rush. Perhaps they simply forgot to account for the boosters who were dispatched before actual combat started.
As per protocol, we gathered the bodies in a central location and matched any dismembered limbs and decapitated heads with the correct bodies. The heads were particularly hard to match, since these “Maelstrom” types do not really have faces. At any rate, Charles, the ripperdoctor, re-assembled the bodies and we were able to do a thorough post-mortem analysis.
Two of the Maelstroms, named Hark and Fatalflaw, were dispatched while on guard duty at the warehouse gate. Both their heads were cut clean off and deftly placed on the ground so as to not make any noise. A third one, Chiptune, positioned initially atop a mound of containers, was stabbed in the back: with the very same katana. Another two, Larry and Filthyman, were caught in the blast radius of a pipebomb, that left them severely damaged. Filthyman attempted to call for back up, but had his hands chopped off and then decapitated: a different katana. Larry was killed in a corner by a third katana. Kartboi was shot with an auto-rifle after attempting to climb the containers to get to Chiptune’s position. Lastly, an unnamed Maelstrom member had his head blown clean off.
This leaves Chops, who was the leader of this particular gang of Maelstroms. Chops had his prosthetic legs cut off. Then, while he was prone on the ground, he was executed with a shot to the head as well as several stabs with various katanas. Not a pretty sight.
On a separate note, Seamus Lazarus was not at the warehouse when we arrived. It appears that he was hiding inside a saferoom in the warehouse basement. He appears to have left in a hurry, as there are still supplies present in the room. It is uncertain if he is planning on coming back, but we will know if he decides to.
Another glorious victory for Lady Drakon.