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Message no. 1
From: Michael Goldberg michael.goldberg3@********.att.net
Subject: Looking for backup?
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 1999 10:26:12 -0600
***** PRIVATE: Daniel, The Mighty Quinn
>>>>>[ If you are still in the area, I could use the backup. As soon as I
find the clue I'm looking for, I'll be tripping an ambush.

If not, oh well. ]<<<<<
-- Forged <06:29:24/07-05-60>
Message no. 2
From: Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject: Looking for backup?
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 1999 18:15:46 +0100
*****PRIVATE: Forged
>>>>>[I assume 'in the area' is Seattle? On my way. Just say when and
where.]<<<<<
-- The Mighty Quinn <18:05:43/07-06-60>

*****PRIVATE: Lynch
>>>>>[Hey, could you cover for your old man a while? Forged asked for
some backup, I'd hate to let him down, but I need someone to mind the
store.]<<<<<
-- Daniel <18:06:54/07-06-60>

*****PRIVATE: Daniel
>>>>>[So I get to play town sherriff, and have everyone say "I don't
like
him as much as his father", do I? <g>

Sure, no problem. Give Kitsune my regards. You need to borrow any
firepower?]<<<<<
-- Lynch <18:13:43/07-06-60>

*****PRIVATE: Lynch
>>>>>[An AK carbine should be plenty. Might want a clean sidearm, too.
Figured I'd snag them out of the stash in Everett?

Thanks, son.]<<<<<
-- Daniel <18:15:34/07-06-60>

*****PRIVATE: Forged
>>>>>[Yeah, no problem. I'll be there.]<<<<<
-- Daniel <18:15:37/07-06-60>
Message no. 3
From: Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject: Looking for backup?
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 01:13:35 +0100
*****INTERNAL: Dogpatch Archive
>>>>>[+++++begin video
Daniel walks into the apartment: is halfway through drawing his sidearm
before he laughs at the cameraman. "Jason! Damn it, don't sneak up on
your old man like that."

"Slowing down?" Lynch laughs.

"Some of us are naturals, not artificially enhanced." Daniel lets his
threadbare denim jacket drop shut.

"Yeah, well, on a scale of nought to ten, I score minus seven for magic.
Depends how you count 'natural', isn't it? Come on in."

"You live here?" Daniel regards the fearsomely Spartan apartment.

"Hell, no. Bolthole and armoury. Take a look." Lynch opens a door: Daniel
looks through it into a collection of firepower that most Weapons World
branches would blush at

"Whoa!!!" The older Sioux sounds impressed. "This is all yours?"

"Most of it's Agency stuff. A few personals. Most of it's going back to the
taxpayers soon, too." The younger Running Wolf takes a flat steel case
from inside his jacket, offers it to his father: both men light up
gratefully. "But, hey, you need it, help yourself. They can spare me a
couple of rifles after this long."

Daniel walks into the armoury, looking at the serried racks of lethal
ordnance. "Holy crap. You really _are_ my son."

"Was there any doubt?"

"Hell, no, your Mom was too wore out to stray, I'm just glad to see it
proved." Daniel pauses. "Jason... I thought you were dead."

"I get that a lot. Don't worry about it." Lynch replies, reaching out to grip
his father's shoulder.

"Yeah, well... if I'd been there-"

"They grabbed Mom in about fifteen seconds. Start to finish. If you'd been
a block away you'd have missed it. I was lucky to live through it. Then, I
was running from the Company orphanage. Heard too many stories about
what happened in _those_ places. So I made damn sure I wasn't findable."

"Where did you go?" Daniel asks.

"Desert War. The very first. Signed up with a merc outfit created for the
job, they'd take any warm body that wanted to enlist, and, yeah, that
was not a good idea. Three hundred walked in. Nine walked out, over a
hundred left in coffins. We were there to be shot in a loud and telegenic
manner. On the other hand, promotion was quick..." Lynch shrugs. "I
survived. Luck more than talent. Got signed with Walker's Werewolves as
a squad leader. They got assimilated into Ares and off I went."

"Yeah, well, I thought I was doing well. Going from guerrilla fighter to
UCAS Marine to Wildcat. You pretty much capped that..."

"Hell, no. Never made Wildcat. Yet." Lynch grins. "C'mon, Dad, gimme a
break. You'd think you hadn't seen your son in twenty-five years."

"Hey, I hear from 'Fox that he met you but now you're dead. Then I meet
you as that Mitchell jerk. I'm an old-timer, I'm senile, takes me a while to
adapt." Daniel laughs, holds out his hand: Lynch slaps it, and they run
through a series of gestures that probably mean a lot to warriors of the
Running Wolf clan of the Lakota Sioux.


"So, what do you want?" Lynch gestures at the racked weaponry. "Take
your pick."

"Hell, no. You choose. Needs to be disposable." Daniel replies.

Lynch pauses, reaches out, pulls a Kalashnikov rifle out of its niche. "Can't
get more disposable than an AK."

"Reliable, basic, effective, always loved the things. You wouldn't have a
clean Predator in there?"

"Yeah. Here." The younger Running Wolf hands his father the Ares
automatic. "And you know what?"

"You don't..."

Lynch reaches back, draws (right-handed) a pistol from behind his hip.
"Carried this around, off and on, for a quarter-century." The pistol is a
Series I Ares Predator, with the distinctive hooked trigger guard of the
earliest versions and lacking the ambidextrous controls of the later
weapons. "About the only weapon I've never lost."

"Your K-Bar?"

"Left that planted in one of the guys who grabbed Mom." Lynch shrugs.
"He was wired. I went for his throat, he got his shoulder in the way, the
knife hung up under his left collarbone, and he shot me pointblank through
the chest while I was trying to clear it. End of fight. Contact wound in the
sternum, I needed a new lung and nine litres of blood."

"That sucks." Daniel agrees. "The Unit looked for Christine. I was... busy.
Operations. They did what they could for me, though. Far as they could
tell, she just vanished. No trace."

"Yeah. I looked, too, once I had time and money. Same thing, it's like she
evaporated once she was in the car. Harder you looked, less you found.
Fuck it. Drive on."

"Yeah." Daniel looks down, checking his borrowed AK. "Look...
Jason..."

"You wish you'd been around? So do I. Wasn't your fault. Wasn't just you.
Steph spent half her life in a Russian military academy just so she'd be
harder for the Bad Guys to find and kill. Worked, though. You take care
of your own. Sometimes that means pulling back into overwatch." Lynch
sighs. "It sucks, Dad. Been there. Done that. You got to think, the
Wildcats' spook branch couldn't find Mom. What could you or I add? Once
she was found, hell, by then _I_ was a combat veteran. The spooks find
her. Then they find me. Then you and I go kick ass. Would have been
_beautiful_."

"Yeah." Daniel nods. "It would have been one hell of a day to die."

"But instead, we never got a target. Now you've got to go back up Kitsune
and I'm covering your town. So go have fun. That's an order."


The elder Running Wolf laughs. "You're giving me _orders_, son?"

"Hey, you were a gunny when you went MIA. I just made fucking _Major_.
I got you _seriously_ outranked, pal, so _you_ do what _I_ say."

"Damn, it's a sad day when an old warrior has to take orders from his
upstart son!" Daniel reaches out and he and his son clasp hands. "You take
care, Jason. Hate to lose you again."

"I got at least two lives left. Why do you think I'm quitting now?" Lynch
grins.

"Yeah, well, you can take the warrior out of the fight, but you can't take
the fight out of the warrior." Daniel replies. "Look at me. Fifty-four
fucking years old and still running around with machine guns looking for
people to kill. Be smart, be careful, don't be dead."

"Role model, Dad. You're my role model. You take care."

"You, too. Silver Springs is a quiet little burg. But, if Headquarters calls
and offer you any 'special assignments', then I'd suggest you accept, tool
up heavy, and get ready for a fight." Daniel grins reminiscently.
+++++end video

Damn.

Most of a lifetime and I've suddenly got a father again.

And he reminds me of... me.]<<<<<
-- Lynch <01:11:46/07-08-60>
Message no. 4
From: Michael Goldberg michael.goldberg3@********.att.net
Subject: Looking for backup?
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 11:01:37 -0600
***** PRIVATE: The Mighty Quinn
>>>>>[ Sorry, for the delay in the response. I've been tracking a hire of
Charity's by the name of Duster. Yes, all the fun is in Seattle. Let's
meet at >>bar<< at >>time<<. Let me know if that works for you.
]<<<<<
-- Forged <19:01:18/07-11-60>

***** PRIVATE: Daniel
>>>>>[ Cool. I am meeting Susan at >>bar<< at
>>time<<. If that works for
you, I'll meet you there as well. Figure we will end up going back to my
place to go over the whole situation. Let me know if that works for
you. ]<<<<<
-- Daniel <18:15:37/07-06-60>
Message no. 5
From: Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject: Looking for backup?
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 01:55:50 +0100
*****PRIVATE: Forged, Daniel
>>>>>[I'm there, dude.]<<<<<
-- The Mighty Quinn <01:32:46/07-13-60>

*****PRIVATE: Forged, The Mighty Quinn
>>>>>[<obFreeserve>
Me too!
</Freeserve>]<<<<<
-- Daniel <01:55:47/07-13-60>
Message no. 6
From: Michael Goldberg michael.goldberg3@********.att.net
Subject: Looking for backup?
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 1999 10:26:12 -0600
***** PRIVATE: Daniel, The Mighty Quinn
>>>>>[ If you are still in the area, I could use the backup. As soon as I
find the clue I'm looking for, I'll be tripping an ambush.

If not, oh well. ]<<<<<
-- Forged <06:29:24/07-05-60>
Message no. 7
From: Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject: Looking for backup?
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 1999 18:15:46 +0100
*****PRIVATE: Forged
>>>>>[I assume 'in the area' is Seattle? On my way. Just say when and
where.]<<<<<
-- The Mighty Quinn <18:05:43/07-06-60>

*****PRIVATE: Lynch
>>>>>[Hey, could you cover for your old man a while? Forged asked for
some backup, I'd hate to let him down, but I need someone to mind the
store.]<<<<<
-- Daniel <18:06:54/07-06-60>

*****PRIVATE: Daniel
>>>>>[So I get to play town sherriff, and have everyone say "I don't
like
him as much as his father", do I? <g>

Sure, no problem. Give Kitsune my regards. You need to borrow any
firepower?]<<<<<
-- Lynch <18:13:43/07-06-60>

*****PRIVATE: Lynch
>>>>>[An AK carbine should be plenty. Might want a clean sidearm, too.
Figured I'd snag them out of the stash in Everett?

Thanks, son.]<<<<<
-- Daniel <18:15:34/07-06-60>

*****PRIVATE: Forged
>>>>>[Yeah, no problem. I'll be there.]<<<<<
-- Daniel <18:15:37/07-06-60>
Message no. 8
From: Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject: Looking for backup?
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 01:13:35 +0100
*****INTERNAL: Dogpatch Archive
>>>>>[+++++begin video
Daniel walks into the apartment: is halfway through drawing his sidearm
before he laughs at the cameraman. "Jason! Damn it, don't sneak up on
your old man like that."

"Slowing down?" Lynch laughs.

"Some of us are naturals, not artificially enhanced." Daniel lets his
threadbare denim jacket drop shut.

"Yeah, well, on a scale of nought to ten, I score minus seven for magic.
Depends how you count 'natural', isn't it? Come on in."

"You live here?" Daniel regards the fearsomely Spartan apartment.

"Hell, no. Bolthole and armoury. Take a look." Lynch opens a door: Daniel
looks through it into a collection of firepower that most Weapons World
branches would blush at

"Whoa!!!" The older Sioux sounds impressed. "This is all yours?"

"Most of it's Agency stuff. A few personals. Most of it's going back to the
taxpayers soon, too." The younger Running Wolf takes a flat steel case
from inside his jacket, offers it to his father: both men light up
gratefully. "But, hey, you need it, help yourself. They can spare me a
couple of rifles after this long."

Daniel walks into the armoury, looking at the serried racks of lethal
ordnance. "Holy crap. You really _are_ my son."

"Was there any doubt?"

"Hell, no, your Mom was too wore out to stray, I'm just glad to see it
proved." Daniel pauses. "Jason... I thought you were dead."

"I get that a lot. Don't worry about it." Lynch replies, reaching out to grip
his father's shoulder.

"Yeah, well... if I'd been there-"

"They grabbed Mom in about fifteen seconds. Start to finish. If you'd been
a block away you'd have missed it. I was lucky to live through it. Then, I
was running from the Company orphanage. Heard too many stories about
what happened in _those_ places. So I made damn sure I wasn't findable."

"Where did you go?" Daniel asks.

"Desert War. The very first. Signed up with a merc outfit created for the
job, they'd take any warm body that wanted to enlist, and, yeah, that
was not a good idea. Three hundred walked in. Nine walked out, over a
hundred left in coffins. We were there to be shot in a loud and telegenic
manner. On the other hand, promotion was quick..." Lynch shrugs. "I
survived. Luck more than talent. Got signed with Walker's Werewolves as
a squad leader. They got assimilated into Ares and off I went."

"Yeah, well, I thought I was doing well. Going from guerrilla fighter to
UCAS Marine to Wildcat. You pretty much capped that..."

"Hell, no. Never made Wildcat. Yet." Lynch grins. "C'mon, Dad, gimme a
break. You'd think you hadn't seen your son in twenty-five years."

"Hey, I hear from 'Fox that he met you but now you're dead. Then I meet
you as that Mitchell jerk. I'm an old-timer, I'm senile, takes me a while to
adapt." Daniel laughs, holds out his hand: Lynch slaps it, and they run
through a series of gestures that probably mean a lot to warriors of the
Running Wolf clan of the Lakota Sioux.


"So, what do you want?" Lynch gestures at the racked weaponry. "Take
your pick."

"Hell, no. You choose. Needs to be disposable." Daniel replies.

Lynch pauses, reaches out, pulls a Kalashnikov rifle out of its niche. "Can't
get more disposable than an AK."

"Reliable, basic, effective, always loved the things. You wouldn't have a
clean Predator in there?"

"Yeah. Here." The younger Running Wolf hands his father the Ares
automatic. "And you know what?"

"You don't..."

Lynch reaches back, draws (right-handed) a pistol from behind his hip.
"Carried this around, off and on, for a quarter-century." The pistol is a
Series I Ares Predator, with the distinctive hooked trigger guard of the
earliest versions and lacking the ambidextrous controls of the later
weapons. "About the only weapon I've never lost."

"Your K-Bar?"

"Left that planted in one of the guys who grabbed Mom." Lynch shrugs.
"He was wired. I went for his throat, he got his shoulder in the way, the
knife hung up under his left collarbone, and he shot me pointblank through
the chest while I was trying to clear it. End of fight. Contact wound in the
sternum, I needed a new lung and nine litres of blood."

"That sucks." Daniel agrees. "The Unit looked for Christine. I was... busy.
Operations. They did what they could for me, though. Far as they could
tell, she just vanished. No trace."

"Yeah. I looked, too, once I had time and money. Same thing, it's like she
evaporated once she was in the car. Harder you looked, less you found.
Fuck it. Drive on."

"Yeah." Daniel looks down, checking his borrowed AK. "Look...
Jason..."

"You wish you'd been around? So do I. Wasn't your fault. Wasn't just you.
Steph spent half her life in a Russian military academy just so she'd be
harder for the Bad Guys to find and kill. Worked, though. You take care
of your own. Sometimes that means pulling back into overwatch." Lynch
sighs. "It sucks, Dad. Been there. Done that. You got to think, the
Wildcats' spook branch couldn't find Mom. What could you or I add? Once
she was found, hell, by then _I_ was a combat veteran. The spooks find
her. Then they find me. Then you and I go kick ass. Would have been
_beautiful_."

"Yeah." Daniel nods. "It would have been one hell of a day to die."

"But instead, we never got a target. Now you've got to go back up Kitsune
and I'm covering your town. So go have fun. That's an order."


The elder Running Wolf laughs. "You're giving me _orders_, son?"

"Hey, you were a gunny when you went MIA. I just made fucking _Major_.
I got you _seriously_ outranked, pal, so _you_ do what _I_ say."

"Damn, it's a sad day when an old warrior has to take orders from his
upstart son!" Daniel reaches out and he and his son clasp hands. "You take
care, Jason. Hate to lose you again."

"I got at least two lives left. Why do you think I'm quitting now?" Lynch
grins.

"Yeah, well, you can take the warrior out of the fight, but you can't take
the fight out of the warrior." Daniel replies. "Look at me. Fifty-four
fucking years old and still running around with machine guns looking for
people to kill. Be smart, be careful, don't be dead."

"Role model, Dad. You're my role model. You take care."

"You, too. Silver Springs is a quiet little burg. But, if Headquarters calls
and offer you any 'special assignments', then I'd suggest you accept, tool
up heavy, and get ready for a fight." Daniel grins reminiscently.
+++++end video

Damn.

Most of a lifetime and I've suddenly got a father again.

And he reminds me of... me.]<<<<<
-- Lynch <01:11:46/07-08-60>
Message no. 9
From: Michael Goldberg michael.goldberg3@********.att.net
Subject: Looking for backup?
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 11:01:37 -0600
***** PRIVATE: The Mighty Quinn
>>>>>[ Sorry, for the delay in the response. I've been tracking a hire of
Charity's by the name of Duster. Yes, all the fun is in Seattle. Let's
meet at >>bar<< at >>time<<. Let me know if that works for you.
]<<<<<
-- Forged <19:01:18/07-11-60>

***** PRIVATE: Daniel
>>>>>[ Cool. I am meeting Susan at >>bar<< at
>>time<<. If that works for
you, I'll meet you there as well. Figure we will end up going back to my
place to go over the whole situation. Let me know if that works for
you. ]<<<<<
-- Daniel <18:15:37/07-06-60>
Message no. 10
From: Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject: Looking for backup?
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 01:55:50 +0100
*****PRIVATE: Forged, Daniel
>>>>>[I'm there, dude.]<<<<<
-- The Mighty Quinn <01:32:46/07-13-60>

*****PRIVATE: Forged, The Mighty Quinn
>>>>>[<obFreeserve>
Me too!
</Freeserve>]<<<<<
-- Daniel <01:55:47/07-13-60>

Further Reading

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Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

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