Karl wasn't like V. He didn't have the habit of overworking himself during downtime. If a fixer wanted him to take on a job while he was res
Karl wasn't like V. He didn't have the habit of overworking himself during downtime. If a fixer wanted him to take on a job while he was resting, they either had to be very capable or have a solid relationship with him. People like the Priest or the Old Captain fit that category. Colmec absolutely did not. The only reason Karl agreed to V's invitation today was because of something the Old Captain had said a few days earlier.
Back when they were drinking at Afterlife, the Old Captain had mentioned a flashy female merc who was starting to get noticed on the streets—someone from the Coronado farms near the Badlands. She had solid skills, and he predicted she'd soon earn a seat at the Afterlife merc circle.
That flashy merc had been working under Colmec. And if someone could survive under Colmec—a fixer infamous for chewing through mercs like junk data—Karl's curiosity was piqued. He figured he might as well tag along and check things out.
V was surprised Karl agreed.
This was the kind of low-tier job only V usually bothered with. Karl was legendarily lazy when it came to nonessential work. V had just mentioned it offhand and didn't expect him to take interest. Still, he quickly messaged Colmec back: he and KK would show up.
Ten seconds later, Colmec replied:
"I'll include a bonus fit for the level."
Clearly, Colmec was just as shocked.
In the fixer world, greed and dirty tactics were par for the course. But one thing you had to be good at was judging people. Every fixer knew KK only took big jobs. If it wasn't high-stakes, don't even bother him. That's why Colmec had always avoided contacting Karl's full team and only dealt with V, who didn't mind handling smaller tasks. KK showing up? That was unexpected.
This wasn't even a job that required real action. The assignment was simple: something was being transported from outside the city. Colmec had already dispatched his own mercs to handle the pickup. V's role was just to oversee things—more of a failsafe in case something went wrong.
Watch the grunts, make sure they didn't run off with the goods or screw up. If they failed, V would step in and fix it.
A rookie fixer might wonder: why not just have V do the whole job from the start? That would be too naive.
Because hiring V alone was expensive.
Everyone in the biz knew that Karl's squad was pricey. Worth it, sure—their work was clean and top-tier. But no fixer wanted to end up like Faraday, who had tried to cut corners. Even for minor tasks, the price to hire V was high.
And high prices meant small jobs had razor-thin profit margins.
Colmec had a reputation to uphold—his one competitive edge was offering great pay. So even for simple work, he paid well. But if he hired V directly, his profits dropped to 20 or 30 percent, maybe less. Barely worth the risk.
Which meant budget control was critical.
Mercs just had to work and die. Fixers had to think.
Over time, Colmec figured something out: the person doing the work didn't need to be the big name.
Put a famous merc on the books as the face. Let the street-level nobodies do the real labor and danger. Everyone wins.
The big-name merc gets paid to supervise. Easy money. They're happy.
The grunts feel protected knowing someone powerful is backing them. They get decent cash. They're happy.
Colmec pays the grunts what feels like a lot to them, while only giving a third of a name-brand merc's normal rate—and gets elite backup coverage. He's happy.
Three-way win.
And if things go south? Then Colmec really wins.
The grunts die? He pays less.
The named merc has to step in? Colmec still only paid one-third of their full fee for full-service work. He pockets the rest.
That's not just a win. That's a jackpot.
Colmec was known for being reckless. Just a hair better than Faraday. But mercs still lined up to take his jobs. Why? Because he always paid more than market.
No one could say no.
The only ones getting burned were the low-tier mercs. And their deaths? Like pebbles tossed into the ocean—a ripple, then nothing.
If one of them managed to survive and rise up the ranks? Colmec didn't mind. He'd reward them, call them a "talent he discovered," and maybe even give them the chance to sit back and collect a bigger share.
But if one of them got greedy? Disobedient?
Colmec squinted at his terminal, watching his eurodollars drain faster than he liked thanks to KK's involvement. He thought about a certain increasingly unruly female merc in his ranks.
His fat, squinting eyes narrowed even more.
He had originally planned to set her up, get one of her teammates to quietly remove her. But with KK and V in the mix?
Maybe it was time for a new plan.
You want to play big? Want to ditch me and go independent?
Then let's see if you can even survive dealing with KK and V.
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