Chapter 85: Barghest

A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next FIVE chapters are up on my for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

Cleaning up things with Barghest!

-x-X-x-

As he watches Mr. Hands make his decision from across the desk, V finds himself contemplating the last time he was in this office. It was an entire lifetime ago… or rather an entire timeline ago.

The first time around it had been Mr. Hands himself who had called V to the office, intent on capitalizing upon the chaos caused by V's actions. With Kurt Hansen's death far more public that go around, Mr. Hands had wanted to make sure he had his finger on the pulse of exactly who wound up in charge of Barghest.

Back then it had been between two men… Chester Bennett and Jago Szabo. The former was a man after Hansen's own heart, a meathead brute who had all but been the right hand man to the now dead Kurt Hansen. Chester was a hammer, a cudgel if you will, and if Hansen himself had been capable of conceiving of his own death, he probably would have named Chester as his heir.

Jago on the other hand was the head accountant. He was all numbers and efficiency and brains over brawns. Chester could break Jago over his knee with one move, but Jago was the sort of mercenary who emulated Corpos… he would never let Chester get close enough to do so in the first place, not without assurances.

The first time around, Chester was the horse that Pacifica's Fixer had decided to back. Mr. Hands hadn't wanted to rock the boat too badly, nor had he intended to directly control Barghest in any meaningful way. As such, using Chester Bennett as his unwitting and unaware patsy had been his preference.

Back then, Mr. Hands had made use of V's freshly installed Behavioral Imprint-synced Faceplate to have him disguise himself as a highly respected member of the Cuban Cartels known as Aguilar Nubiola. The Fixer had provided him with everything from the behavioral imprint to a copy of the Cuban Merc's suit, to even a replica of Aguilar's gun.

And then he'd sent V to meet with both men and stop them from signing on with other groups that would have only resulted in a Barghest Civil War and chaos in all of Dogtown. Ultimately, it had worked out precisely how Hands wanted it to. Bennett had taken over as leader and V had intimidated the meathead into keeping Jago alive for good measure. All squeaky clean and ultimately exactly what Pacifica's Fixer was hoping for.

But things were different this time around. Thanks to V's efforts they had basically replaced Kurt Hansen without any of his subordinates being aware of what had happened. More than that, thanks to the skills of Alt and the others, they had complete control over Barghest's digital presence and systems. From the security in the Black Sapphire to the very financial accounts that Jago Szabo was in charge of.

They had it all… and V wasn't inclined to give it up. Maybe he should have. He was supposed to just be a mercenary after all, not some faction leader. Unfortunately, he was starting to get the impression that such things were not bound to remain that way for long.

When he'd found himself back in time, all V had wanted was a chance to do things better and make things right. Oh and get revenge again, that sounded lovely as well. However, in the process of doing so… he'd wound up with a lot more people he cared about on a lot deeper of a level than he had in the previous timeline.

After losing Jackie and T-Bug to Konpeki Plaza, V had never really made or joined another crew the first time around. But this time around he did have a proper crew… and no matter what happened going forward, he wanted to be able to protect and take care of all of them.

That meant he needed more power than just a simple mercenary could lay claim to. Rogue, Hanako, Rosalind… these were all powerful connections that allowed him to reach beyond his original means by quite a lot. Alt's capabilities on the Net also provided him with far greater reach there than he'd had previously.

But Barghest… well, that was quite a lot of wealth and firepower controlled by a now dead man who no longer needed it. And while V wasn't inclined to directly control it himself for longer than necessary, hence involving Mr. Hands, he definitely wanted to keep his fingers on the pulse of the organization going forward.

All of this goes through his head as he sits there and waits for the Fixer on the other side of the desk to come to the same conclusion that he already has… in the end, Chester Bennett was not the right choice for the new world that V had set up.

"If you're up for a bit of… additional cleanup, I think we can make things work V. The best 'successor' for our purposes is a man named Jago Szabo… Barghest's head accountant and the one with the purse strings. However, we'll have to pave the way for him if we really want him to take over… as well as keep an eye out in case of challenges after the fact."

V smirks, tilting his head to the side.

"I assume that means you want me to off Chester Bennett, preferably in the same blast that officially kills Kurt Hansen?"

Mr. Hands twitches ever so slightly at having his original choice name dropped like that. But then, he should have been able to guess that V would have the man's name on his mind. Between Chester and Jago, they really were the only two possible successors.

"That would be… preferable. However, we need Jago to come out of things looking squeaky clean. None of Chester's subordinates are nearly as capable as he is, but that won't stop them from raising a fuss and making a mess of things if they believe Jago had anything to do with his assassination."

V chuckles and shakes his head.

"Of course. But that won't be a problem… all things considered, Hansen has a far greater enemy to pin his death on thanks to recent events."

Mr. Hands' eyes widen in realization before narrowing thoughtfully. Finally, he nods.

"That would work, yes. I suppose we have a tentative agreement between us V. Now… let's talk details."

Grinning rather fondly (Mr. Hands really is his favorite Fixer if he's being honest) V leans forward.

"Yes. Let's."

-x-X-x-

Jago Szabo knew he was not the strongest or toughest motherfucker to ever grace the streets of Night City or Dogtown. He knew that in a straight up fight, he was only as good as the targeting system in his Smart Weapon.

He still had his pride though. If Barghest were an actual Corp, he would be the CFO, a position of no small amount of importance. As it was, he was effectively Barghest's chief money whisperer, the sort of man who kept the cash flow stable and always had the books balanced.

Admittedly, he often felt like the odd man out given the likes of Hansen and his other chief subordinates were all very macho men with military backgrounds, but Jago didn't let that get to him. He didn't let that stop him from aiming as high as he could and working oh so diligently to continue achieving his goals.

However… he had to admit, Hansen's decision making of late had been rather questionable. Breaking off from NUSA in the wake of their failure to take Night City was one thing. Hansen and his men had done their jobs and conquered a large swathe of Pacifica… giving up all of that capital, all of that value just because their government had failed to capitalize on their success… it was unconscionable.

In that regard, Jago had been happy to have helped Kurt Hansen lay the foundations of Barghest. He might not have been there when they still held loyalty to NUSA, but coming in during the early days of their defiant breakaway and bringing with him his corporate skills and smuggling connections had allowed him to prove his worth quite quickly.

But trying to assassinate the President of NUSA was just… foolhardy. NUSA had disavowed them, had decried them, had denounced them… but that was all to be expected really. At the end of the day, they could do nothing else. Beyond that though, NUSA had made no effort to punish or reclaim their wayward personnel, making it quite clear that they simply didn't have the power… or more likely the willpower in particular, to aim for such a thing.

And that was fine. It was good even. Barghest and Dogtown were a medium-sized player in a game of giants and titans, big enough to make their own moves but small enough to not be worth destroying.

You know, unless they actually went ahead and assassinated a head of state publicly and without hesitation. The attempted murder of President Rosalind Myers hadn't been some amazing tactical play… it had been foolhardy and very clearly driven by emotion. Hansen had gone for the kill to try to make a name for himself.

Privately, Jago thought Hansen's name was perfectly fine already. And to get any bigger than they already were… would invite reprisal. Especially if one tried to assassinate the NUSA President and then failed.

Coming to a stop outside of a certain door, Jago sighs, his shoulders slumping momentarily before he straightens up and squares them again. With his hands clasped behind his back, he sends a ping to the door that causes it to slide open and allows him to step inside.

Everyone important is already within of course. Half a dozen men, with Kurt Hansen at the head of the table and Chester Bennett next to him. When Jago enters, they all look over and Hansen grins.

"Ah, Szabo you're finally here. Good, come and join us, I've got news."

Jago ignores the narrowed eyed look that Bennett is giving him, knowing full well that the other man doesn't like him and thinks very little of him in general. In the end it doesn't matter. So long as Hansen still draws breath, Jago is protected from the other man.

He starts to move forward to join Hansen and Bennett on the other side of the room… however, before he can, something else happens. The doors to the room suddenly seal shut and a monitor on the far wall blips on seemingly of its own accord. All eyes turn towards it, including Jago's… and his eyes widen at the face he sees staring back at them.

Rosalind Myers, Third President of the New United States of America, sweeps her gaze back and forth across the room for a moment before sneering at Hansen.

"I see you're all together. Good, I would hate to have to give this message twice."

That's the only warning they receive. Jago is already reaching out with his cyberware, already trying to see if he can hack the room's already hacked security and escape… but it's too late. The bomb goes off and the room explodes.

Jago is thrown back into the door he just walked through, hitting it hard as the blast blazes over him. He cries out in pain and his cries are in turn joined by the men who had been at the far end of the table, furthest away from Kurt Hansen.

Later on, Jago Szabo will learn that the bomb was planted directly under Kurt Hansen's chair. The man himself goes up in flames, dying rather gruesomely… and Chester Bennett joins him in that death, no amount of muscle or cyberware able to save the meathead from being blown to pieces by the high-powered explosive.

Jago gets lucky. He and the lower ranking lieutenants closest to the door only suffer some third degree burns and broken bones. And thanks to Jago's connections and the tight hold he's always kept on Barghest's purse strings, nobody is willing to let him die.

In the end, NUSA's retaliation is crippling… but not unrecoverable. Or so Jago thinks after waking up in a private hospital bed and spending the next week or so in convalescence.

When he finally gets out of that bed and gets back to work as Barghest's new leader however, the head accountant will be quickly disabused of the notion that he's truly in charge, Especially when he learns that all of Barghest's systems and accounts are under the control of someone far greater than him.

Whether it's NUSA or something else, Jago Szabo will find himself wearing invisible chains… if he wants to keep his power, if he wants to continue to achieve his goals and strive to accomplish his ambitions, then he will have to serve the shadowy figures who have cleared the way for him to become leader of Barghest.

Otherwise they won't just burn him like they burned Hansen and Bennett… they'll destroy everything he's ever accomplished as well.

-x-X-x-

The Vote:

[ ] Stick with V's POV - 20%[X] Switch to So Mi's POV - 80%

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