Ravens of Eternity

61 Payout

After everything was said and done, the Seven went back to their rented office. It was their intent to clean up, split the bounty, then hang up their hats. At least for the time being.

Each had gotten nearly 45k out of all the bounties they turned in. It certainly wasn’t a bad sum at all. Especially for less than a week’s worth of work. They spent far less than that on their expenses.

On top of that, they had taken Nightmare’s guns, armor, and ships away as well. Technically, they weren’t supposed to be able to do that. Technically, that was theft.

Technically, they didn’t care.

So somehow those ships ended up getting fenced through grey markets until they vanished completely.

Though the paid sum was much less than if they were sold legally, it still amounted to a great deal – a few million. Decidedly far from small change.

However, instead of keeping it, they collectively decided to split it up between all of the other victims as well.

Through their investigations, they had found close to two hundred and fifty victims (or their families), themselves included.

It amounted to everyone getting a 15k credit slice. Though it wasn’t much for some, it was a great deal for others.

.....

The rest of the Seven convinced Amal to pocket her share. Or did their best to, anyway. In the end she decided to keep it, only because she knew she could give it away at any time.

But perhaps the best thing that came out of all of it had no monetary reward at all. They helped clean the galaxy up. It was just a little, but it still felt great to do.

Scum like Nightmare and his crew had brought misery to hundreds of people in a scant amount of time. He already had a frigate, and it had really been a couple of months since they all arrived. He was definitely a busy little bee.

And though his rise was alarming, it was clear to them that he was recruited. Someone had bankrolled Nightmare.

But for what reason? To throw people off their land? To harass and destroy convoys? Was he getting paid to simply sow chaos?

“I have observed something interesting in our data,” said Miko. “Some of Nightmare’s victims follow a certain pattern.”

“Please Raijin,” said Xylo, “job’s done and we can relax for a bit, alright?”

“Hold on,” interjected Locke. “I wanna hear it.”

“‘Course you would,” Xylo sighed.

Locke nodded at Miko, who then continued.

“I found that Nightmare and his crew were hired to harass a specific convoy company. It was never in a specific system, and never for anything important. Just everyday goods. They attacked half a dozen convoys, though they never stole anything. They merely destroyed the convoy itself.”

The Seven murmured to themselves as they thought about it more.

It was typical for Nightmare to do that. Being a griefer was deep in his bones. But why target that convoy company?

It didn’t sit right with any of them.

“There are other anomalies in the data,” she continued, “and there may be more patterns I have yet to uncover. I will need time to dissect.”

“So what you’re saying is what, exactly?” asked T-Rex. “Some super rich evil guy is behind the scenes, blowing up nothing important? I think it’s more like some rival company trying to nip at their competition’s margins. See that all the time.”

“Then why attack the Laertidus farm?” asked Locke. “Someone big wanted that land. Someone big wanted those convoys destroyed. Might be connected. Might not. But we’d best take a look anyway.”

“Let’s say you’re right,” interjected Fluke. “Whoever it is has a super big bank account. Doesn’t matter if they’re a dragon or a Triple-S corp. Either way, it means we’re brushing up against something that we really shouldn’t. I’m not sure this is something we should get into. Giving me a rash thinkin’ about it.”

Xylo groaned.

“Do we have to do this right now? Can’t we just go drink and party and celebrate already? We won! Yay!”

She sarcastically made celebratory movements with her arms.

“Alright,” said Eva. “Let’s close up shop for a while – at least a month or so. But let’s all keep our eyes and ears open though.”

“You got it,” said T-Rex. “And if anyone needs any help, just holler at me.”

Everyone affirmed the same with everyone else. They were the Seven, and would be there for each other no matter what.

They had taken down Nightmare together, and promised to take down more scum in the future. But for now, they needed to get back into their normal lives.

Most of them walked out as they headed towards their favorite drinking hole. However, Amal stopped and turned towards Eva and Miko right at the doorway.

“Thank you both,” she said. “For helping me out. For helping all of us out. I don’t think any of us had the will to get back at Nightmare.”

“He had it coming,” Eva replied.

“How are the Laertidus coping?” asked Miko.

“After I told Jionna that we put Nightmare away,” Amal replied, “she immediately started talking about going back to the farm to do repairs. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”

Amal stifled a laugh. She realized that Miko was right – Jionna would never let that land die.

“I think I’ll go back too,” she continued. “For a little while anyway. Help them put their lives back together, that sort of thing. Don’t think I’ll stay though. I think I wanna go see some stars. You know, for Dareon, since he didn’t get the chance to.”

Eva and Miko glanced at each other, and nodded. Amal was just like the two of them. Strong, smart, willful, and also hopelessly lost in a massive galaxy.

“You’re welcome to fly with us if you wish,” offered Eva. “After you’re done with your business, of course.”

Amal beamed at them.

“Really? That would actually be pretty great! You two seem... really capable. I don’t feel very usef-”

“Stop right there,” barked Miko. “There will be none of that here. Without you, we would never have caught Nightmare. We would probably have not even bothered with any of this, and simply spaced him. Which was our original plan.”

Amal blinked.

Eva laughed lightly.

“It’s true,” she said. “We were gonna chase his tail by climbing up the ladder. Never in a hundred years did we think we’d end up building a team and doing what we did. And yet here we are, thanks to your strength.”

Amal nodded, then smiled at the both of them.

“Thank you both so much,” she said. “I’d be happy to join you.”

“I hope you find performing less-than-legal acts acceptable,” Miko told Amal.

The two of them then walked off and talked as they trailed their other companions.

Eva looked around the now-empty investigative office, then shut off the light.

~

The blank terminal screen suddenly flickered back on. Or, at least, its contents did.

Mack had adjusted something on the PC, and sat back down.

“How ’bout now?” he asked.

“Yup,” said Eva. “Picture’s up again.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“You didn’t mess with my computer, did you?”

Mack glanced at the mass of cables that came from behind it. It looked as though they literally burst out from inside.

“Just had to squeeze in some new stuff,” he replied. “It’s a lotta data, yannow? Cables, whatnot.”

Eva grinned. She had honestly stopped caring about that a long while ago. But she enjoyed giving him shit. It felt like a good hobby to have.

All this time, they had been streaming everything to Mack, as well as recording it all. They had planned to make a short series and post them on their channels.

Both sides worked diligently to cut their episodes together, and chronicled Nightmare’s takedown from start to finish.

Mack worked long hours to build the vids while Eva and Miko took turns to create the ‘casts.

They were running out on time and were close to starting Commander Chase’s contract. But they still put in long hours and got their work done.

A large part of their show had centered on the emotional and physical damage that Nightmare had caused. It was critical that they showed the pain that many of his victims had gone through.

Though they had cut out the most private portions, such as Amal’s assault, what was left was still incredibly heavy.

They especially showed the grievances of the Seven, and showed snippets of them. They showed bits and pieces of their story. Times when they spoke at the support group, or in the investigation office, or at the campsite.

They reinforced just what kind of person Nightmare was, and it made for his capture all the more satisfying.

Although their release schedules were completely different – Mack released weekly while Eva and Miko released them all at once – the reception was still strong.

They were very well received in both universes. On Earth, many of Nightmare’s victims had watched it.

He had played numerous games, and assaulted so many of them outside of Bellum Aeterna. He had a great many victims, and they all watched the series.

When they saw him get his due, they all felt a wave of gratitude and relief. And of course, they shared it with their friends.

“This is the guy that attacked me! He got wrecked!” was the typical mantra.

The ‘casts also found a foothold in the new universe. After all, Nightmare had plagued many Bellum Aeterna players – thousands of them over the course of years.

And when they saw the ‘casts, they quickly identified with all of the victims’ stories. Some actively cheered when he was taken down. Some wanted Amal to shoot him.

Tens of thousands of players in both universes shared those vids and casts. They spread like wildfire, and over time got their channels some serious views.

Subscriptions climbed up. Comments poured in. And though not all of the attention they got was positive, Eva didn’t care much.

.....

As long as there were eyes on the videos, the better off everyone was going to be.

“I think we should get some sponsorship, and do ad banners,” said Mack. “I’m getting a toooon of calls and emails. This one game company offered a $2k payout per video sponsorship slot! Crazy, right!?”

Eva flat out refused him. She didn’t like the idea of advertising in the content they made.

“Most sponsorships are pretty scummy,” she said, “and ad banners just ruin how the whole thing looks... I absolutely hate seeing them anywhere.”

“Should consider,” said otousan. “Many streams create river.”

He made motions with his hands: they moved towards each other at an angle, then crashed when they met.

“If the goal is simply to earn money,” said Miko, “then our ethics should not interfere.”

“I know, I know,” said Eva. “I just feel really scummy putting ads in there.”

“I’m with Eva,” said granddad. “I don’t like the ads either. I see ’em way too often, everywhere. Billboards and videos and email. Soon it’ll be in our food, floating in our milk.”

“We have done much more that leaves a far dirtier taste,” Miko rebutted.

Miko’s father half-heard what she had said, and jumped up slightly.

“Say again?” he said.

But the two of them did their best to ignore him as naturally as they could.

“Think of it as money for your grandparents,” Miko continued. “Does it really matter where the money comes from?”

Eva knew that Miko was right. They had done many things that didn’t always sit right with them. But they had places to be and things to do, so how they got there didn’t quite matter as much.

So why stop with video ads?

Eva sighed deeply.

“Alright,” she said. “Let’s open up the floodgates and see where the ads can take us.”

“Okay,” said Mack.

“But we need to be able to pull out of those deals whenever we want, got it? Make sure our contracts are solid.”

“Okay.”

“And also...”

“Okay!” said Mack preemptively. “Don’t worry! I got it!”

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