Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.
Betad by Priapus, Beans
The Celestial Punk
Chapter 04: The Nomads
– Luis Ibarra –
100cp granted, 600cp total
To say I made a lot of friends tonight would be the understatement of a lifetime. The Aldecaldos are big on family, which means I've saved the 'family' of pretty much every member of this camp, nearly a hundred Nomads wanting to buy me a drink or slap me on the back once I got finished healing the other injured.
That's a lot of drinks. I don't even like beer but you can't say no without feeling like a bastard when they're trying to thank you. Luckily, Jackie does like beer and I have zero shame in making him drink most of them. Give me my NiCola any day. Saul even brought out the good drinks for the party, some admittedly amazing tequila they apparently picked up in Mexico during their travels. It even came with a story of the smuggling job they were doing there.
But being the star of the show is not for me. I am not a party person. It's not that I don't like them, I've been to far too many for that, but I find them tiring and usually bow out early. I can't exactly do that when we're staying the night and I'm the guest of honour. No way to just skidaddle without insulting our hosts.
"You look as comfortable as a corpo in church," Panam says with amusement, getting my attention. "Not a party person, are you?"
"I'm Latino. Do you know how many parties happen in Heywood each week?" I say simply, leaning against a table. "What I'm not used to is being the centre of attention. I'm more of a 'stand in the corner for an hour then go home' kinda guy."
Panam laughs at that, leaning against the same table as she looks around.
"You should just tell them to fuck off if they're bothering you. We nomads are thick-skinned folks, and blunt honesty works better than politeness," Panam chuckles. "But if the party is too busy for your liking, I'm sure we could slip away and find something else to do."
I really tried to not take it that way, but judging from Panam's small grin she knows exactly where my mind went. I swear, I'm not usually this bad.
"After all, I can't deny that I'm curious about just how wild the ride would be," Panam purrs before laughing. "Your car, Luis. Down boy. I like you, but I'm not that kind of girl."
"Ah, curious to see what I did to my baby as a fellow Mackinaw appreciator?" I ask, trying not to show my embarrassment. I grew up around the fucking Valentinos, I shouldn't be having trouble with a little flirting.
"You're damn right I'm curious. Every techie in the clan pored over that van of yours, and all of us were left scratching their heads. Why wouldn't I want to see what you can do with your own baby, rather than something you made for someone else," Panam admits shamelessly.
Come on power, give me something to help me impress the hot Nomad girl.
[Cult] - 200cp, 400cp remaining
Source: Demon: The Fallen
You are loved, Jumper. Shortly after setting foot in this world, between fifty and a hundred people will quickly pledge their lives to you. They have seen the divinity that dwells within your soul, and worship you as a God. This cult exists in every world you travel to in some fashion. These men, women and children are an excellent source of Faith. Can be taken more than once, and further purchases are discounted.
Hmm. Not… quite what I had in mind. And seeing as neither Panam or the Nomads seem to be throwing themselves at my feet, I should probably try and find out exactly who this means. Shaking my head, I focus on what matters, impressing Panam so I can shoot my shot. Jackie was always saying I needed to get out more.
[Omnitool | Scanner] - 200cp, 200cp remaining
Source: Mass Effect Andromeda
[Omnitool]
You get an omni-tool loaded up with programs and information that'd be best suited for unsupported colonization in a new galaxy. Because the Andromeda Initiative knew that they'd be going with a finite supply of ammo, medi-gel and power cells, each omni-tool can recover and repurpose appropriate resources to serve appropriate functions. For example, liquid coolant allows weapon heatsinks to be reused, and organic compounds can be refined into medi-gel. They can also convert consumable items into immediately usable forms. Finally, they do everything else regular omni-tools can: Communication, manufacturing fabricator, sensor analysis, and computer mainframe.
[Scanner]
This omni-tool mounted system is how the Andromeda Initiative plans to rapidly survey planets. This system is a fast and accurate sampling system that is formally known as Panoptes. When linked to an AI, it can produce multiple analyses and predictive models in seconds, turning what would be the surveying work of weeks into mere moments. For most purposes it uses a transmitted accelerator mass spectrometer to create a snapshot of an object's components, atomic weight, and radioactivity, allowing for in-depth analysis. For biological materials, the system switches to an electrospray ionization system, so that plants or animals can be scanned without causing radiation damage. For a Jumper, you no longer need to have an AI linked to the system for it to work, though that would help. You can also take DNA scans of organisms for further study, and scan devices to help you figure out what they do, and maybe later reproduce them. Lastly, if you have a longer ranged sensor system, you could link the Scanner to that to scan further away, even if being in the Scanner's original range would get you clearer results.
Uhh, yeah that'll help.
[Hardware] - 200cp
Source: Star Wars KOTOR
Gives you training in how to operate, repair and improve machines. You can easily rebuild broken droids from salvaged parts, and you'll even be able to fix starships given enough time and equipment.
Yeah, that'll help a lot.
"Sure, I don't mind letting you take a peek under the hood. Or giving your ride a onceover, if you can tolerate someone else touching your baby," I say with a confident smirk (that I stole from Jackie).
Look, the fucker pulled the hottest girl in Heywood and then jumped from her to the hottest goth in Night City. He's gotta be doing something right and it sure as fuck ain't his hairstyle that keeps pulling the baddest of bitches. Not that Misty is a bitch. Camilla, now she was a bitch, but Misty is a sweetheart. A sweetheart in leather skirts and fishnets that treats me exclusively like a younger brother, and has a fondness for physical displays of affection.
"You are not wrong. I don't let just any guy get his hands all over my girls. I just might make an exception," Panam agrees. Okay, she's definitely flirting with me. Something has to be going right.
…I'm starting to wish I didn't push Jackie to drink way too much because I could use some advice right now. Raul has never had a single relationship last and not explode in his face. Maybe Mama Welles? No, I'm an Edgerunner now, I'm too badass to need advice on how not to fumble the bag. Surely. Probably.
Leading her over to my ride, I'll admit I show off a bit. Not just because there's a pretty girl around but because I am genuinely proud of my ride. There's not a single piece I haven't upgraded or replaced, not even the seats. The advantage to doing work for Raul is that when some fancy corpo car gets chopped, I can take the first pick of the parts in exchange for some work. Way cheaper than actually buying the parts.
Panam was right that her clan don't take offence to me fucking off for a bit, but some of the jeers very much suggest they think we're sneaking off to fuck. Panam treats those implications in the same way I treat Jackie or Raul doing the same if they see me spending time with anyone vaguely feminine, with a middle finger and a roll of her eyes.
"What is that thing?" Panam asks, spotting the scanner in the back.
"Ah. That's just something I threw together for the job. Needed a way to track down the Wraiths and there's not much in the way of tech out here. Barely any cameras and half the ones that do exist don't even work," I explain with a casual shrug. "I know my own van well enough to make something capable of tracking it. I'm going to take it to the garage tomorrow and install some anti-theft mechanisms, I don't want to have to track it down again. We're lucky they stayed so close, rather than just taking it and riding for the sunset."
"You could use our garage. We're Nomads, we have just about everything you could ever need to mod anything that moves," Panam points out. "This baby was made for the city, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. The wheels don't love this rough terrain. I was going to get some off-road wheels and store them in the back but I think I'm just going to modify the Merrimac to be my off-roader. The Wraiths did half the work, and as much as I love the Merrimac, it's too big for Heywood. Night City's roads aren't always wide enough for a beast like that," I muse, rubbing my chin. "Still, even a city Mackinaw is still a Mackinaw, and I didn't upgrade all the parts for it to struggle with a little sand."
"Indeed. Can I take her for a spin? Just around the camp? I want to see how she moves," Panam asks, running her hand along the steering wheel as she bites her lip.
"Sure. I'm not so picky over who gets to go on this ride," I joke.
"Iris will be glad to hear it, once she escapes Carol," Panam points out with a sly grin as I hop out and get into the passenger seat. Panam climbs into the driver's seat, happening to be bent over as I open the passenger door, entirely by accident I'm sure.
But god damn does she have an amazing ass. And judging from her smirk, she knows it far too well.
"Come on then. Show me just how good you Nomads are behind the wheel," I challenge, getting a laugh from her as she starts up my baby.
"Hang on tight, Luis. We Nomads ride wild," Panam promises.
– V –
If Iris was a minor issue, Panam was a major crisis. Panam was Luis' type, Luis was equally attractive to her, they had similar interests, and she couldn't interfere without seeming like a massive bitch.
If this had happened a month later, she'd have grounds to stand on but as someone who'd just met Luis herself, nothing good would come from cockblocking him. She'd sabotage her own relationship with him, sending her standing in his mind plummeting, and with Luis' personality he might just double down and go for Panam even harder.
"You did not want Luis to heal my people," Saul said, catching her by surprise from where she'd been half-brooding and half enjoying the Badlands ambiance.
"Can you blame me? Would you want one of your people to endanger themselves for one of mine?" V asked plainly. Nomads were blunt people, the silky words of the corpo negotiations wouldn't work here.
"I would not," Saul agreed, standing beside her as they looked out at the badlands, seeing the glow of Night City in the distance. "But I do not appreciate you believing me so ruthless that I would betray someone who saved members of my clan. Nomads do not repay acts of kindness with a knife in the back, corpo."
"No, you might not. Doesn't mean that every member of your clan is trustworthy. If every Nomad was so noble, Raffen wouldn't exist," V countered. Saul grimaced, but he didn't disagree either. She was sure he had 'none of my clan would become Raffen' on his lips, but realism made him silence his own words. She was sure he'd had to exile members before, otherwise why would Iris be worried about being exiled herself? Nobody thinks they're going to be the first in their family to be kicked out. But if others have been, suddenly it seems like a far more possible reality. "And being trustworthy doesn't mean you aren't a risk, and can't be manipulated into giving up the information."
That made him square up, jaw clenched. He had a temper, and wasn't used to being challenged. Or, he just didn't like people speaking back to him. He'd been the leader of the Bright Family for a good long while now. She'd seen it when Panam spoke up against him before.
"The Biotechnica offer is not-"
"Do you know what Biotechnica does to groups like yours?" V cut in, once again seeing his anger at someone speaking out of turn. He'd definitely gotten used to being the one calling the shots, making the hard choices.
"They can give us what we need to become self-sufficient, and the work they have for us is easily done for my clan," Saul countered, posture screaming that he wanted to shut down this line of questioning entirely. He'd probably repeated those words a thousand times to his clan.
"You were right to call me a corpo. A month ago, I was a member of Arasaka Counterintel," V admitted. "Which is why I knew you were making a mistake from the second Panam mentioned Biotechnica."
"Arasaka is not Biotechnica," Saul tried.
"No, they aren't. Arasaka doesn't work with Nomads. Sees themselves as above needing such help. Arasaka would have sent a kill squad to drive you out, if it wasn't for the fact that the Badlands are Militech and Biotechnica's territory. But assuming the Biotechnica are going to play honest with you? Big mistake," V snorted. "Do you know the thing Corpos hate the most?"
"Honesty?" Saul guessed with a wry look. A nice way of calling her full of shit.
"Self-sufficency. Because if you provide everything you need for yourself, you aren't buying. Biotechnica would never let people become self-sufficient. You heard of Crimson Harvest? Terrorist org made up of farmers forced off their land, their crops poisoned because Biotechnica didn't like them providing for their community? They crippled the entire agricultural industry to make sure nobody could provide for themselves, and you think easy work is going to get them to give that up and let you make your own food?" V asked rhetorically.
"We're barely a hundred strong. Hardly a big loss of profits for a group like Biotechnica," Saul countered.
"Crimson Harvest has a million stories of farmers being forced out of business when they were only providing for some tiny village in the ass end of nowhere. Crop licenses, seed restrictions, charging them for the very water that rained upon their fields. Biotechnica don't tolerate competition, whether you're selling to the entirety of Night City or growing tomatoes in your backgarden," V laughed darkly. "But you didn't answer my question. Do you know what Biotechnia does to Nomad groups like yours?"
"No," Saul admitted quietly, unwilling to speak loud enough for any of the various nomads wandering around to hear.
"I do. You want to know why you shouldn't trust Biotechnia? Ask the Red Ocher family. Biotechnica grabbed nearly eighty of them and used them as lab rats until there was nothing left to use, then tossed them some pocket change as hush money when they made a stink about it," V said, deploying her best weapon. Saul froze at that, genuinely shocked. "It was called Project Nightingale, and even handling the corpses proved too dangerous once Biotechnica was done with them. This isn't ancient history. The project ended less than two months ago. While you were negotiating with Biotechnica, rolling over and showing your belly to your would-be corpo overlords, they were using another clan as test subjects for all manner of medical tests. You think they'd let you become independent? Don't make me laugh. My guess? This is just a safer way of getting idiots like you to wander into their labs without needing to outright grab them now that the Red Ocher family is so used up they barely have anyone left to grab."
"Prove it," Saul challenged, his firm tone not hiding his concern or how disturbed he was. V just smirked, pulling out a datachip she'd put all of Padre's intel on and handing it over. He hesitated before chipping it in, his eyes flashing as he went through the information. "...Dr Joanne Koch is the executive I was negotiating with."
"Good to know I was right about their intentions," V said plainly. "Padre believes this testing was done on behalf of Militech, as an attempt to make biological weaponry. The bodies were too toxic for it to be regular testing. Tell me, Saul, who patrols the badlands? Who would be able to order some nomads to pull over for contraband searches only to blackbag them?"
"Militech," Saul agreed with a deep scowl, worry furrowing his brow. "This information is legitimate?"
"It is, but you won't trust it from my mouth. Contact the Red Ocher yourself, Koch tried to buy their silence," V pointed out. "Now, Militech aren't going to be so blatant as to raid your camp and drag you all off for experimentation. They don't want the heat, because the Aldecaldos are far larger than just this little family and that's just one of many Nomad clans. If it becomes known they're doing that kinda shit, Nomads across America start hitting Militech and that's too expensive. My suggestion? Break off negotiations, claim the clan didn't like the idea of working with corpos. Biotechnica will most likely just drop it entirely. You aren't that important to them, they'll get their test subjects either way."
"You are sure of that?" Saul asked.
"Corpos are about the bottom line. The bad PR would hit the stock price, and the cost would outweigh the benefits. If they can get you to be stupid enough to agree, whatever contract they would have made you sign full of funny little clauses you didn't understand, that's one thing. Pulling another Red Ocher so soon is another entirely," V explained. "Especially when Night City has no end of desperate suckers ready to sign their lives away for a pocketful of eddies and a full belly. You're not worth enough for them to force the issue, when the risk is high."
"Perhaps. I will speak to Red Ocher. Then, to the clan," Saul agreed with a scowl. He didn't like being proven a fool, to have to admit that all his detractors were right to say he was wrong to try and make corporate connections. "If you are right, I will owe your group a second time."
"I'm just making sure someone with knowledge of Luis' abilities doesn't end up in corpo hands," V admitted shamelessly, giving him a sly smirk. "We corpos are ruthlessly self-serving, don't you know?"
"Fair enough," Saul said with a small laugh, patting her on the back as he headed back to the others. She watched him wave over the old vets she'd identified as his main advisors. Turning back, she turned up her audio and tuned out the chatter as she continued to look out of the camp, listening as Saul took Carol and Cassidy aside and spread the information she had given him. She couldn't see their faces, but their hushed, angry words confirmed that the two believed her story immediately, all too willing to believe in corpo cruelty. They wouldn't even take their wounded into the city because of how badly Nomads were treated. Why did he expect anything else from the corpos who'd made the city the way it was?
With one issue solved, she focused back on the badlands, her eyes following a familiar Mackinaw as it raced around. What to do about that little issue. It wasn't like sleeping with Luis was her only way of ensuring she kept her place by the 'Saint of Heywood' but it was simply the easiest. Honeypots were a tale as old as time, and sex was the first currency. She still thought the best way to ensure her future was to seduce Luis, but now she had competition. Worse, she had strong competition that had gotten a headstart while she was still trying to lay the groundwork of her own plans.
That didn't mean she'd already lost. Panam was a nomad, she wouldn't come into the city much and V was a part of Luis' team. They'd be working together far more frequently than Panam would have a chance to spend time with him. V was not a jealous girl. If Luis wanted to bang half of Heywood, that was fine. Hell, she'd help him do it. Corpo relationships were rarely about either attraction or loyalty, and she was lucky enough that Luis was cute. The important matter was that he didn't become emotionally compromised with the girls he was banging. She needed him to trust her above any of them, but, as it stood, he barely had a reason to trust her. She was still Jackie's friend who'd joined their team. There was still that unease of a streetkid dealing with a corpo. It was smart of him, but inconvenient for her.
She needed a way to get into his trust. Being a mentor figure could help, because he was fine with letting her take the lead on jobs. He preferred to work behind the scenes, not comfortable with the spotlight. She also needed to become his friend, someone he trusted and relied on, who was also incredibly sexy and open for some benefits. He liked his work being praised and recognised, and she'd happily stroke his ego before she got her hands on some other parts to stroke. But, for tonight, the best thing she could do was not interfere with him and Panam. She'd piss off Panam, and by extension the nomads who were looking like they could be useful and it would also upset Luis and give him a reason to stick with his suspicion of her.
So, despite her instincts telling her that Panam was currently getting ahead, she calmly rejoined the party.
– Panam Palmer –
There was a part of her that wanted to find something wrong with Luis' Mackinaw. It was petty, she knew, but she prided herself on being a pretty good damn techie herself. The fact that his car of choice was the exact same model as hers only stoked her competitiveness. She wanted to find something that would let her mentally go 'Ha, my Mackinaw is better in the Badlands than his'.
As she got out of said Mackinaw, she knew she'd found fuck all. Yes, the wheels weren't the best for the Badlands. There were tiny adjustments that could be made to make it a smoother ride out here, but… Luis was a goddamn miracle worker and she couldn't bring herself to nitpick over such quibbles when his ride was clearly better modded than her own.
"So, think you can trust me to give your girl some tender loving care?" Luis asked with a slightly cocky grin as he leaned against the hood of his ride. She bit her lip, aware that his services would normally cost far more than she could afford. She was not blind to his attraction and no matter how impressive his handiwork, she would not be the type to put out for financial gain. Even to have her ride, the single most treasured possession she had, improved by a master of his craft. She hated that she was even tempted by the idea, but she had her pride.
"And what does your golden touch normally cost?" Panam asked, genuinely curious.
"Eh. Depends on what Raul or the Valentinos want me to do. Frankly, half the time I get paid in parts so I can work on my own ride more," Luis admitted with a laugh. "But that's biz. I don't charge friends, trust me, if I did Jackie would owe me his house, girl and firstborn at this rate with how much work I've done on his bike."
"Oh? So we're friends now?" Panam asked with a grin.
"For now, but it's a start, right?" Luis replied with that same cocky smile. It was more cute than anything else, because he was clearly unused to flirting, not what she'd expect from someone connected to the Valentinos. He wasn't insecure, he knew just how damn talented he was, but with women it seemed a different matter. She was flattered, truly.
She was not unused to being hit on. She was well aware of how she looked, and was familiar with the attention her appearance often gained. Luis' interest felt a lot… sweeter than usual. Sure, he was trying to flirt but he rarely ogled unless she was literally bending over in front of him, and beyond his attempts to be suave, he was more excited to talk shop with another techie than anything else. That alone convinced her to keep going forward, as if the ride had been nothing but corny pickup lines, her own interest would not have been piqued.
"I suppose we'll have to see if we're friends, or something more or less, after you've had your hands all over my baby," Panam agreed. "I must admit, I am curious to see you work."
"You won't be disappointed. Besides, I can't deny that I'm curious to see what nomad mods look like. We both mod for entirely different environments, and it occurs to me that I made the vans to work as if they'd always be on smooth roads," Luis admitted, frowning thoughtfully. He really was dedicated to his craft.
As they moved over to her tent, where her ride was parked beside it, they talked shop and she was impressed by just how much he knew. She preferred her tent to be at the edge of camp, where she could park her ride closer than most and had some distance from the noise of the camp. She loved her clan, but they could be damn noisy and equally nosy, so some distance was required to keep that love strong.
"Here she is, my Warhorse," Panam announced with a grand gesture. Thick armour plates, the turret and electronics built into it, reinforced wheels. She had been damn proud of it before she'd seen what Luis was working with.
"She's a beauty, takes after her owner," Luis flirted, getting a laugh from her but before she could respond he was already focused on the ride. Again, it was a difference between him and most guys flirting with her that made her far more willing to play along. It wasn't like she didn't enjoy the occasional compliment peppered into their conversation. "Now, let's see what we're working with."
Before she could respond, he gestured with his left hand and she watched in surprise as some kind of holographic interface came to life, scanning her ride and instantly making a 3d model above it with unnervingly accurate analysis of her ride, the parts used, and estimates of its capabilities.
"Just what is that?" Panam asked, unable to stop herself. Luis was a source of many mysteries, it seemed.
"My Omnitool," Luis answered, examining the readout. "A craftsman is only as good as his worst tool, right?"
"Indeed," Panam agreed, examining the reading.
"But yeah, I can work with this. We don't have the time, parts or sobriety for any major overhauls, but I can see plenty of places this girl could use a tuneup. You've spared no expense with the parts, huh? These can't have been easy to get in the Badlands," Luis said with an approving nod.
"A nomad's ride is her life. I've had her for over a decade. But you're right, finding the right parts is never an easy thing out here. Nomads have to work with what is available, rather than what is best," Panam admitted, stroking the hood of her car fondly. "When a piece begins to fail, you can't expect to find a perfect replacement, even with a make as loved by those outside of the city. I've put a lot of work into getting all the pieces working together."
"I can tell. There's mismatched pieces that shouldn't be working nearly as well together, but they're working like it's fresh off the factory line," Luis agreed, an impressed smile touching his lips. "But I can do better than factory new."
Bumping the hood open, he examined the engine and made the readout show the same as he began to explain how he planned to work on improving things, sharing the scan of his own ride side by side. Despite being around a decade older than Luis, she listened well as a master of machines gave his lecture, his toolbox already out.
If he truly was trying to impress her, he was doing a damn good job.
"So, you smuggle in this thing, right?" Luis asked, getting a nod from her. His scan had picked up several hidden, or perhaps not so hidden, compartments, so it was an easy guess. "Yeah, thought so. In that case, I know exactly what to do. Ready to make your baby as sneaky as my van? I've got all I need to set that up, and I think we'll be able to scavenge whatever else we need from the camp. Scorpion said I could have anything I wanted but his ride, for saving Mitch anyway."
"You can give my Warhorse the same upgrades?" Panam asked, truly shocked as she immediately started a mantra in her head.
Do not put out on the first night. You are not the kind of girl. Do not put out on the first night. You are not the kind of girl. Do not put out on the first night.
"Oh, easily. Your electronics suite is pretty good for Badlands tech, the soft is a little outdated but I can fix that easily. Just need to copy over the soft from my own ride. Building a new scanner and anti-scan suite won't be hard. Might get a little cramped in the backseat, though. That turret is taking up space," Luis mused, fiddling with the hologram to plan out the changes. "If I had more time, I could optimise the shit out of the electronics suite and make it far smaller, but neither of us should be dismantling a car after three hours of partying."
"Ha, you are not wrong," Panam laughed. "Should we even be doing this much?"
"Probably not, but my hands are still steady. I haven't drank too much to be unable to perform," Luis joked. "Ready to klep a bunch of parts while Saul isn't looking?"
"Ha! Am I ever," Panam snorted. For her Warhorse? She'd do worse. Besides, it was far from the first time she'd dipped into the camp's supplies to mod her baby, and they were doing better with the smuggling job. She wasn't going to take anything she wouldn't be able to pay the family back for.
– Later –
She took back what she said about him being a master of mechanics. He was far more than that, he was a gift from the heavens when it came to machinery. There was nothing more humbling, or more arousing, than to watch him turn scrap and broken electronics into a covert operations suite that a corpo would sell their own mother for.
Installing it into her Warhorse felt like slapping two of those ancient toys together, what were they called? Ah right, legos. Yes, it felt like slapping two pieces of lego together, sliding in perfectly as Luis had designed it to be a perfect fit for the scan he already had of her ride. It slotted in perfectly, only making the backseat mildly uncomfortable. She'd been ready to throw the backseat out entirely for this, so his talent for efficiency was to be praised.
They'd tested it immediately, in the most drunken way possible, by 'rage-baiting' Militech drones. With the scanner, finding a militech drone was no issue at all, and Luis had the wise idea of driving into its search range and turning off the cloaking soft only to turn it back on just before the drone was able to detect them.
This was highly reckless, and also incredibly amusing. What mattered the most was that his cloaking worked exactly as intended. Luis explained that it worked by spoofing the scans entirely, his smart software providing the perfect false data to prevent any alarms from being raised. It was more complicated than that, but that was about as much as she understood in truth.
The Nomads had always claimed the Badlands. Perhaps not in words, but it was their home, where they worked, it was always theirs in spirit. But, not in reality as the corpos grew unsatisfied with only owning most of the world and spread out into their home. So, watching Militech patrols mindlessly pass, without a glance at her Mackinaw, satisfied her in ways she did not believe possible.
Was it stupid to actively bait patrols? Of course it was. But, admittedly, they were kinda drunk. Saul would lecture her for hours if he knew, but he didn't so it didn't matter. He'd also secretly find the idea of corpos scratching their heads in confusion as funny as she did, but he'd never admit it.
But speaking of drunken decisions…
Her lips smashed against Luis' as she straddled his lap, her racing jacket thrown into the backseat and her bodysuit pulled down to her waist as she pressed her bare breasts against his chest. His hands remained firmly on her backside, slid under her jeans. He'd put them on her hips at first, but she'd moved them lower and Luis had not needed a written invitation to get his hands on her ass. Beneath her, she could feel his arousal pressing against her undercarriage, feeling large even through their jeans.
Breaking the kiss, she panted slightly and looked at him with hooded eyes.
"I- I do not put out so easily. Our pants stay on," Panam said, laying down the rules more for her sake than his because she was already tempted to take them off. She had her pride, but reality forced her to admit that if he pushed, she would fold. Maybe she just wanted to say she put up a fight.
"I didn't think I'd hit second base," Luis replied with a soft laugh, giving her ass a squeeze as his eyes went down to her breasts. "Anything beyond getting your number is a bonus."
…damn it, she had both initiated this and escalated it. She was easy!
To avoid her embarrassment, she reached down and adjusted the seat so it went as far back as possible, pinning him down with another kiss. Oddly enough, he didn't argue as she dry-humped him, enjoying the feeling of his hands on her body.
She was proud to say that she resisted the pressure to put out, to ride him right here in the driver seat of her warhorse. She was less proud that every little bit of that pressure was coming from her. Luis was perfectly happy to just play with her ass as they made out.
— Bonus Scene — Luis Ibarra
I should apologise to Padre. There is indeed a God, because only a higher being could be capable of sculpting such a perfect backside.
Amen.
Author's Note: Somewhere, Padre just got the urge to clip Luis around the head and he doesn't know why.
Written: 26/03/2026