"Aww man, I totally need some decent guns for that tournie coming up. Can't do worth crap with those damn Drakes..." Said the boy sitting at a table in a dimly lit room on surface of New Tokyo. It was a Sake bar, not known to many, which was exactly why the young Genichi and his friends had chose it as the place to gather when they had nothing more interesting to do. It wasn't a high class place, just a simple bar, serving a half-decent Sake, but what they liked about it was that no one cared about what anyone else in the bar were up to. Everyone were there just to pass their time and go back to living their normal life. Genichi and his friends gathered there a couple of times a week, sitting around the same table every time and talking about everything and nothing while drinking Sake and smoking a cigarette or two. This time, just back from a practice session, Genichi was annoyed because they had lost to a group from Kyushu who were using nothing but Flashpoint Eagles. "But what you gonna do man? It's not like we can do as good as them in Flashpoint Eagles." Said his friend Hiro in his usual as-a-matter-of-fact tone. Where Genichi was the fist of their group, Hiro played the brains, never giving in to emotions and always keeping the most logical perspective over any matter. "You know what? I bet those losers weren't even using normal Flashpoints, I bet they had modified them or something..." Said Genichi in a mad tone, only to watch his friends chuckle before he was even finished. "Why are you always like this Gen?" Said Yuji, his older cousin, the unofficial 'founder' of their group. "Just because someone managed to beat you doesn't mean they're doing anything wrong... Maybe they were just better!"
Genichi Fujiwara was the only son of Hideo Fujiwara, descendant of Hiroshi Fujiwara founder of one of the oldest Hogosha families. Even though there was not much left of their family's might and power, his father - a completely traditional and cultural man - still believed their family to be one of the strongest, mightiest and proudest families of the Hogosha, which was why Genichi and his father always had arguments on how should the only son of the family continue his life. The gang fights Genichi had gotten himself into, as one example, was subject of most of their arguments. Not only all the ships damaged and destroyed in the process was a total waste of resources, it also risked his life if anything went wrong - His father believed -. But foremost, the biggest concern for his father was if one day his son lost in a duel, it would directly effect their family's reputation not only among the Hogosha, but throughout the Kusari as a whole. Which was why the young Genichi only gave his father small hints of his victories and never mentioned his defeats. Even though their family wasn't the strongest and the most influenced among the Hogosha anymore, they still had a bit of a reputation left from the old days, known only to the members of older families of Hogosha, which had gotten Genichi out of trouble a few times. He kept using his family's history to his own benefit despite knowing his father wouldn't take kindly on it if he found out about his son's actions. But even knowing the risks, he was planning to use their family's reputation - And of course, his father's bank account - to his own advantage once again.
"Reiji, your uncle went to Naval academy, right?" He turned to his friend as Reiji raised an eyebrow and leaned back crossing his arms before saying "Yeah, why?". Continuing with a smirk, Genichi said "He wouldn't happen to have a friend of sorts who can get me some Frenzies, huh?" Chuckling and shaking his head, Reiji said "You know I've never gotten myself involved in all these not-so-legal stuff you've been doing lately, so you know I can't really help you on this one. But if you want, you can have a chat with my uncle yourself." Reiji's uncle wasn't the usual type of Hogosha. His plan was to join the Naval Forces, but after losing an arm and a leg during an eject mechanism malfunction in last months of his training, he had decided to follow in his brother's footsteps and join the Hogosha, where he could gain profit even without leaving to space. He was the greedy type and Genichi knew it, which was the exact reason why he knew his only chance of getting the guns he wanted was through Reiji's uncle, Ryuu Satsumoto.
"So tell me Fujiwara-san, what is it that interests you in contacting an old man like me?" Said Ryuu Satsumoto reclining on his wheelchair and staring the young Genichi in the eyes. He knew about Genichi's father's wealth, and had heard a rumor or two about Hideo Fujiwara's son's shady deals, so he could already guess what Genichi was going to ask from him involved money and under-the-table deals. "Let's get straight to the point, shall we?" Said Genichi, trying to keep his voice as calm as he could. Seeing Satsumoto's silence he continued, "Let's say I want to... Buy, something but I want to stay out of the deal myself, for which I obviously have my own reasons. So I need you to be the middle man cause I know you're good at it, and of course, you'll get yourself a little bonus too if you get it done fast and quiet." Chuckling at how fake the calmness in the boy's voice sound to him, Satsumoto smiled and asked "What is it that you want to buy Fujiwara-san, how can I help you with it and how much money are we talking about?" The boy crossed his arms, staring the man in the eyes and said in a lower voice "Four Sunfrenzy mark threes, and I don't care how you get em as long as no one comes looking for 'em. And well... We'll pretend they're codenames. Ten millions each."
Hearing what the boy was asking for and how much he was offering for it, Satsumoto couldn't help but to smirk. So rolling his wheelchair backward he said before turning and leaving the bar "Consider it already taken care of. I will get you the guns sorted out soon as I receive the cash." After Satsumoto disappeared through the door, Genichi leaned back and lit a cigarette, staring at his laptop screen where he had his father's account into open and forty millions ready for transfer. "That miserable old fool has nearly two billions on his freakin account. He wouldn't notice a million or two missing... But why risk it?" So, opening a private session he transferred the cash to Satsumoto's account and started deleting the cookies after the transfer was complete, because he knew if his father noticed the missing cash by any chance, he'd know no one but his son could've had access to his account detail.
Now that the deal was done, he had to wait to get his guns and he hoped he'd have enough time to practice with them before the actual tournament started. He knew flying around with 'stolen' Naval Forces gear would get him in serious trouble, but he just wanted them for the tournament, just to show everyone how good he actually is if he has proper gear. The tournament they were getting ready for was much like a gang war where different Hogosha groups from around Kusari gathered in Nagano to fight each other and announce the best group of the year, who'd then take the high traffic spot of Honshu gate in Sigma-13 until the next tournament. Even though the tournament was never officially recognized by the Black Dragon Society, but it was never stopped either. It was just a bunch of young Hogosha pilots learning how to fight over power and keep it under the radar at the same time, which was why the tournament was always held in Nagano, where there was no Naval or Police surveillance, and with the rising conflicts between the house of Kusari and the Gas Miners Guild, many more group of Hogosha pilots were attracted to the year's tournament because they knew now that the Guild's cries for help would go unanswered from the Naval forces, piracy in Sigmas was much easier and it could even give them the opportunity to cover their piracy acts under the label of patriotism.
"Want another Sake? It's on me..." Said Genichi with a satisfied look on his face, "That's of course, if we're here right now so you can tell me you got the guns sorted out!", "Of course... Fly to Kabukicho, talk to the equipment dealer, tell him Satsumoto left you a little souvenir from his last trip to Kyushu... He should take care of the rest." Ryuu Replied in a calm voice. So, leaning back with a smirk on his face, Genichi lit a cigarette and asked "So, tell me... Just over pure curiosity, how did you get the guns? It's not like I'd care if I'll be flying around with a dead cop's gear or anything. Just want to know how 'clean' your work is in case I'd ever need your hel-... Uhm, in case I'd ever decide to do business with you again." With a fake chuckle, Satsumoto replied in a lower voice "No need to worry about the 'dead cop' stuff. Half a dozens of Naval Forces snubcraft were decommissioned less than a week ago... Let's just say, the set of Sunfrenzies on one of those Chimaeras simply fell off!" As Satsumoto finished his sentence, Genichi crossed his arms, nodding with the same smirk on his face and listened to the man say before he rolled his wheelchair out of the door "And arigato for the offer on a second Sake, but I don't drink much. I suggest you do the same, it's not healthy."
Half an hour later, as his friends had gathered around their usual table in the bar, Genichi tapped on the table with his fingertips and started "Well... Brothers, my guns are sorted out, I'll get em mounted on my ship today, and those Honshu farm boys with their stupid Eagles won't even stand a chance!" But as he saw everyone silent, he studied the expression on each of their faces and then asked "What? That's good news, isn't it?" Hiro, clearing his throat answered "Already told you Gen, it's too risky it's not really worth it. I mean... If you had gotten the guns legally, then no problem, but look at it this way - You'll either do better with these guns than Drakes, or you'll just do as good without them. If they don't give you an edge, it's just gonna turn this whole under-the-table deal into a total waste of money, and if you actually do better with those guns... Have you even considered how much trouble you can get in if you doing better with a gun others can't use pisses someone off enough to take a couple of guncams and pass it to the Police?", "Aw c'mon man... Don't be such a sissy! It's one tournie, just this one, then we're good with Drakes for a whole year to come!" replied Genichi, clearly annoyed by Hiro's logical stance like always. "You know, he's right. It's not worth the risk..." Added Reiji "I mean... I didn't get what you wanted to do at first, I thought you just wanted a fancy trophy or something. But actually using those Frenzies in the tournie, it might get all of us in trouble!" So getting up and taking his phone off the table, Genichi threw an annoyed glance at Reiji and said before walking out of the bar "Well you know what? If the guns start causing trouble, I'll ditch em and just step out of our little group so you won't have to worry about it anymore. But if the guns actually do save our asses out there, you're gonna thank me later and you know it."
"You... Are a total disgrace to our family, our honor, our history, our name... You are a worthless thief, a vulture, a good-for-nothing thug..! And definitely unworthy of being known as my son!" His father shouted as he barged into his room while walking in a circle around the room staring at the floor like every time he got really upset. Not knowing what had happened, Genichi turned around to his father asking "What's wrong? Will you calm down already?!", "Why should I calm down when I come back home just to find my only son's ship parked right next to mine, with stolen guns mounted on it?" His father shouted, leaving Genichi with no answer. "You think I'm blind or an idiot? I might have gotten old, but I know the difference well enough when I see Naval tech or Hogosha tech. Tell me, where did you get those guns from?", so clearing his throat, Genichi cleared his throat and answered "Erm... Those are a set of Disinfectors I got from Kabukicho...?" but his father, folding his arms and throwing an angry glance at him said "Don't try to fool me... I've been in Hogosha long before you were even born. I know well enough that the Disinfectors sold on Kabukicho are Samura-built. The guns on your ship are clearly built by the Naval forces. And I've got someone running a scan on tho-..." But before he was finished, beeping of his pager made him stop and stare at the screen of the pager then looking back at Genichi, his face clearly more angry than he was. "Sunfrenzies..." He muttered, then started shouting again "I don't care how and where you got them from, but I will tell you this one thing young man... If those guns aren't off your ship till this evening... You're no longer my son."
'Aw man... This is going worse than I thought. Never expected that old man actually notice the guns...' Genichi thought to himself just as his father left the room. Running his fingers through his hair, he took a deep breath, thinking on his next move. He sure wasn't going to simply unmount the guns after all the trouble he had gone through to get them sorted out, but he knew if he wanted to stick with the guns, his father was actually mad enough to report him to the Police for using 'stolen' guns. So getting up and putting on his flight suit, he decided to head to Tottori early, where they were supposed to meet with their friends for another practice session. But as he was in the corridor he heard his father shouting again. "You filthy thief! Stop right there!" and as he turned around his father started shouting again before he had a chance to reply, "You not only steal from your Navy, your government, your house, your people... You steal from your father too?!" and holding a printed piece of paper in front of Genichi he continued "You've stolen forty millions from my account! Have you spent the cash on bribing someone to get you the guns? You're such a pathetic little being..." And slapping Genichi in the face he shouted "Get out of my house! You're no longer my son... You are no longer a member of this family..."
Flying through the Kanto field, with autopilot set to Tottori jumphole, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn't know what to do, because he knew his father and knew now that he had finally said those words, there would be no way for him to step into that house again, and he was sure his father had already reported him for the guns he had mounted on his ship. Just as his ship passed next to Kyushu jumphole, he started to wonder... What if he simply disappeared? What if he moved away from Kusari to wherever the Police or the Navy had no jurisdiction? Then he could simply fly around and use the guns how he liked without anyone questioning him. He remembered that Libertonian mercenary he had once met on the same Sake bar on New Tokyo. He had told him about how life of a mercenary was. He had told him about a place beyond Kyushu called "Barrier Gate" where freelancers had a base of their own, and how some people were actually living freeport to freeport, picking up random contracts along the way for a quick buck. Now that he thought about it, now that he didn't have a place to call "home" anymore, if there was only one way to live on his own without anyone questioning anything that he does, it was the life that the mercenary had told him. So getting the ship out of autopilot and doing a full turn he started cruising toward the Kyushu jumphole, knowing it won't be as good as he hopes but at least something to live with and live on his own, without anyone questioning anything that he does.
