150 Highway Star

Hey this work is now officially the longest work I have written, how cool is that?

******

"Cheers!" Everyone in the gang said as we clinked our glasses together before all of us, well almost everyone excluding Kiwi that is, downed our drinks in celebration.

"Man kid accepting you into our crew was probably one of the best decisions I made in a long time, not only that you went and dealt with that scumbag Faraday to boot!" Maine said as he kept laughing along with everyone else.

"Well kinda sad you didn't bring us in but those types of jobs are best done solo like in the first place, at best Kiwi could have been there to help as there's not a chance in hell we could storm the Black Sapphire without getting ripped apart." He said with a sigh as he shook his head.

"Ehh it was fine, let's just say I know people in high places that got me into the Black Sapphire with ease." I said with a shrug which was the truth.

"Hehe, hey Maine because of our shining Star, others are thinking about joining up with our crew, ain't that great?! We're getting into the Big Leagues man!" Pilar said while he wrapped his arm around the old man's shoulders.

"Whoa, ease up on that Pilar, it's not even been a month since Kiwi joined up with us, I think it's best everyone else starts to make a name for themselves as we all become major league players in this biz, sure we're all almost there but with Hifumi doing something that big is putting all the spotlight on him so I think it's best we do big gigs so all of us are in the spotlight together." Dorio says with Maine, Kiwi, Rebecca and even Briar agreeing.

"Really? Hehe, guess I jumped the gun a bit too soon, my bad." He said with an awkward laugh as he began running his hands through his long Mohawk.

"But he's not completely wrong with getting new members, but what we really need is a professional driver, a second Netrunner and I'd say another Generalist like Hifumi or something and I'd say our crew is completely rounded out." Maine said while scratching his chin.

"We need another Netrunner? Why? Is Kiwi great as she is?" Becca said between munches of her burger while Briar nodded along with her.

"I'm good more at recon and helping scramble systems as well as people with a bit of gun skills but I'm not really an 'Agressive' Netrunner where I could force people to go crazy or even kill themselves and things like that, I deal better with robots but not so much people, I mean I could switch my chipsets around but it's for the best we find someone who's better suited for up close and personal quick hacks, hell I wouldn't really even care if I had to teach them what they need to know, though it probably should be a girl though, don't want to be the only chick in this crew with the technical skills alone." Kiwi said before lighting another cigarette and putting it between her filters to smoke.

"I see, but I think we should focus on the Driver first, then the new Netrunner girl and lastly a Generalist to have a rounded out crew maxing out the crew at 10 people by the time we are done." Maine said setting it in stone with the rest of us nodding in agreement.

'Why does the saying of wanting a crew of 10 sound familiar?' I thought but just pushed it aside for the time being.

"I heard you guys are looking for a driver for your crew." Claire, the bartender, said as she came over as she gave us refills on our drinks while taking the old glasses away.

"Yeah we are looking, you know somebody Claire?" Maine said leaning back while looking at her.

"I know a guy, an older ex-Nomad Guy that wants to get a fresh start in the city and doesn't mind getting work done for a good and reliable crew, I can vouch for him about his skills in driving." Claire giving a bit of a summary on the guy to us.

"Well Claire does have a habit being in those street races all the time, so if you say he's got the skills then we'd like to see what he's got, sound good guys?" Maine said before turning to us before we all came to an agreement with what he said.

"That settles it then, we will take this man in our crew, though we should put him through his paces with a gig fit for a driver." He says scratching his chin, but I do something better.

"Let me talk to Rogue, she definitely got something or knows someone else who needs help resulting in a need for a driver." I say standing up and heading to the bar as Rogue was sitting there as she turned to look at me.

"Well the man of the hour, need something from me?" She said before drinking her booze.

"Looking for a gig for the entire crew, one that has a heavy focus on a good driver for the job since we're getting a new member thanks to Claire's recommendation." I say sitting down as Claire came around and nodded to Rogue saying what I said was true.

"Hmmm, well I don't have anything in the city that requires a driver, but I have heard from Dakota that some Raffen Shiv(Outlaw Nomads) from Arizona have made it all the way to the nearby areas of NC and Badlands overall, and there causing massive problems for both the Aldecaldos and the people in the outskirts so I'd go check there." She said handing me the detes.

"Thanks Rogue." I say giving the rapid ratataptap before standing up and going over to everyone else.

"Well looks like we got a gig guys, it's time we go have some fun in the badlands." I say as I get a cheer from the gang as they took a last swig and ate the last bit of food before everyone began to head out.

"I'll tell Falco to meet you up at Dakotas for the gig, and see you guys around." Claire said to us as we waved her off before heading on out to our next gig.

*****

Earlier that day.

*Cough! Cough! Cough!* Gloria Martinez began to cough heavily as she was feeling sick from all the hours of work she has been put through as a result of her EMT job.

"Mom…. You can't keep this up, I-I worry about you when I see you like this." Her son, a 15 year old David Martinez, said to her as he helped sit her down.

Sure David can be rebellious and somewhat of a jerk even to his mother at times, but when he sees her like this his true emotions show as he truly cares and worries about her health overall.

"I know Davvy, but my baby boy I do this all for you, you know? Even if you can't become some top grade Arasaka Corpo I just want you to secure your future so you will be set for at least a good life." She says laying down as she wraps herself up in her own EMT jacket.

But with the movement the inner pocket of her EMT Jacket opened up and a small business card fell out.

"Oh, you dropped this." David leaned over to pick it up before looking it over and seeing the card in full.

"Mikan Tsumiki, AMG Med Department Lead." It had printed on there along with her phone number as well.

"Oh *cough* yeah I uh, got that from a friend at work, they were thinking of leaving the Med Center to go work there but I forgot about that, but after thinking about it…. Maybe I should go give it a look…. I've heard the hours aren't that half bad and they don't force anyone into overtime for their jobs…." Gloria said as she looked it over some more.

"Mom then please, can you go check this out? If this works out then you'll start to get more healthy right?" David said trying to convince his mom who ultimately relented.

"Alright Davvy, but tomorrow ok? It's one of the only day off I have this week." She said as she laid down to rest.

Who would know that would completely change her original fate and David's fate for the better as a result.

Well one Fortunate being would as he faded away with neither of them being the wiser of his existence at all.