My
decision to form an alliance with Lee Zhen has definitely born fruit. While I
was wary of directly involving myself with the pursuit of Stein due to the risk
of exposure, Zhen makes an excellent proxy for my own investigation. It’s aided
by the fact that he has a very personal stake in all of this; he’s clearly none
too comfortable with others knowing about his past (and with good reason) which
gives him a good reason to track down Stein.
Stein
had been in contact with one Joaquin Gertz, a mercenary Mechwarrior. Gertz is
presently employed as a lieutenant in Kessler’s Killers, a rather low-end mercenary
command of no real note. What made this interesting is that Gertz and Zhen had
a history, the two having previously served together. Getz was Zhen’s lieutenant
before they had a falling out over salvage (in this case, a near-new Vulture Mk IV) which lead to Zhen’s
desertion and, eventually, his current employ.
I
arranged a meeting with Zhen. Unsurprisingly, he bought backup with him, in
this case, Randy R. Georges. Unlike with Oda, Georges made no effort to conceal
his presence from me; in fact, Zhen pointed out that he was there. Instead,
Zhen suggested that Georges was more there to ensure both our safety. An
interesting approach, but one that indicates that he is truly concerned about
this situation. I informed him of this development, and it was clear that he
didn’t like the idea of getting involved with Getz again. However, at the same
time, he was willing to step forward to track down Stein.
I must
admit that I was impressed with their plan, both in their approach and
execution. Their own investigations found where Kessler’s Killers had their compound
in the city, and their preferred hangouts. Unsurprisingly, it was the dubious,
seedy end of the Strip, home to numerous dive bars, brothels, strip joints,
hourly rate motels and the like. Of course, Zhen wasn’t willing to approach Gertz
directly, so he again used Georges as a go-between.
And
they played Gertz magnificently. For some time, Gertz had been growing dissatisfied
with his current employment, feeling that he was stuck in a go-nowhere position
and deserved a better BattleMech. Stein had apparently reached out to him with
an offer of employment that would, presumably, redress these issues. Approaching
him in a club, Georges did a good job of dispelling these notions, claiming
that he had been employed by Stein and left high and dry as a result.
As a consequence,
Gertz is now a lot less certain of Stein and his promises. This will no doubt
cause some tension between the two, which could flush Stein out of hiding. Zhen
gets what he wants and, thanks to him, so do I.
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