Crackdown on Canary Street!

Chatterbox News

Vigilante justice or violent extortion? Redmond has new cops on the block.

Date: 8/15/2085 By: Screech

The community of Canary Street has been underserved for generations. Crumbling tenements, toxic tap water, schools with metal bars on the windows; the city has all but abandoned these people save for the occasional publicity stunt. As endemic violence spirals out of control, new players take advantage of the chaos, coming in not with much-needed aid but with yet another show of oppressive force. The notorious French mercenaries N-51 are bringing their peace at the barrel of a gun.

At 8PM yesterday night a skirmish kicked off outside a local tenement, as members of the Cutters and Red Hot Nukes fought with pistols and improvised weapons. At 8:15 an unmarked Ares Roadmaster screamed to halt on the curb. Noxious tear gas billowed through the air as 6 armored soldiers emerged in formation, putting the gangoons down with a zeal that would make the Knight Errant riot squad cry. Members of both gangs were taken into custody by the 15th Régiment de Hussard, where they have reportedly been put to work as construction laborers in Fall City. What follows is an EXCLUSIVE on-the-ground interview with the leader of the raid: Sergent Marek Bartnik:

S: "Why does N-51 believe that it has jurisdiction in the Barrens? What right does it have to arrest these people without due process?"

Bartnik: "You fucking journalist always looking for the little detail, kurwa. Some of us have family around here, gangers are doing shit, we come by and make them aware of that. What give those morons the right to run around shooting guns at each other endangering everyone."

S: "And what about the explosion at Gantung? 11 civilians allegedly dead. Does N-51 plan to employ those tactics over here?"

Bartnik: [after speaking in French to a subordinate] "Yeah, we even plan to use our fuckin' jets in the middle of Seattle. Nah, we are not going to drop shell on the gangers, we just here to make sure street are safe you see. Also Gantung was a fucking sabotage we didn't even fired those shell, kurwa."

S: "How about reports of N-51 jets dropping napalm on the island's urban centers? Were those part of the sabotage too?"

Bartnik: "You're fucking burned or what? You realise we are mercs, right? When we are on a mission this is not a game, we have real bullets, and over there they fell down, dead, no second chance. Think those rebels wouldn't have done the same to us? Think again."

S: "Who's signing your checks now? The corporate council? Knight Errant? What are you really doing in Seattle?"

Bartnik: "The N-51 sign my check, we are mercs, we get payed for our help, we just got our base here in Fall City, most of our lads live in the Barrens just like you, see that's why we don't want fuckin' gangers around."

S: "One last question then: how are your 'lads' any different from the gangers you're trying to police?"

Bartnik: "Years of training, discipline and we are making money in a more honest way, we don't sell drugs or BTL, we don't go on racket or extortion. They are all about this is our turf omae, well this is our neighborhood as well. We both know KE don't move their ass, we do not only for our peoples but also to make sure we have a clean neighborhood."

S: "So it's your turf too now huh, omae? Thank you for your time. Mind if I get your full rank for the records?"

Bartnik: "Sergent Marek Bartnik, deuxième compagnie, premier bataillon de Hussard."

While larger news outlets have been keen to sing the praises of this supposed "peacekeeping" mission, many are concerned about the lack of transparency behind N-51's actions. A representative from the Red Hot Nukes issued the following statement on the incident:

“First it was Lone Star, then Knight Errant, now it's a crew of upstart mercs. The corpos don’t care who does the dirty work, as long as it keeps us rabble in line. Look at the way they treat Redmond like a warzone and ask yourself: who is really the threat?”

At what point will gel rounds not be enough to paper over systemic injustice? Does the sprawl really need another group of killers accountable only to their pocketbooks? I can't answer these questions for you, reader. All I can do is report on the facts. If you have any further information on the fate of those arrested last night, contact our anonymous tip line. And as always, Seattle: keep it real.