*Copyright notice*

following is a work of fiction. References to any other individuals, entities or situations real or fictional are unintentional. No deliberate infringement of any copyright is intended or wanted. Story and characters are (C) 2000 Jordan (no redistribution without permission)

The Price of Failure

Chapter 2

[Outside Club Diablo's, Tabor]

The tequila was kicking in Shepard's system so hard that he was literally being dragged out of the club, slumped over Kate and Gill's shoulders. Jordan already had the back door of the van open, and motioned inside.

"Just throw him in there for now..."

"My God, what did he drink?" Kate huffed while helping Gill lug the tiger into the van.

"I think a new record for him... A bottle of tequila in less than 15 minutes! He might be a bit bigger than the average guy, but that's enough to mess anyone up. Maybe we should have let him go out more!" Jordan smiled as his companions hopped in the van and he hit the gas.

"Yeah, and blow our cover! I think we should just lock him in a padded cell until go time!" Gill snapped.

"Shepard isn't a prisoner, he's just as much a part of this team as we are." Kate added. "By the way, thanks for bailing us out again, Jordan."

"It's my job." the stallion nodded to Kate while weaving in and out of traffic. "And if there's one thing you can learn from Shepard tonight, it's to get some sleep, we've got some work to do tomorrow."

[Abandoned Star Building, Tabor]

The corner of Outland and 132nd St.- probably one of the worst areas of town. Run down buildings, crime ridden alleys, people who either wouldn't look you in the eye or made evident weapon size bulges in their jackets - the kind of place someone could get killed even if they didn't have a hit out for them. This was also the place Jordan saw as their best oppurtunity. It was on the outskirts of town, and the prison van would have to drive through. Jordan took a rickety perch on one of the top floors of the old office tower. From there he could see everything he needed to see. Kate's surveillance van was parked neatly in one of the alleys, which was already cleared out of anyone who might cause any trouble. Shepard was busy sulking in the shadows on Outland Street. No one was stupid enough to mess with him. Gill was out of sight, because he was busy driving around town and running random errands to create a legitimate cover for the van. Out of sight did not mean out of mind, however. Kate made sure of that.

"Bad Driver has just dropped off some laundry. He'll show up at the party in 14 minutes."

As Jordan checked his watch he showed 15 minutes until Jet was scheduled to drive through.

The voice in his mind which was Kate continued. "Last status and equipment check."

Jordan began charging his laser sniper rifle, and made sure his 10x scope was still properly aligned. "Bad Tire is a go."

A moment passed before Kate relayed the others.

"Bad Driver is a go..."

"Bad Hangover is a go..."

"Surveilance is a go."

Jordan looked through his scope and could see dust flying out from behind a speck in the horizon. That would be the prison van. Only a matter of time now...

"Bad Driver is buckling up. Silence until the hit." That was Kate's signal that Gill was getting ready to crash into the prison van. That, and no one would hear anything except an abort notice until the show got going.

This was the hardest part - waiting. Jordan alternated between looking out of his scope and taking deep breaths, trying to slow his heart rate down so he could get a clean shot. After several minutes, the van came into plain view without aid of the scope. Through the office's side window, Jordan could see Gill pull up on 132nd St. Perfect timing. The Republic prison van sped down Outland going at a very fast speed. Jordan lined up his shot and began holding his breath. Gill's van squealed his tires and peeled out. Jordan began squeezing the trigger.

What follows happened within a fraction of a second. Gill's van made the intersection first, and the prison van swerved to try and miss it. Jordan gently squeezed the rest of the trigger in and watched the van's tire blow, making it flip onto it's side, and sliding into Gill's van in a shower of sparks and the screeching of metal. Anyone that wasn't scared off by Jordan's team to begin with sure as hell was running by now. Jordan kept his scope lined up on the prison van, but couldn't see much because the spin left the van blocking most of his view. What he did see was an enormous Tiger pounce out of the shadows and dart behind the van. A very frustrated horse now found himself unable to see or hear anything. A couple of cracks of gunfire broke the silence. That was a relief.

"Any second now out of the van should come... " Jordan whispered to himself, already picturing how events would unfold. "Jet! What the hell? Where's Shepard?"

Jordan snapped his sniper rifle back into place but the panther already made it inside Gill's van. "Fucking tinted windows!" Jordan couldn't take a shot without risking hitting Gill. Still, Gill didn't stand a chance against a black panther.

"Kate, what the hell's going on? Kate? Kate!!!" Jordan stammered in amazement as Gill's van sped off. "What the fuck is happenening to my team?" Jordan broke the rifle down within seconds and sped downstairs towards Kate's surveilence van. It took a couple of agonizing minutes but finally he reached the dingy alley with the white van. Jordan banged on the door twice.

"Kate? I'm coming in!" Jordan carefully opened the rear door to find Kate slumped over a monitor. A quick scan of the van's monitors showed their vitals. Shepard - nothing. Gill - nothing. Jordan's heart rate was still dancing wildly across the screen so it couldn't have been the machine's fault. And Kate's vitals weren't on the screen because why would she have to check her own?

Before Jordan could even think of why all of this was happening the door burst open and a very angry looking brown bear ducked in, showing off his teeth and a needler pistol. Jordan rolled on the ground towards the bear to close the range up. The bear shot towards where the horse used to be standing, a sign of bad reflexes. Sparks and pieces of metal flew everywhere as ultrasharp needles ripped through the electronics surrounding the insides of the van. Before you can say 'bad shot', Jordan smashed his forearm into the bear's neck and had a giant finger stabbing into the bear's eye socket. As the bear howled in pain while gasping for air, Jordan gracefully ended his misery by snapping his neck.

"Kate, are you alive?"

"Uhhh.... I... think so..."

Jordan spun around to see Kate slumped in a chair, her face and chest drenched in blood, but still alive. "I think... I'll be okay for now..."

"Who did this?!?"

"Don't... know..."

"Can you still fire a gun?"

"Yes." Kate seemed to be waking up a little now. She might be fighting a concussion, or worse. Jordan didn't have time to figure it out.

"Okay. Take this." The horse took a needler pistol from the floor and placed it in Kate's hands. "Try and stay awake. I'll get you some help soon, but we have to take care of something first." With that, Jordan got in the drivers seat and revved up the engine. He sped through the alley and drifted around the corner, coming to a screeching halt right in front of the prison van. A quick scan of the front showed a dead driver, but no Shepard. The rear was already open, with four battered prisoners chained inside, and another dead guard lying on the floor. Jordan squeezed into the back and blasted through the chains with his rifle.

"Anyone who wants a second chance at life better come with me."

The startled prisoners began filing out of the van and Jordan motioned for them to cram into the back of the surveilence van with Kate. Oddly enough, the prisoners didn't give a bloody bunny holding a needler pistol a second glance. Whatever this was, it had to be better than spending the rest of their lives in a Republic prison. Jordan quickly grabbed some scraps of paper in the back of the prison van and jumped back into the driver's seat of the surveilence van. More tires squealing, and they were bursting down Outland St. No more than two blocks down, Jordan slammed on the brakes. He stepped out of the van and sunk to his knees.

"Oh, Fuck." Before him was the mangled body of Gill, bones broken and lying in a pool of his own blood. What the hell went wrong? Jordan still didn't have time to think about it. He scooped up the corpse of his dead teammate -his friend- and put it in the passenger's seat. A voice was heard from the rear of the van.

"What is it? Why did we stop?" It was Kate.

"We're the only ones left, Kate. They killed the rest of the team, and Jet is still alive."

"JET?!? I'M GONNA KILL THAT SONOFABITCH!!!" came a roar from the back of the van. It was definately not Kate. In fact, it sounded like a lion. "THAT MOTHERFUCKER IS THE REASON I GOT STUCK IN THIS SHIT!!!"

Jordan really didn't feel like talking, no matter how good it sounded. Gill was dead. Shepard was dead. There's no telling where Jet went because the surveilence equipment was destroyed, thanks to a bear with bad aim. How could this possibly have happened?

"We were set up." Jordan calmly told no one in particular.