New Beginnings - A Fresh Start
BY
Syrax Jones
Backstory;
There aren't many things in life that a man like syrax wouldn't try, having grown up with such an oddly sounding name often made him a social pariah in day to day life so the excitement and comradery that many take for granted syrax was deprived of. He could often be found pondering in his own thoughts, clawing through the pages of books or stimulating his mind with hypothesis about any new bit of information he found. His life, albeit a somewhat normal upbringing, was something that lacked the initial spark of inspiration and fire that burns deep within most children. Some want to be doctors, some the military, vets, nurses, police, some are happy with the status quo and set their sights on a local corner store. But not Syrax. You see, for him it was different, for he wanted to be something only the few strive for, he wanted to be sat at the top, with the heads of the table. Running business dealings, establishing connections and relationships - He knew this was no easy task to undertake but he was prepared to do so.
Often inspired by the various mobster and gangster films of the 90's while sat in front of his black and white television set. The static flickering on occasion in the background and the ripples across the screen, he sat there in awe. In awe of these men and women, the respect they are deemed worthy of with no words spoken, merely by their presence entering a room and how they hold & carry themselves everyone knows these people are not to be messed with.
"This is it" he thought.
With those thoughts in mind, syrax slowly started to change as he grew older. No longer did he look down when he walked past people but rather, in the their eyes. Using peripheral vision to look them over, to suss them out. He had become a people watcher, a connoisseur of sorts in psychology & sociology, a man on the lookout for certain types of people ready to lay down their lives for the right cause and for the right reasons. Syrax needed a crew and it was time to start building one or join one.
No longer did he fill his mind with fleeting topics of conversation or random knowledge but rather, immersed himself in anything to do with the criminal underworld. Intelligence gathering, routes and behaviours of law enforcement, government agencies and departments that have no names to speak of. Trawling all sources of information available both in the deep & dark web that could be found and uncovered. More often than not, through keyboard strokes in hushed tones, dimly lit rooms, via encrypted software or notes from people more in the know. With this he was able to learn skills like pick locking, anti surveillance techniques, loosing tails and getting to places he would need to be in future, clean. Information gathering, torture techniques and bamboo splinters among many other things clouded his mind as he watched how to disassemble and reassemble an AK, cleaning its parts and oiling for the 100th time.
Rebirth
The beginnings of a smile could be seen forming across the usually stoic face of syrax as he placed his right foot onto the flight stairs, slowly peering through the main emergency exit/entrance of the airplane before saying some pleasantries to the flight crew and placing his right hand on the outside of the plane, whispering a thank you for making it in one piece.
The warm crisp air filled his lungs alveoli & capillaries that had been starved of fresh unrecycled air for the last few hours. The blood red cloudless equatorial sunset over the ATC tower let but a slither of light escape its shadow to illuminate the freckles upon his cheeks, his red framed glasses sat snuggly upon his face as he turned his head from side to side scanning & surveying the area as he go.
He and his crew had made it to Los Santos.
Roots
As syrax sat in their newly purchased apartment, he looked around the room with a grin. His crew, his friends, his family. They had all made the long journey to upend their own lives to join him on this new adventure. It was time to start planning.
After discussions on what to do first, everyone stepped out to start making progress on some goals. Bouncing between security jobs, hunting, fishing, driver work and the occasional car chop they had started to amass a small nest egg to begin moving the group in the right direction as a whole for future business. Things got tough though, between people getting arrested for failed store robberies, some catastrophic police chases and angry car owners tracking them down the multiple medical bills shared between them all started to bleed them dry, the six of them were running low on funds and things needed to change.
This is when donnie approached the group and mentioned a number of business opportunities with different people, describing his time spent with members of another organization.
The First Meet
Stood in front of them were professionals, dressed in white crisp suits, their ties seemed symmetrically placed under the nape of their necks, before being straightened and tucked into their suit jackets. Their trousers freshly pressed and their hair neatly done, they stood there in line. Their cars in tow.
After introductions their head of recruitment and another two family members pulled each one aside for interview and to assess the new faces for possibly joining. Each one given a number of questions like; [REDACTED]
The tensions started to run high as the meeting went on, it seemed salvation was far more well known than syrax and his friends had realized. Multiple scouts and members from other organizations sit atop rooftops, on bridges and whistling from afar.
With every few minutes passing scouts on bikes, Salvation stood their ground, unfazed and unchanged in their demeanour by the attempt to rattle them.
The meeting concluded a while later, eyes still upon them from afar, with a resounding welcome to the family.
This was the meeting Syrax and his family had been waiting for.
He couldn't help but remember his childhood moments in front of the tv watching old movies and could tell these were the type of people who didn't need to ask or demand respect. Syrax already had deep respect for the members in front of him. Not for their presumed status but by their being, how they carried themselves and how they spoke to him and his own family.
Their combined shared ideals were an ideal fit for his group and a joint decision was made to put family first.
The Split
After days of deliberation after the departing of his friends & family from salvation, syrax had to make a difficult choice.
He knew they left for their own reasons, some shared with himself but syrax was not used to this nagging feeling.
Choosing between one family and another.
He called high command together and laid it all out on the table, his voice shaking at the wrenching words he would have to let slip from his mouth.
He had to leave.
Jaqueline with her softer toned voice put to bed any doubts that we were all still and will forever be considered family.
Syrax's heart both simultaneously warmed to those words and sunk with the feeling of almost, like, betraying his own family. He knew he would always have a home here and its members forever friends.
Experience
Since leaving the organization syrax decided to take his own path temporarily. Joining the likes of Grim Reapers for a time.
Gathering experience in all the inner workings of a semi rusted machine he worked hard to gather intel, make connections, meet the faces and remember the names of the heavier hitters in the city.
Although most days were spent fishing, Syrax was always listening to the happenings around him, on guard and ready to react to any threat.
He made a lot of new friends in this time, some that he hopes will last till the last breath that passes through his lungs.
But, alas the crumbling of the reapers and extradition of its leader was too much and he parted ways with its colours.
Sometimes The Wrong Path
Shortly after departing the grim reapers syrax collected everyone from his family for a meeting.
"Let us forge our own path, we'll start our own group and become one of the biggest names in the city" he said,
His eyes dotting around the faces of the RV, nods beginning to animate from the intense stares of his listening friends.
His family, his crew, was back together again, under a new name [REDACTED]
Together they tried to forge their own path through the tough streets of los santos, much like others, petty thefts, robberies, stealing cars and breaking them down for parts was a common occurrence for the crew but something still didn't feel quite right, something seemed to be missing for him, possibly for everyone.
It wouldn't be till later that syrax would find this truth out for himself.
The days and weeks that followed, syrax would often find himself bumping into the salvation family, even in the oddest of places. Each time like catching up with best friends after a long hiatus.
Each time warmly welcomed to come back to the fold with the family.
The Bank Job
We'd got the call of the meeting place, turning up in non gang colors and tools needed at hand. Bundling out of vehicles and making our way to the congregation of people awaiting to start the pre planning meeting.
Tensions were high as people funnelled in to hear the layout of the operation. With chase stood at its core.
He laid out the step by step plan to each one of us, making sure no detail was missed. Acknowledging the steps needed to be taken by everyone to make sure a smooth operation and logistics were completed correctly for a successful job.
It was at this time that syrax could see some element in chase that he himself was missing, something that he himself needed, to be able to run his own crew.
Once all plans had been discussed and everyone was sure to be on the right page we set off for the bank.
~~~~~~~~~~
The inside operation moved like clockwork, no one skipping a beat in what they needed to do. They all rushed into the vault and started picking up stacks of cash, designated safe pickers cracked their set safes and it was almost time to get out when something came over the radio.
Adrenaline high inside, no one picked up exactly what was said but a rush on business was pushed and people started to prepare to move out now the cash was bagged.
Syrax rushed to the door of the bank but there was something wrong, there was something waiting on the other side. For he could see several cop cars and police officers laying in wait. He hesitated for a moment but the flurry of people running past meant he needed to get to his getaway vehicle and quick.
"Show me your hands" "Hands Up" and people on radios echoed the streets as the sound of the bank doors opening, panicked muffles and pitter patter of feet etched the concreate pavement. It was chaos, it was over he thought to himself looking down the barrels of at least 4 different firearms. He stood still and put his hands up. Looking over his shoulder he could see the remnants of the crew scrambling out the doors and running down the streets, police officers in tow. His family and friends in handcuffs, being tazed and being restrained weigned on his heart.
The Prison Riot
"I am proud of each and every single one of you, you are all family to me"
Echoed off the yard walls and through the ears of everyone huddled around chase.
----For reasons that cannot be discussed, there is no mention of what happened in the yard that day.----
----But the seed had been set.----
The Meeting
Laying awake at night it started to dawn on him that his crew are missing something, something he was never 100% sure he could provide. The crews temperament and daily struggles were starting to cause rifts within his crew and he knew this was only the beginning of the journey if he wanted to continue down this path.
Upon having conflicting feelings, uncertainty not only within his crew but also within himself, syrax called a meeting.
"How do you feel about joining salvation?"
He said.
Everyone beginning to look up and directly at syrax, almost flummoxed, perhaps vexed at the words that left his mouth.
Everyone had put in a lot of time and serious effort to get to the point they were at, he thought. Although he was not met with raised voices and boiling tempers but a mutual understanding and agreement that we were all missing something, something that they all knew salvation would unknowingly be able to provide.
A family.
A home.
A sense of togetherness and professional ideals.
A direction.
Syrax made the call, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone before sifting through his contacts and landing on Chase.
He paused for a moment, knowing once this call was made there was no going back for him. There would never be another option. It would be the family first, forever.
He smiled to himself letting the mask rise slightly as it reached ear to ear. He knew things had changed in salvation for the better and he knew for his own family's sake, that this was the right choice for everyone.
He tapped the green phone icon *click* on his phone and placed it up to his ear,
"Hello Chase"
---TBC---
