Azix leaned back in his chair with his fingers brought into a peak under his chin as he listened to Lavicus. The Grumptoes Captain was providing the report that Xenos had asked for before.
"I believe my greatest strength is in my leadership of the squad and organizing them into task forces. Octovius is great at coordinating the Squad on jobs. He showed great dedication to the team when you were gone. After the money stopped coming in, he used the skills that you taught us to get a job at a tavern. That brought money and information in. Leo and Octovius are probably the best at overhearing conversations. Tyrion and Jacques are the best at scoping out places and stalking people. Our weaknesses are probably that we can't defend ourselves and that we need more ways to obtain information." Lavicus finished by looking towards his lieutenants.
The four lieutenants nodded in agreement, feeling that he had summed up their skills correctly. The past few months, it seemed they had each taken certain roles. They each shared a dangerous job and they had experienced it in the months that Azix had been gone. Octovius and Leo working in the taverns had to deal with the harassment from drunks, but they learned a lot. Drunken lips were never sealed lips, especially in the seedier parts of town where talk flowed as freely as drink.
Jacques and Tyrion dealt with a different kind of danger, one more vicious. For some reason Azix had yet to figure out, Tyrion had a penchant for stalking scary people; rapists, murderers, etc. It was a drive to protect people, though most of the time he could only stand in the shadows and watch mournfully. Being his closest friend, Jacques was his partner and they watched the others back.
Azix folded his hands in thought, all of the things Lavicus had pointed out were true. The most important thing though, were the recruits under the lieutenants. At least on two occasions that he knew of, they had been spotted. Their training had consisted of watered down training from the lieutenants, who had some training, but not enough to teach effectively.
In a normal espionage operation, the weakest links would be discarded in a such a way that it couldn't be burned later. Azix was adamantly against this, while he had created the Grumptoes to be his personal spy network, there was another reason. After seeing the condition of the slums and the hunger of the street rats, Azix had to do something. Something to give them a chance to make money, to learn skills, to realize their potential and maybe one day get out of the slums. No, he couldn't discard a kid for his mistake.
"I agree with everything you said, Lavicus. You five are my backbone and I thank you for your great work. You are correct that you need training, but your recruits need it more. I know of a few instances that your recruits have been spotted, which could expose us all. I want you to gather all the recruits so we can begin training."
The lieutenants looked down in shame, they realized their failure in training the other recruits.
Azix snapped his fingers, "None of that, now. You five have been through a lot, I shoulder the blame for the training. Now, go gather the others."
Octovius, Leo, Tyrion, and Jacques nodded, they promised to do better before leaving to gather the recruits. Lavicus sat down and looked over at Xenos, "What is the plan?"
"We get you boys in shape." Azix spoke with a smile to his Captain. He quickly looked around the shack, "This is a depressing place to always be around, huh? I think we need a new safe house."
"I kind of like it. A place where I can get away." Lavicus laughed, "It is cramped."
[648/500]
"I believe my greatest strength is in my leadership of the squad and organizing them into task forces. Octovius is great at coordinating the Squad on jobs. He showed great dedication to the team when you were gone. After the money stopped coming in, he used the skills that you taught us to get a job at a tavern. That brought money and information in. Leo and Octovius are probably the best at overhearing conversations. Tyrion and Jacques are the best at scoping out places and stalking people. Our weaknesses are probably that we can't defend ourselves and that we need more ways to obtain information." Lavicus finished by looking towards his lieutenants.
The four lieutenants nodded in agreement, feeling that he had summed up their skills correctly. The past few months, it seemed they had each taken certain roles. They each shared a dangerous job and they had experienced it in the months that Azix had been gone. Octovius and Leo working in the taverns had to deal with the harassment from drunks, but they learned a lot. Drunken lips were never sealed lips, especially in the seedier parts of town where talk flowed as freely as drink.
Jacques and Tyrion dealt with a different kind of danger, one more vicious. For some reason Azix had yet to figure out, Tyrion had a penchant for stalking scary people; rapists, murderers, etc. It was a drive to protect people, though most of the time he could only stand in the shadows and watch mournfully. Being his closest friend, Jacques was his partner and they watched the others back.
Azix folded his hands in thought, all of the things Lavicus had pointed out were true. The most important thing though, were the recruits under the lieutenants. At least on two occasions that he knew of, they had been spotted. Their training had consisted of watered down training from the lieutenants, who had some training, but not enough to teach effectively.
In a normal espionage operation, the weakest links would be discarded in a such a way that it couldn't be burned later. Azix was adamantly against this, while he had created the Grumptoes to be his personal spy network, there was another reason. After seeing the condition of the slums and the hunger of the street rats, Azix had to do something. Something to give them a chance to make money, to learn skills, to realize their potential and maybe one day get out of the slums. No, he couldn't discard a kid for his mistake.
"I agree with everything you said, Lavicus. You five are my backbone and I thank you for your great work. You are correct that you need training, but your recruits need it more. I know of a few instances that your recruits have been spotted, which could expose us all. I want you to gather all the recruits so we can begin training."
The lieutenants looked down in shame, they realized their failure in training the other recruits.
Azix snapped his fingers, "None of that, now. You five have been through a lot, I shoulder the blame for the training. Now, go gather the others."
Octovius, Leo, Tyrion, and Jacques nodded, they promised to do better before leaving to gather the recruits. Lavicus sat down and looked over at Xenos, "What is the plan?"
"We get you boys in shape." Azix spoke with a smile to his Captain. He quickly looked around the shack, "This is a depressing place to always be around, huh? I think we need a new safe house."
"I kind of like it. A place where I can get away." Lavicus laughed, "It is cramped."
[648/500]