"You have us do this now Gallus? You're playing a fucking game, where the hells is Karliah? She's usually the one that keeps you from doing some fucking bullshit. This is exactly that, we can't do this job. We do it, we're placing a target on the back of what you've just started."

The vocal one was Brynjolf, he did not wish to be here when this guild was so close to failing like this. The business end of this deal was something that he did not wish to see through, the leaders were gathered around a table. Every single one of them had a different thought in mind about this bullshit errand for the Black-Briar company but only two seemed willing to follow behind this gambit. 

Vex, the former leader of the thieves in Detroit. She was someone who could see that Gallus worked ahead of everyone else, he had faith that they would survive what was to come but that did not mean she had to like the sacrifice that came in place of this. He was someone who could often see the necessary persons who would need to be placed in certain spots for the greater good of the guild. 

Sapphire, leader of the Las Vegas thieves. She was one of the few that respected and trusted Gallus with her life, she had shown that back with the warehouse job. She knew that Gallus would be bringing her in on something big, this was going to be just that, the new beginnings of the thieves guild and she was ready for just that. What was to come, what would be coming for them and here was that job, the payday and the reputation of what they did to the Imperalius Corporation.

"This job Gallus, what we're doing. It's going to make or break this guild, have you measured what happens to us if any of us even perish on this job? Have you thought about the dishonour you would be doing each of our crews if something were to befall us?"

There was the vocal one, another one. Rudin, one of the leaders of the Chicago Thieves and a veteran in the game. Here he was, gathered around the table like a man of honour. Indeed, that is what he was and he made sure that each person in his crew had that trait as well. He would not allow for any greedy fucks to sit in his yard. 

Though there it was again, honour. Gallus knew that he had that much and he wondered if anybody was questioning his reasons or trying to take a jab at his character, they had no clue what he was doing for honour's sake. What he was sacrificing and they dared to question him? He had let the one he loved go, he had wished to take a flight out of this fucked up place. Only like a lamb to the slaughter, he wished to be the one that would take them to new heights. 

It seemed that they wished to challenge him at every turn, though he admired and loved it. He could do without it when coming to the question of his honour, that was not correct. It was not right! They had no clue what he had done for them, what he had given them, that fighting chance in which no one else had and maybe it was right that they need not know right now. It would not be the right time for that to happen. 

"You all have so little faith in me? Is that right?"

He did not dare raise his voice beyond the whisper that it truly was, the fury of a Scotsman was known throughout many stories and tales. Now many members of the Thieves Guild could see that clear as day, it was not something they could avoid, Gallus had rarely ever gotten so angry and here it was, so potent and yet so quiet. As if a quiet storm raging against the coast, truly terrifying in it's form and here it was, clear as the sky. 

Vex and Sapphire looked at their leader, his head bowed, his long dark brown hair casting a shadow over his face. Only making the frown on his face visible due to the dim light in the room that regularly switched on and off. This was not something they had ever seen before, it scared them now, Gallus was usually such a man of peace and respect that his anger only showed with his enemies. 

"I can see it in your faces. You would have me play the manipulator, the sacrificer. The god among you all, ha-ha. How human of you all, I can tell you now. I have nothing but the best in store for this guild of ours, I have done everything I could possibly do for you all and I have done many things that I have yet to admit to myself what was wrong. Do not doubt my allegiance to the cause, not now."

Gallus knew that his fury had not only been seen and heard but it was contained. Something that he rarely found himself doing, maybe he needed something, a drink, perhaps. He would fetch one soon, though from the looks of everyone at this table. They still wished to know more and he was going to give it, just not yet. He had some things to get off his chest first and then, he would be willing to go through it all. Talk with them about every single detail, down to the tiniest little thing of significance. 

"Rudin, you questioned my honour. I am not playing this game for the sympathy, I did not bring all of you together to simply break you. I did this for the betterment of all of us. We, as leaders know what is best for the guild. I am simply the representative, the one who goes and talks to the powers that grant us our invisibility. Our secrecy, they can know that we exist but as long as it remains a whisper in the wind, a simple gentle breeze then nothing is going wrong."

Gallus was not done, not by a long shot and everyone could see that he had plenty on his chest. This was it, just this little beginning and he wondered for a moment how this was going to be playing out. They looked to him and they listened, he had gained their attention with his words but the choice was theirs whether they wished to listen and hear him out. 

"You have no idea what I have done for honour's sake. I have done plenty of things for this family, for this group and I am proud of it. I can hold my head high and look at myself because I did it for the betterment of you all, I would not have you question my motives for that very reason. Maven Black-Briar is a woman whose interests lay with us, she is in bed with us and we have that to our advantage, and we will wield it like a sword."

Gallus finished there. Knowing that now he needed to explain his reasoning behind this plan. He had finished explaining himself, his actions. He knew that many of them would look at him differently, though that did not bother him, people always did so. He was indeed a man of honour, just in different matters. 

"This current deal with the Imperalius Corporation is going to give us connections to the other side of Maven's backers. Vice-Kingston Automotives, his son runs that business in Philadelphia. We have that once we deal with Tullius, we take out a few of his depots, here and there, we chip away and we make sure that the fucker is never going to be a bother to Maven's business."

So that was it, get more backers on with this deal, it was definitely something. Many of the thief leaders looked at one another, Gallus had a way with words but this one needed a little more oomph behind it, this was something that even they couldn't even begin to understand. 

"I want us to have Maven's people at our backs because we need that support. To get into more cities, we need these people and I need to be sure of their allegiance to the cause. We are making history already, thieves who apparently have no honour among themselves. We show them what we can do and we do this by hitting supplies and taking the Imperalius for every dollar, they have, is that understood? I'll be taking this first job, show you all how it's done."

There he was, back with a fury that had not been seen since the time he walked inside here and maybe that is what they needed. They could all see it, he was here. Gallus, the master thief was ready to take this to the next level and show them that he was at another level entirely. 

"Oh? Do it then and next time, this bag of old bones will show you how it's done and be safe when you're doing this, alright brother?"

Rudin told him in simpler terms before he nodded. Ending the meeting as they all departed, not before sending a few looks, wondering what he was thinking as he simply sat there. Taking this all in and maybe that is what he needed, they left him alone as he sat in the dim light and a small smile had now sat there on his lips. 

"I have sacrificed for honour's sake and that is something they can never know."

With that, the master thief, guild master stood from his seat and walked out of the hall. Deciding then and there that this guild needed him more than anything and he would not be the one to let them down. This would not be him, he would lead with example and this is how he had to do it, he had to show them that this was what needed to be done, the correct and right way of doing things. 

"This is it, Gal. You've done it and now it's time to cement your role as the guild master, time to do what they could not do in the past."

And here he was, sitting in his apartment, a drink by his side and a lopsided smile on his face as he looked at the letter on his desk. Something that he had refused to open but he knew what was inside it, after that job, she had gone and nothing had been the same again.

Gallus knew that he had lost part of that vision without her to guide him and maybe that made him weak. Soft, stupid, idiotic but he could not help it. Karliah, the dark star that he had found himself with had left and that made him angry. It made him feel betrayed in a way that he could not begin to describe but he understood, he fought through that and decided to forget what they had. 

She was not something that he wished to easily discard but how would that honour the oath and promise he had to the thieves guild. To leave in search of her? How would that help him? Them? No, he had decided he would bring something else...a different part of him that had long since remained buried. Gallus, the young Scotsman who had thieved his way to the top was now thinking of committing murder.

What he had sacrificed for honour's sake...a life...a wife....money...jewels...riches. All of it for this life, a life that had yet to repay him and he wondered if that was his debt to the society of the chosen. One where he would never be fulfilled, nothing but a glutton, simply waiting for that one thing to kill him...or find him and save him from that pit of darkness. 

He decided then, he tore open the letter up and read, it did nothing to soothe him, it did not calm his growing fury. He had done plenty of things for honour's sake, forgiven enemies and made allies of them. He had made them riches and made himself penniless to save them and now, he was here. 

"Oh, sometimes I wonder what I have given up for the honour. What has it done for me? It got me blood, money, power and plenty of favours. Then again, it brought me to fear the unknown and what might be on the mind of my enemies. Have I truly forgotten those who wish to see me dead? No, they have a permanent place in my head and this is how we have to change things."

Gallus laughed, pouring himself another drink, standing from his seat as he went out to his balcony. Looking over the city of angels, it was amazing and sometimes he wondered if this was truly his life, maybe it was bad. Maybe it was dark as fuck right now but head people who relied upon him, he could not focus on the past, Karliah was gone, he had to accept that. 

"Astrid, what have I told you about sneaking in here?"

A woman cloaked in the shadows suddenly appeared by his side, seemingly out of nowhere as a smirk was seen on her plump lips. She had the look of a model but underneath all of that, there was the look of darkness. One only known by killers and Gallus saw it, clear as the moonlit sky. 

"You've told me many things, now that I see that she is gone. I see that you may need a partner. Do not flatter yourself, Gallus, I a am speaking in terms of business and we both know that you have a stomach for killing. Only that it eats away at you, this is going to be different, we're going to make sure that you get better because of this."

Astrid wrapped an arm around the Scotsman shoulder, though she was shorter than him and not by much it was indeed a sight to see. Both of them looking at the city before Gallus turned his eyes on Astrid, raising his brow before she got the message, passing him an envelope filled with cash. 

"It's all in there, fenced it this morning. I also have some information on the Black-Briar company board members, it's on your desk. I have the blueprints for the Imperalius Warehouse in Hollywood, you can get him whenever. Since you have the times, don't stress about this Gal, you have this. I know what you have done for honour's sake, remember? This is about you and the guild surviving, remember that."

Gallus nodded, he knew that now. This was just how it needed to be, personal desires, feelings and matters came second when matters of the guild came in. That is how it had to be, not that he told the others, they would learn soon eventually. You couldn't be half in, half out. This is how this side of life tended to be.