A Cyberpunk Story
The Neon lights of New Helon were beacon of hope for humanity, the busy streets and constant chatter was a sign of life for the world, but not for Ajax. Ajax knew what kind of place New Haven is, the real New Helon; compact, dirty, dangerous. The inner slums were no different. It was here that Ajax had a job to do, deliver cargo from point A to point B at the dead of night, but this was New Helon, dead and night were words that were hand in hand.
"Not a hard job they told me" Ajax said to himself.
He slowly paced himself down an alleyway constantly monitoring his surroundings; he was a merc on the run from the law, shady dealings with syndicates and mobs was his life and places like New Helon were perfect for a jack of all trades to hit the pay dirt.
The alleyway led to a door which connected to a hallway marked with surveillance, Ajax removed his shades which revealed a bright red artificial glow in his eye, cybernetic enhancements. His eye pulsed and all the cameras and laser grids switched off, he knew he was late so he rushed through before it came back on.
He scanned his retina on a wall mount which opened a door, the door led to the outside world, people and cyborgs alike crammed the streets and it wasn't long before he disappeared into civilization. He checked his wrist watch and looked into the moonlight.
"80 meters till target destination Jax, hurry the fuck up" said a voice from his intercom.
Ajax picked up the pace, and briskly power walked down the street and into an apartment block, he looked at his forearm which has an LED screen wrapped around it and saw the apartment number he had to go to. "The apartment is 34F in the fourth quarter, remember Jax, just make the swap and get out of there, we have enough heat on us as it is, we can't afford to fuck this up" said the intercom. "Got it" replied Ajax as he stared into one of the security cameras in the apartment block.
He looked at the apartment door of 34F and pulled out his sidearm, a variant of the USP.45 with an added suppressor and modified grip held a node within it wirelessly connected to his cybernetic eye. This combination made him a deadly marksman with any firearm. He opened the door slowly and walked down the main corridor, the floor creaked and drips of water could be heard, this place was silent like a grave, and that's what scared him.
Ajax walked into the lounge room and a small slender man was there to greet him. The man had a hand in his pocket and the other holding a large dufflebag. "Where the fuck have you been?" said the man as he pulled a revolver on Ajax, "I've had a slight hitch, it doesn't matter, do you have the stuff?" replied Ajax. "Hold your fucking horses cyborg, do you have my info?" Ajax pulled out a memory stick from the small concealed pocket of his sleeve and nods.
"Good, cause this deal's gonna make-
A whistle is heard and before he realizes drips of blood splashes on his face as a sniper round enters the head of his newfound associate. Ajax quickly looks out the window and sees a hovercraft armed with two high velocity 62mm miniguns and hanging on the side is a marksman with a low velocity, bolt action sniper rifle and the letters NHPD on the side of his vest.
He knew that these guys weren't fucking around and his first instinct led him to jump behind the counter of the lounge room and into the kitchen, the miniguns rotated and unleashed a fury of bullets into the apartment, all Ajax could hear was the roaring sound of the guns, it's fiery screech left him feeling dazed and unfocused.
"What the fuck is going on out there Jax? Half the fucking police force is converging to your position get the fuck out of there!" Ajax scurried through the remains of the apartment and picked up the bag, he ran through the dilapidated longue room and jumped out the window, in the split second that he made his decent his eye pulsed red and the hovercraft stalled, its rotors slowed and sudden jolt of the craft threw the sniper out.
Ajax fell onto another hovercraft and back off it but the initial landing softened the blow as he landed in a dumpster in an alleyway; he quickly got up and spoke into his earpiece.
"Switch, I need an exit".
"Exit the alleyway and keep heading down the block and ill send you co-ordinates for a pickup, watch your back, there's NHPD everywhere!"
Ajax hurried down the street and the once bustling area of downtown New Helon turned into a warzone where people ran for their lives and armoured police officers began to close off the street. He knew that getting out now was a slim chance; he grabbed the bag and rammed down the door of a complex to try and lose the feds, on the other side waited a fully armed Police officer, before he could make a noise a sniper shot was heard and the cop laid dead in front of him, he quickly backed to the wall and took a peek outside. A woman dressed in a red hood, gas mask and cybernetic gear looked back at him and quickly disappeared into the chaos.
A voice was heard "Come with me if you want to get out of here". Ajax quickly pointed his gun at the direction of the voice; a child stared at the barrel of his gun. "Get the fuck out of here kid" said Ajax,
"Your choice" said the child as he opened a cupboard on the opposite wall and went inside, the cupboard door closed on Ajax. Seeing as there was no other choice for him, Ajax opened it himself and jumped into the abyss.
As soon as he was inside, he saw no signs of the child anywhere until the back wall opened up and the child signalled him to keep up, Ajax leaned through the opening crevice and fell in, a makeshift staircase and a pit of darkness was on the other side, he quickly ran down the stairs and caught up with the child. A huge piping system was there allowing them to move under the city, along the walls were decaying metal and a graffiti marks written 'Red Sentinels'.
Ajax knew who they were, a rag tag team of children and teenager city rats that traded information for credits, they knew everything and anything about everyone and anyone and they sold it, for the right price. "Where are we going?" asked Ajax, "To where you need to go" said the child, he could hear the sirens and the gunshots above him, he could see the shadows of the city from the dwellings of the under system.
He took a look out of a manhole and saw the police lining up civilians against a wall and executing them, it was common for the police to shoot up civilians but not on this scale, Ajax knew that his time was running out. The child pointed him to a manhole and nodded, Ajax looked at the manhole and turned his head to the child only to see that he vanished into the darkness, he scurried up the manhole.
His intercom spoke to him "-Are you there Jax? I can't can a fix on you Jax, say something!" Ajax responded
"I'm here Switch, where are you",
"Look up Jax"
Ajax looked up to see a ladder being thrown from a hovercraft above him. Ajax jumped into the craft where Switch was sitting in the cockpit waiting for him.
"Get us out of here switchblade" said Ajax,
"Switching to Cloak" Switchblade responded.
The hovercraft slowly disappeared from view as they flew across the city; Ajax looked into the bag and found a large stash of credits, he leaned to Switchblade.
"What happened out there Jax?"
"We had a slight setback, but I think it has something to do with this"
Ajax took out the memory stick and gave it to Switchblade,
"The cops are after us, a bounty was placed on your head, 200 000 credits to anyone that can bring you in, well it's only a generalisation but the cops have it in for you big time and I think it has to do with that stick"
"Lets get out of here, I know a place we can hide"
"What are we gonna do about out situation?"
"I have no idea Switch, but I know where to start" said Ajax as the hovercraft broke orbit and entered a space cruiser.
To be Continued