Pre-Fic Comments:
Yes, I've taken a couple of liberties with the RF maps.
No gun in this fic exists. They're all from Red Faction. If anyone wants to provide links for a detailed technical website explaining guns and types, they're more than welcome.
* * *
Xander and Parker had come a long way from the mines of sector M9. To Xander's surprise, Parker was good at this stuff. Together, they'd destroyed the geothermal power station. He wouldn't not call Xander 'Vampire', though.
That Hendrix guy wouldn't knock it off either. Geez, tell one group of people about the Hellmouth and you're marked for life.
At the moment, they were in the Trash Disposal Facility. They were escorting Gryphon, deputy head administrator, to the Red Faction -- the politician had information for Eos. Xander and Parker met the Red Faction team for the handover.
"Good to see you, monkey boy," Orion said. "Ah, ah. You two get to go on ahead."
"But I've been a good little boy," Xander whined.
"C'mon, Vampire. Eos needs someone she can count on for a mission. You know how it is," Orion said.
The group of miners and Gryphon ran off, the immense doors closing behind them.
"Looks like it's just you and me again," Xander joked. "Let's look for a way outta this popsicle stand."
Xander took the higher part of the Trash Disposal Facility to search. He walked through the large corridors, but almost all of the large doors were locked. The only parts he had access to was the huge incinerator that Parker was checking out, and this door. He opened it.
"Oh. My. God."
An Ultor Suppression Combot. It was about the size of three elephants, and had more guns than was really healthy for the White Knight. Xander legged it to the incinerator -- anywhere away from the monstrosity aiming the rockets at him!
He ran to the large room, the Combot behind him. Climbing the ladder to the control room, he looked at Parker. With no instruction needed, Parker opened the incinerator doors remotely, then activated the fan to push the Combot down towards the firey pit.
Hilarity ensued.
"Okay, that was a little closer than I like my apocalypses," Xander gasped, catching his breath.
"Hendrix says that there's a passageway down the pit," Parker said, climbing down to the incinerator floor after deactivating the fire.
"Great," Xander said. "I bet it's an airvent."
* * *
The two had ended up in the Medical Complex, and were sneaking around. They'd managed to avoid guards, and were looking for an entrance to the scientist Capek's lab. Eos had heard that the old man had a cure to the Plague, and the Vampire and Parker were to check it out.
"Here we go," Parker announced as he opened the final door with the security card.
"Vampire, Parker, how nice to see you. I must thank you for starting this little diversion. It has made my work so much easier," the short scientist announced. He was on the other side of the large room the door opened onto. "My sincere thanks for telling me about the undead as well, Vampire."
Xander lifted his head. "What does that mean, you freak?"
"These... trumps have given me the perfect excuse to accelerate my experiments. Who will notice a few more vanishing miners in this... confusion? And as for the undead, well. You are under constant surveilance."
The miners moved closer. The scientist was old, short and bald. He was dressed in an ornate robe of some sort, and had an optical implant of some sort.
"To hell with orders! Die, Capek!," Parker yelled. He unloaded a clip of ammo from his pistol into the diminuitive man.
They bounced harmlessly off a purple forcefield.
"Congratulations, Parker. You're the first to see my nanotech shield in action. Now I must return to my work. Enjoy what little time you have left...you and your friends," Capek said calmly.
He levitated off the floor and left as Parker continued to unload ammo into the forcefield. Xander was thinking about something.
"Capek... Capek... yeah! Now I remember!"
"What?," Parker asked. "You know that half-mutant freak?"
"Sure," Xander said. "He's my great-uncle. Even my parents think he's a weirdo."
* * *
Parker paused to catch his breath. He was in great shape -- physical labour will do that to a body -- but he was nowhere near as good at running as the Vampire.
They were moving towards Capek's research labs. The labs were not connected to the main complex, and were reached via some rocky tunnels. Mutant mice of some sort, and giant spiders populated the tunnels. Parker was heartily sick of Mars and it's weird wildlife. They were better than the miners that Capek had introduced to the nanotechnology though -- they resembled dead zombies more than humans.
He continued to move. Up ahead, the Vampire was wading through a waist-depth pool of water. The liquid had absolutely no chance of penetrating the hardsuit which was designed to seal against the vacuum of space. Their guns, however, would not work underwater except for the USP-16 Ultor semi-automatic pistol. Capek was just ahead of them, taunting them.
"Come now, are you so eager to join your friends in my experiments?"
The Vampire (Parker had to think hard to remember his real name, Xander) just moved faster at this. The two dived into the sinkhole at the end of the pool, quickly moving towards the end of the water.
* * *
Moving to avoid being hit, Parker quickly killed the guards overlooking the holding chambers. The miner killed the once-human lumpen forms. He could still hear their moans...
He moved past the holding chambers, reloading the heavy suppression machine gun.
Where was the Vampire? They had split up to cover more ground in the complex, sure, but he should have met up with the Californian by now.
Parker started searching the processing laboratories, killing the guards and sending the scientists running for their lives. He started looking systematically through the labs -- Capek was bragging of his experiments; it was more than likely that the short man was working on them.
In the third room, he stopped at the door, letting the scientists run past him like water.
Xander Harris, also known as the Vampire of the Red Faction, was unconscious on the operating table. A drip was slowly leaking grey nanocells into his bloodstream.