Corso had hacked into Technoids systems, through every backdoor he could find. Sonny was resting comfortably next to Callie in her bedroom, he would be asleep for several hours yet until the sedatives he had been given would wear of. Corso recalled how out of it he had been when they came for him. Sonny had barely been able to stay awake. Whatever they used to subdue him, had to be strong, maybe even too strong for Sonny to handle at present. Corso checked the heart rate gauge on his friend again. No worries now, since Callie had joined him, it was as if Sonny had slipped into a deeper stage of sleep. Wich was good, he needed it.
Corso had checked his read outs regularly. Something had spooked Sonny at some point, elevating his heart rate to a level that had set of the alarms of the monitor he wore. Corso was curious. He couldnt ask him now, Sonny was asleep, and he was, frankly, not sure how much Sonny actually could relay from his days of captivity, since it seemed he had been sedated most the time. It had felt good to get him safely out of Maddox home, their invisibility cloakes had allowed for this to be much easier than they thought. Corso recalled holding Sonny in his arms, hiding him with his cloak, as they moved through Maddox house to their cloaked car, to drive to safety. Sonny had been sleeping through it was not sure if Sonny knew it was them that came for him, he had not given any signs that he recognized them. Well, none of that mattered. He was safe now, and he was sure to make a recovery from his ordeal.
As Corso scrolled through the content of the hacked databases of Technoid, he came across the surveillance from Duke Maddox house. There were videos in there, from the very room where Sonny was held he get an idea of what meds Sonny was treated with from this?Maybe this would shed some light on to matters?
Corso decided to have a look.
The footage was from when he was first brought in. Corso could see several doctors fuzzing over him, cutting off blood soaked bandages, and give him a did not appear to be awake, as he did not object to the treatment he was given. Then, he noticed something that sent chills up his spine.
He never thought he would ever see that face again. Corso knew he had been fired from the Chissian military where he had served as a medic for soldiers in need of prostetics and replacing lost limbs where possible. And Corso knew, this man was guilty of things he could never be tried for. He had hoped this man had suffered as horrible a death as his comrades subjected to him and his ways, had been. Corsos hand went to his own cybernetic eye. Best not even go there, not think of what this asshole was behind doing, or what he could have done to Sonny. Corso focused on the screen, seeing this monster, he had no better words to describe him, approcach Sonnys unconscious body,with a syringe with an unknown substance in hand. Sonnys hands already cuffed to the bed. It rendered him defenceless in the situation. Corso saw the monster from his own past, approach his best friend,and clean a spot on his chest, clearly where the syringe would inject its content. Corsos hands clutched involuntarily. He hoped for something to happen, to make him back off and step away from Sonny.. Corso had taken a glass of water as he was working. When he saw what happened, his hands clutched so hard, the glass shattered in his hand.
Duke Maddox looked at the reports he was presented with. How could this be? He could see absolutely no one in the room, and yet, one second Sonny was there, and the next, he was gone. This had to be the pirates work. Who else could sneak into his home, undetected, and kidnap an injured man? Duke Maddox hoped Sonny would be alright after all this. This matter was far from over. Knowing of this weakness Sonny would now have, as a result of the injury he sustained, Technoid had to strike against them now. At the same time, he was annoyed at how this had happened. Callie Mystic had followed her mandate to a T. There was no way he could legally imply her in Sonny being rescued by his men. For all he knew, she did not even know him, or the pirates. She was a sports journalist for Arcadia news. Her only contact with the pirates, was interviewing the pirates star players from their football team, when she succeeded in finding them. There was simply no way she could know Sonny Blackbones personally. Sonny had just randomly picked her from the list, because he reccognized her name. As he went through the list of hacked files Technoid could actually verify as hacked, he came to realise, the pirates were very spesific in what they sought. All the files were somehow linked to Sonny, past and present. It seemed the pirates may have a back up plan that involved Technoid if Sonny was to take a turn for the worse. He hoped he would be included if so happened,and given a chance to help Sonny heal from this injury. Sonny was the only employee to ever escape his company, without having his memories erased. And for Technoid, this was bad news. If Sonny ever decided to talk about what he knew about their treatment of employees, Technoid would be totally wiped off the face of the galaxy. Sonny and the other scientists may not have known what they were secretly a part of, they always left their work stations before the pesky individuals that could cause problems, was brought in. One scientist had questioned the fresh tissue samples and other things, wich was in supply daily. If Sonny knew of this, and had a suspicion as to where it came from... Duke Maddox had chills with the bare thought of how that would look. He himself had only found out the extent of this only very recently. In fact, he had not had the time to read up on the finds. Seemed he and the pirates were equal in this information being shared over this matter. That was, unless Sonny decided to share what he knew. And Sonny knew a lot. Duke Maddox recalled back in the day, someone had acted as whistle blower among the scientists. But the person that did, had not come forth to defend his claims. Instead, small snippets of videos started being sent, the contact code was one that could be used by anyone. And one by one, the scientists at the time, had either left, after having their memories erased, and from what he knew, Bleylock had made sure to deal with them. All of them, he had found and dealt with, all but one. Sonny was the one that got away, untraceable. For nearly two years, they had no idea what had happened after the disaster on Akillian. There was no sign that he left the planet, nor that he was alive. It wasnt till the burglaries started, hacking at first, that indicators showed he could possibly be alive,and have joined forces with their worst enemy, the notorious Shiloh pirates. It started with minor hackings, Hardly noticable. Not enough to get on their radar at first. Until a particularly valuable cargo was taken by the pirates. This cargo shipment had been shielded in any form they could, The route kept a secret, only a former employee would know of this. As it was meant to build a new technoid base, the pirates had stolen it, for their own needs. Somehow, The pirates had known the content of the cargo, the shipment route and struck when the ship was vulnerable. The ship was solely manned by droids, wich the pirates had reprogrammed and sold for profit. That was only the first major raid. Technoid became aware that they were watched. And it all pointed to the pirates. It seemed someone there had inside knowledge of their operations, one that they willingly shared. Their leader at the time, Magnus Blade, paid the price for the raid, by having his bounty increased slightly. But all in all, Magnus was nothing more than a common thief. Who was really behind these very spesific attacks, had inside knowledge of how Technoid worked.
But who was it?
About six months later, when the new base was built, he had his answer. The pirates struck against them again, attempting to close down the base, a coordinated attack. And that was the first glimpses they had of the man they now knew as Sonny Blackbones.
At first sight, nothing really identified him as his former employee, Blackbones was a fierce fighter, and clearly packed a lot of rage in how he sliced droids open with his sword. Then Bleylock had insisted, they run a comparison and facial recognition on Blackbones, as he felt he looked familiar.
Fuelled by anger over the attack, Duke Maddox had let him do it. And Bleylocks suspicion was confirmed correct. Sonny Blackbones was deemed a rouge employee of the company, and if at all possible, he was to be caught at all costs, dead or alive.
Duke Maddox had deliberately set the bounty at 2 million standard units, to have bounty hunters help track him.
It had not worked. It seemed, The pirates themselves were aware what kind of gem they had found in the former technoid scientist. And they shielded him from their detection in any way they could. Sonny would surface every now and again, usually alongside Magnus Blade, before he would vanish of their radar for months at the time.
The only one that ever had caught him, was Bleylock. And even that had been a dishonest deed. Bleylock had his own secrets when it came to Sonny, and had tried to kill him.
Only to end up in getting killed himself, due to his lust for power.
Maddox sighed. There had to be a way he could find Sonnys current hideout. He needed make sure Sonny didnt tell the galaxy what he knew about the past, surely something he could back up with evidence. But how to find him?
Duke Maddox opened a program on his computer. This was where all the files for wanted criminals was stored. Sonnys file was on top of the list, but there were others too. Duke Maddox sought till he found it. A face, a man with a cybernetic eye, listed under the name Flint Corso, appeared. Sonnys right hand man, a war veteran from the Chissian special forces. Figured when Sonny took over, he would choose loyal men, men whom he could trust. No one could ever doubt Corsos loyalty.
Duke Maddox made a call. Sonny would not surface for some time now due to his injury. The only way to get a lead on his whereabouts, would be to target Corso.
He typed in the description of the crime as unlawful abduction.
"If I cant find you myself Sonny, I will get there through you closest friends" he growled, as he sent out the poster with a new bounty attached.
Corso had sat down beside Sonny on the bed. According to his data,Sonny was about to wake up from the sedation, and he didnt want to risk Sonny having any panic attack that would raise his heart rate again. With the work Corso had done this night, it was clear to him, Sonny needed be examined by an expert, and fast. Seeing the chissian doctor, whom he knew the past of, standing over Sonnys unconscious body,injecting him with something, had rattled him. Corso knew what he was good at, and some deeper search had revealed what he had worked on within Technoid. That monster was responsible for many things Technoid was behind none of it had been good, but it was covered up, the pirates had no evidence of wrong doing just yet. Sonny was the only one whom had lived through it all, being Bleylocks protege at the point. The doctor couldnt touch him then, Bleylock saw to that. Now, on the other hand, it was a different story.
Corso was pulled from his thoughts as Sonny moved slightly. Corso placed his hand to Sonnys chest,waiting for more signs.
He didnt have to wait long. He could feel Sonny stirr awake.
"Hush Sonny, no need to wake up Callie. You are safe now" Corso said gently.
Sonny blinked a few times, before he leaned back in bed, with a smile.
"If I am dreaming, dont wake me up.." he managed.
Corso smiled.
"Its not a dream Sonny, you are safe now. We are at Callies place. Last place they would think to look" he said.
Sonny nodded as he turned slightly, he noticed Callie lying beside him, still sound asleep.
"How long have I been sleeping?" Sonny asked, as he noticed Corso checked his pulse.
"A good ten hours. And you will stay on bed rest for now Sonny. We need to have one of our own doctors examine you. I pulled all the information I could find on your case from Technoids databases. Seems there is an issue with a blood vessel to your heart. We need to make sure that is fine before we allow you to be more active in rebuilding from the damage" Corso said.
Sonny nodded.
"You had a closer look at the wound when you changed the bandages?" he managed.
"Yes, the wound is clean, but its hard to make a diagnosis without the right tools. Its thanks to Callie we found you so fast. If we had waited, I fear they would have moved you somewhere else. Maddox has been unusually aggressive after we rescued you. So much so, I now come close to your bounty with my won wanted poster" Corso informed him.
Sonny had a hard time hiding how humorus this was.
"You got a bounty on your head now? Welcome to the most wanted club Corso. How much do they want to pay to have you caught?" he asked.
Corso couldnt help but smile.
"Currently, I am worth 3.5 million standard units" he said.
Sonny chuckled.
"Maddox must figure you for a real bad boy to be willing to pay that much for your capture. What exactly are you charged with? This ought to be good" Sonny concluded.
Corso could barely hold it together.
"Oh it is Sonny. The charges are unlawful abduction, meaning, he claims I kidnapped you" Corso said.
That became too much, even for Sonny. Both men tried to hold it together, but their suppressed laughter woke up Callie.
"You sound a whole lot better than last time I saw you Sonny. I wonder how much of it was fake" she said as she stretched. Sonny tried to control himself as he turned halfway to look at her.
"Some of it was a show for Maddox, the effect of the sedatives though..was very real. If I had tried to stand up, I would have fallen" Sonny said.
"Speaking of wich Sonny. I hacked the surveillance system and backlogged it all. We got the tapes from when you were brought in till you were safely freed. The sedatives they used were pretty heavy duty. Either they dont trust you to obey any orders a doctor would give you, or they dont have the balls to stand up to you. In a 5 day stay, you were sedated at least twice a day" Corso said.
Sonny looked at him. That explained why it was so hard to wake up.
Callie on the other hand, was ready to face the day.
"Well, with all the rest you are getting Sonny, you should have plenty of energy to figure out how to deal with the cranky board members over there, whom have been on my back for doing my job" she said.
Sonny smiled at her.
"Taking on being a mandated reporter in this case was brave of you Callie. I was presented a list, but no name stood out as someone I would trust.I thought it was the sedatives misleading me for a second when I saw your name. At any rate, there was no debate. It had to be you. Thanks for your help" Sonny said.
Callie smiled and leaned over and gave him a hug.
"It certainly made my day a bit more exciting.I got to assist a handsome pirate in need" she smiled.
Corso chuckled slightly, before he got serious.
"Sonny, do you mind telling me what caused your heart rate to be so elevated?You are trained to handle this. From the video I saw, Duke Maddox was in the room with you. I dont want your monitor to go off while you wear it, so you need to tell me what he said" Corso demanded.
Sonny nodded that, and told Corso of his conversation with the Duke. Corso listened intently. No wonder Sonny was stressed about it. This sounded like Maddox would put this trial on, even without Sonny present. If Sonny was convicted, it would be open season on the pirates, and especially Sonny.
"I suppose you got a plan for this Sonny? Your injury will take time to heal, and you will have to go underground for that time. Do you have anything at all that we can use to keep Technoid at bay?" Corso wondered.
Sonny seemed to think it over for a moment, like this was a decision he didnt take lightly. Then, he nodded slowly.
"Maddox main concern, is that some ugly truths from the past, wich Technoid did their best to avoid coming out, may actually find its way to the public eye. Back in the day, we were several scientists that turned whistle blower, on some very unethical matters we came to discover by accident. And one by one, Technoid eliminated the danger of any of them spilling the beans. Well, all except one, me" he said.
Callie looked at him.
"Is this something that could be a story that a mandated reporter would be good to have on board for?" she smiled.
Sonny nodded.
"Yes Callie, but sadly, it is not without risk. For you and me both. I am the last of the scientists that has access to this knowledge, that Technoid cant control.I hope it wont have to come to that point,but I got the information stored in a safe deposit box, under an alias. I will need someone to help me retrieve it if need be. If Maddox decides to push this, I will be ready to show the galaxy the extent of the way employees has been treated and what myself and a few others found out by accident. I reccomend you not eat before seeing those videos, the content will litterally make you feel sick" he said.
Corso nodded.
" I will have Artie do it Sonny. At least,he and Bennett are not of Technoids radar as of yet. But it still doesnt explain your heart rate being as elevated as it was" Corso said.
Sonny sighed.
"That was a matter of what Maddox hoped the future held in regard to all this Corso. He made it clear,there is no avoiding a trial this time. And for my case, not a regular prison sentence. If convicted, he will force me to work for Technoid throughout the prison sentence. Like we always suspected, no regular prison sentence was ever planned for my case, he had other ideas all the time" Sonny confessed.
Corso nodded.
"That would explain why this scum was in the room when they first brought you in. They need a way to start preparing you for a sentence. I assume you had no plans of going along with this willingly." he said.
Sonny gave him a confused look.
"Whom are you talking about Corso? I must have been more out of it than I thought, as I cant remember what you refer to. As for willingness to comply with Techoids wishes, do I even need to tell you my standing on that?" he said. raising a brow.
Corso nodded.
"I am not surprised Sonny. You would have had to know his meritts from the time before he joined Technoid to understand why his presence was of concern to me. This scum is a ghost from my past, in the wars. I had hoped I would never see his face again. To see him in the room when they brought you in...I could have strangled him when I saw him approach you. If he is doing anything of what he did when I knew him,I will make sure to keep tabs on him. It may be Maddox doesnt know what he is capable of, but I do. I fear what that syringe he gave you contains. So I have called for a doctor to come in later to examine you today. I am not risking you getting hurt by his ways" Corso confessed.
Sonny nodded, then, he laid his hand on top of Corsos.
"Corso, tell me all you know about this doctor".
After having heard Corsos story, Sonny found himself in deep thought. He was sure this doctor was someone he had seen before, and the memories that came with seeing the photo Corso showed him, was not pleasant. Before his inner eye, the visions of what often felt like it was from another life, flashed like a movie screen.
He had seen things he found it hard to talk about, it was even hard to wrap his head around the idea that it had happened, and that it wasnt a nightmare.
That led his thoughts back to the few brave ones within Technoid that had the sense of mind to document what had gone on there. Sonny had managed to hide the evidence he had gathered, from his mentor, Bleylock. As he had come to realise, Bleylock was not merely executing orders that came from the top, he was the one that gave them. It was very likely, Duke Maddox didnt even know, that Bleylock had some kind of creative explanation for why the ones posing the biggest threats, the ones that dared be vocal about things, had mysteriously disappeared. Bleylock had gotten away with torture and murder, he was the worst scum Sonny could think of. To know he was dead and gone, should have been the end of his reign of terror. Instead, it had been the start of a massive search for survivors. Many were connected to pirates, whom had stored whatever information they had been able to get safely out of the technoid bases. He had considered pushing matters before, but didnt feel the pirates had the needed support to step forth yet. And the evidence only proved part of the operation Bleylock had going on, an operation he himself had been tricked into, until he realised the full horror of what was going on.
He had a special bond with Bleylock then, a bond he now came to realise had been his protection all this time. He had placed some camera sensors in hiding, for when he was not at the lab,to have an idea of what was going on. When he had retrieved the photoes and videos, what he found had made him vommit in pure disgust. How could anyone treat another human being this way? Sonny had taken his precautions after that, making sure to make copies of the videos, rented several safety deposit boxes, off of Technoid base, where he had stashed the evidence. Till this day, he made sure to hold those boxes, under aliases, as they contained evidence against Technoid, evidence that, if put forth, would shut down Technoids operations permanently. And he alone was the only witness left to tell the tale. No wonder he was wanted, dead or alive. His very existence could topple the galaxys biggest company over. And if need be, he would use this knowledge and the evidence now, to level the playing field.
Duke Maddox wanted to go forth, even without his presence, with a trial to convict him this time. Sonny knew that Duke Maddox had law on his side and could make this an in absentia conviction against him.
Sonny didnt think a prison sentence was what awaited him though. It had sounded like Maddox had another idea in mind. Duke Maddox could be reasoned with, as long as any deals was made outside of his board of directors.
He suspected several bad apples, power hungry sharks, was in an internal fight for control. It was possible Duke Maddox didnt know.
If it was Maddox call, Sonny had a feeling, he would be allowed some freedom during a sentence, most likely a chance to work for Technoid again. That was why he had made the offer to finish some projects he abandoned when he fled. If Maddox wanted it bad enough, he would finish them as a way to pay off his sentencing.
As he laid on the bed, waiting for Corso to come back with the doctor that was going to examine him, Sonny started to formulate a plan of action.
He was going to have to hide underground until he had healed, and with Corso now wanted as well with a bounty on his head, it seemed to him, instead of a hostile situation, he would benefit from striking a deal.
Sonny reached towards the night stand where Callie had left a notepad and a pen.
Sonny carefully laid over on the side, and started to write. Now, they were about to find out whether negotiations was at all possible, or if he had to break out the heavy artillery.
As soon as he was done, Sonny called Artie.
He smiled as he told his assistant what he needed his help with.
As Corso and the doctor arrived, Sonny was asleep again, but he had placed the notepad where Corso was sure to see it.
Corso nodded to the doctor to start his physical examination of his injured friend.
As the doctor took out his medical equipment, and started to examine Sonny, Corso noticed the notepad.
Sonny clearly was already formulating strategies to handle this, he was just going to execute the orders he was given.
As he saw what Sonny had written, a smirk formed on his face.
"About goddamn time Sonny. You have been way too nice on them and now, its time for a different strategy. I sure hope Maddox is ready to handle this load" he said, as he put the notepad down,and put on the equipment needed to assist the doctor.
As a footnote, in the original book, Corsos name is listed as being Flint Corso. Its the full name of the pirates second in command. This story will address some issues that dont fit in other stories, but also explain the past with Technoid, and the power struggles going on. We heard mentions of them, but never an explanation. Now, i am using Sonnys past as a tool to explain what he knows, and how it plays in with the story we have learned. Happy reading