Step 4.9
The screen came off easily enough.
I pulled out most of the components, rigging the case with some basic and mostly useless tinker tech. When I finished and put the screen back on, the burner phone joined the other two.
All three devices were little more than hard drives with screens and a rudimentary operating system.
Good enough to get my point across.
"Load the files."
"Download complete."
I melted the wireless receivers once the download completed.
"Alright. Is everything else ready?"
"Yes."
"Time to go then."
I handed one phone to Red, and another to Navy. The third I slipped into O Gundam's cockpit.
Veda loaded the suit into the van while I got my costume on.
"They might attack you regardless of what you say," Veda pointed out.
I pulled my mask over my head and straightened my hair. "I don't think they will."
"Dinah Alcott's predictions included outcomes that ended poorly."
"Less than a quarter of them," I pointed out. "And I think it comes down to how I play it."
"I remain concerned."
"I know. It'll be okay, Veda."
I climbed into the passenger seat and closed the door.
"They will come after you."
"I keep running into capes anyway. Might as well start doing it on purpose."
She had a point though. No matter how I played this, the gangs would come at me. I knew that.
Part of why I decided I might as well go all the way.
No half measures.
I tried not to get too attached the plan, given my track record thus far, but I felt pretty good about this one.
I kept it simple.
Simple is best.
"There's no one else who can do this. No one else who has the information we have. It'll keep everyone who was outed safe. For now, at least."
I didn't suffer delusions. Sooner or later, someone would be stupid. That's human nature. But later is better.
Veda pulled the van out of the workshop.
The Haros poured into the sky right behind me, taking a circular formation. Bakuda could see them now, which worried me, but I'd need more time to make all the upgrades.
I raised my phone at the sound of a message.
"Dad is on his way," I said in a low voice.
Not sure how I felt about that, but he insisted. He didn't want me doing this, but I guess he accepted he really couldn't stop me. Being there when I "set out" came as the compromise I needed to accept to get him to stop making a fuss.
I didn't get it.
"There is a problem," Veda said ten minutes into our drive.
"What is it?"
The video popped up on my visor from one of Red's cameras.
He really is this stupid.
"Let me off up here."
I double checked the time. Trevor didn't even have the sense to wait till people were probably asleep. The store owner was probably watching TV upstairs.
If regular unexpected complications taught me anything, it was to be prepared. I already knew someone might do something dumb. With that in mind I picked a launch point for the night that let me make an easy detour.
The van took a quick left turn in an alley. Purple and Orange descended from the sky. I stepped out as soon as the brakes brought the vehicle to a stop.
"I'll meet you at the launch point, Veda."
"Very well," she answered. "And Danny Hebert?"
Oh. Right.
"I'm just stopping someone from doing something foolish. I'll be right there."
I emerged from the alley on the opposite street, and here he was, crouched over and working at the lock. He didn't even see me approach. Concerning. I put no effort into being stealthy.
The idi—
Sigh.
Not fair. I'd been at this a few months and I still made stupid mistakes. I'd make more. I even considered doing this exact thing when I first started out. Dismissed it only because I'd inevitably get noticed or caught.
So I skipped the petty insult.
That nonsense belonged with someone like Emma.
"Hello Cheerio," I greeted. It's a process.
Trevor shot to his feet, some strange device held in his hand.
A lock-picking tool I figured.
The helmet covered his face completely. His costume was rough, white armor plates covering exposed circuits. Bulky around the chest and legs. From some of the exposed mechanisms I made out an accelerator and some kind of thruster. A glowing round pack hung from his belt. Probably a power source.
And are those roller skates? "Nice boots."
"O—Oh, really?" He lifted one leg, precariously balancing on the other. Didn't seem to bother him actually. "You think so?"
"Are roller blades part of your specialty?"
"Specialty?" He set his foot down. "Oh, yeah Armsmaster said something about that. Wait. No." He pointed his finger. "What are you doing here?"
"Stopping you from being dumb." I glanced past him. "Seriously, you're not even trying to use the side door?"
The hardware store looked like a classic mom and pop shop. The right amount of fade in its paint. An old style sign with a cheesy mustachio mascot holding a wrench really pulled the vintage feel together.
"This? Oh. Um." Trevor rolled forward slightly, his hands going behind his back. "It's not what it looks like?"
"Looks like breaking and entering to me," I said. "You realize you've already robbed this place once?"
"Well, I mean—I didn't really rob it. I left money, and I fixed the lock when I left."
I shook my head. "Setting aside that you forgot sales tax—"
"Oh right."
"Leaving money behind still requires the initial crime of breaking and entering."
Trevor flinched. He held both hands up, tool conspicuously absent. Odd. I didn't see anywhere for him to store it when I approached.
"I, um—"
"Never mind how badly this goes after you're done," I continued. "The owner is white. The Empire could use this as an excuse to come after you. Or the Protectorate could rethink their position on you."
"I—"
"Didn't think of that did you?"
"Well, I mean—" He glanced back and sighed. "I just needed some screws."
And he's here for screws why is he making this so hard?
"You're joining the Wards, right? You'll get a development budget when you do. There's no need for this. You'll be able to buy all the screws you need."
"Um."
Oh, come on. Is no one actually doing the thing that keeps them safe?
"You're not joining the Wards?" I asked.
"My mom wants me to."
"But?"
"I'm…not sure." He shrugged. "I mean. I didn't really set out to do any hero stuff. It's the ideas, all these ideas in my head. I just want to build them. You know? This idea and that idea?"
Trevor placed his hands on his waist.
"Armsmaster said that Hero runs an entire team of tinkers who do nothing but tinker. That seems cool, but it's only for Protectorate members, not Wards. I'm not really interested in patrolling or PR events and stuff."
I crossed my arms over my chest.
Be nice, don't mention the screws just don't think about it.
"I can relate to that," I admitted. "When I first triggered I burned through a stack of notebooks. A lot of the ideas I never got around to building."
"You built that suit."
"I did. I got so absorbed in it, I let some things fall to the wayside. Forgot myself a little longer than I'd have liked."
Trevor raised one hand to his head. "You say that like a regret."
"I don't regret building it."
My plan would never work without something like it. Not to toot my own horn, but the Gundam exceeded most tinker tech I could compare it to. Even as imperfect as some of the tech was, or maybe "unrealized" fit better.
"But I feel stupid for losing sight of what's important."
Trevor's head lulled. "Huh?"
"Sorry." I smiled and shrugged. "I'm a little distracted. I kind of need to threaten someone tonight. Multiple someones actually."
"That…doesn't sound very heroic."
He had a point, but, "Hero is more than a word."
And I'm still distracted. Such inconvenient timing.
"This is a bad idea." I nodded toward the store. "I think you know it."
"Um. Maybe, just a little."
"What's important to you? Your mom? You worried about her at Winslow."
I took his silence as a decent answer.
"Go home, Trevor. She's probably worried about you."
I turned my back, but Orange rose up and kept an eye on him. Trevor looked back to the store. A flash of light at his back, and the tool reappeared in his hand.
A pocket space then, like what Kid Win described.
Impressive.
I stopped after stepping around the corner. I didn't want to arrest him, or get into a fight, but I couldn't let Trevor get shot. Maybe if I went in the back and distracted the owner?
At least my costume was bullet proof.
He stood by the door, tool in hand. Once or twice he looked the way I left. Hesitating, or just covering his back?
"Go home already. Don't make me go back and hit you."
He hung around for nearly a minute.
And then he flashed his tool back away. His boots shifted, the wheels on his roller blades lighting up. He turned, and a dust line appeared in his place going west.
Frictionless motion, and instant acceleration to a set velocity? Huh.
Well. At least that was easy.
I went on my way. Just two blocks to the launch site.
Dad leaned against his truck, staring at the carpentry van parked in the next spot over. He wore a ski-mask of course, and his truck sported a fake license plate.
Just in case.
Sue me. It's a victimless crime.
He insisted on seeing this, but I wasn't going to take chances.
sys.t/ get Red and Navy in position
sys.v/ moving
The two Haros broke from the overhead formation. I crossed the parking lot, Dad pushing off his truck as I approached. He looked me up and down.
I guess he never saw me in costume before.
"It's a little tight," he mumbled.
I glanced down at myself. I didn't really mind the tight fit, even if I didn't have much figure. Nothing superfluous to get in the way of moving, and bullet proof of course.
"At least it doesn't show any skin?"
Hard to see his face under the mask, but I think he smiled. "I wish you wouldn't do this."
"I know."
I didn't tell him everything. If he knew everything he'd stop me. But I told him enough to convince myself I didn't lie. Probably get lectured after.
"If it helps, someone I know says I'm still alive tomorrow."
"Someone you know?" Dad asked.
"I've met lots of capes," I said. "Some see the future."
The remaining Haros confirmed we were alone.
I leaned forward and closed my arms around him.
"I'll be okay."
He grumbled like a typical dad. "You can't promise that."
"I will be."
The van erupted beside us. The sides drew down and O Gundam lifted into a standing position.
"You have a transforming van?" Dad asked.
I shrugged.
"Seemed like a useful thing to keep around."
I pulled back from the hug.
Dad remained standing as I climbed into O Gundam.
The chest closed, and the helmet came down on my head.
I pushed, the GN drive beginning its spin and showering the lot in light. The van started to close, and I saw Dad walking around to the driver's side door.
Veda rolled the dark tinted window down, turning her driving camera to look at him.
"Hello, Danny Hebert."
Dad blinked, apparently not expecting a machine to address him.
"You're StarGazer?"
"I am," Veda answered. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Have we met? You sound, familiar."
He said it suspiciously.
Right.
Veda based her voice on mine. And she sounded like mom.
"No," Veda replied. "Perhaps someday, when it is safer."
I rose slowly, giving my two messengers time to reach their destinations.
Navy went north, while Red went south. The cradles didn't fly nearly as fast as O Gundam, and it would be annoying threatening every gang one at a time.
I waited a bit.
Dad and Veda conversed in the lot. I wanted them to move, regardless of the fact Orange, Green, and Purple didn't see anyone nearby to notice them.
I'd never used the suit this early in the evening. The sun might be down, and with the drive throttled it didn't produce that much light.
Still. I didn't like the risk.
I dialed the number, and when Dad answered I said, "You should get going."
"I worry, kiddo."
"I know."
I hung up, and Dad said a few more words before getting into his truck. I told him to never replace the plate anywhere public. Hidden or out of the way places only. And of course, take off his mask only after being certain no one followed.
"Purple. Can you follow him?"
"Babysitting," the Haro chirped.
"In position. In position!"
I turned my head. Red and Navy hovered over their marks.
"Get ready to grab some attention," I said.
"Holding holding!"
Alright. "Ready to record, Veda?"
"Ready."
"Well then." I spun about, the drive flashing as I propelled myself forward.
"Start."
"Beginning operation."
The drive poured particles into the sky. I reached the edge of the city and banked left, circling the edge.
The gangs responded instantly.
Capes started moving. Guards began reporting. They knew the drill by now, and a week of respite didn't mean they forgot.
"Find her for me."
The Haros spread out, beginning a search of the sky.
I isolated the feeds from the cape's phones specifically. The ones I knew about.
SttN: yeah I know I'm going
LayonHands: stay lower
LayonHands: fly too high and she'll see you
SttN: she avoids cape fights
ReleasetheHounds: because she's afraid
ReleasetheHounds: should just ambush her
Lt: she's too fast to be caught
Lt: until HM convinces Radiant to return we defend
Radiant?
Sounded like a cape name, but it would be weird for all of them to avoid using capes names except for one person.
Radiant? Like light.
Purity isn't with them.
So there's a divide between the Empire and Purity? Wonderful the things you can learn eavesdropping. It suited me. The only other flier they had access to couldn't possibly catch me.
I turned into the city, flying a little lower than I normally did.
The video feed popped up on my visor.
Rune lifted off of a roof atop a manhole cover, her hands holding something. Her phone probably. Her location raised my brow.
Right where I wanted her. Very considerate.
SttN: yeah
SttN: defending has worked so well so far
"Red. Navy. Let's threaten some bad guys."
I threw my feet forward.
I exhaled with the sudden stop, and then threw my feet back the other way. The air snapped around me, a visible wave rippling through the trail of particles as I broke the sound barrier and hurdled over the city.
Rune didn't have time to react to my approach. Her chosen transport wobbled as I shot past her, the girl dropping to her knees and grabbing hold of the edge to avoid falling off.
My suit slid over the air a good eight feet, and I came about to face her.
Her green robe fluttered about her, pulling back enough to show a black body stocking underneath. Her mask was a plain white one with holes for eyes and no other features. Turned my way of course.
Checking on the Haros, Red flew through the window and dropped his stun grenade on the ground. The Merchants scattered, but they all fell over once the blast hit them.
Navy, more courteously, knocked. When the door opened he threw his grenade into the gambling parlor. The guard pulled the door as he fell, opening the way for my robot to fly inside.
I descended from the air at a steady pace.
Rune held her position in the air, watching silently.
My feet touched solid roof, and I started spinning the drive down.
I needed to preserve my GN Field. If anything useful came of my mishap with the ABB the other day, I proved the GN Field lasted longer at lower outputs.
The chest popped up and I climbed out of the suit.
Wind kicked up around me, blowing my hair off to the side and slamming into my limbs. I almost stumbled. Didn't expect it to be so powerful.
Large fan vents spun behind me, a railing lining the roof's edge. From the rooftop the city looked almost scenic.
The Haros surrounded my position, give or take a hundred feet. Pink had ensured Dinah's safe pick up by her mother, and was on her way to join us.
Rune watched from above, hands back to holding her phone
JackofTrades: where did she go?
Walkure: I don't see her
SttN: she's here
Well, that's just overly dramatic.
Lt: here where?
SttN: she's STANDING on top of Medhall
I know where you live.
I raised one hand toward Rune and waved.
Every member of the Empire stopped at once. Two of them in the middle of busy roads. I wish I saw the actual scene rather than just the dots on my map.
Red zip tied his captives and dragged them all over to the wall one at a time. Took him awhile. One person weighed about as much as my bazooka, and it took two Haros to lift that with good time.
Navy had it a little easier, since the ABB guys he knocked out kind of hit the ground in a circle.
He tied them up and set down on a table they could all see.
SttN: what do I do?
ReleasetheHounds: kill her
Lt: what is she doing?
SttN: she's just standing there
Lt: I don't see the light from her suit
SttN: she's not in it
I imagined Krieg with a cross eyed expression.
Lt: you mean she landed and stepped out?
Lt: she isn't in her suit?
SttN: after nearly running me over
ReleasetheHounds: kill her
Valkyrie: coincidence
Walkure: convenient coincidence
ReleasetheHounds: someone kill her
SttN: still waiting to be told what to do
ReleasetheHounds: KILL HER
If I needed any vindication, seeing Hookwolf jump right to killing me at the slightest provocation provided it.
Grabbing some Empire goons served my purposes, but I wanted to sell it. I knew more about the Empire than the other gangs. With Sabah being Arab, and Trevor being Hispanic, it felt like the Empire posed a greater risk.
Besides. The Merchant capes seemed to keep themselves fairly high, and the ABB capes all came in degrees of crazy.
Doing this face to face with them sounded like a recipe for disaster.
And two birds with one stone, what were the odds I just landed on top of Medhall by chance? The only thing more obvious would be writing "I know" on the back of a post card and having it mailed.
LayonHands: is she threatening us?
LayonHands: she saw your face
Whitey: a hero breaking the rules?
Lt: is she threatening you?
SttN: she's just standing there
JackofTrades: menacingly?
Rune leaned to one side.
SttN: Maybe?
Of course, if the Empire capes remained frozen in indecision, I might find some of their guys for an audience anyway.
ReleasetheHounds: fine
ReleasetheHounds: Ill do it
Lt: everyone hold
Lt: I'm contacting HM
Going right to Kaiser then.
I crossed my arms and started tapping my foot while Rune remained in the air above.
I needed some time.
The guys Red and Navy grabbed needed to recover enough to actually understand words.
I didn't need twelve minutes.
How did it take twelve minutes to ask Kaiser what to do? Krieg asked if I was still there three times. Rune said yes, naturally.
Lt: Rune
And they dropped the silly code names.
Lt: find out what she wants
SttN: what?
Lt: she's still standing there yes?
SttN: yes?
Lt: she wants to talk
Lt: go talk
Lt: the rest of us will surround the building
SttN: and if she arrests me?
Lt: she would have tried already
Lt: find out what she wants
Rune lifted her head.
I waved again.
The rest of the Empire started moving, which was cute. I'd be long gone before any of them arrived, assuming they even kept on that plan after Rune and I talked.
Rune descended.
I pulled out my phone.
sys.t/ start recording
sys.v/ starting
Rune's manhole cover kept a dozen or so feet distance between us, but it lowered enough for our heads to be even.
This is it.
Time to tell off every villain in the city, paint a huge target on my back, and hopefully ensure the short term safety of every outed cape in the city.
"Hello." I raised my voice so the wind didn't drown me out. "Having a nice evening?"
Red and Navy replayed my words, drawing the eyes of the captured men around them.
"What do you want?" Rune asked.
"I'm just enjoying the view. It's a nice building. Probably cost a lot of money."
"Probably."
"So, sorry to take your time, but since you're here, would you mind listening to me ramble?"
Rune's shoulders slouched. One of the Merchant guys cursed at me, while the ABB ones remained silent.
Good enough.
"I've been trying to work through some worries and maybe a random passerby will have some useful insights?"
"Is this a joke?" Rune asked.
"Jokes are funny," I noted. "I'm not good at funny. I'm good at math. And scheming. Or rather, I'd like to think I'm good at scheming. Been kind of a shitty week on that front."
Rune floated back a bit, glancing at the sky around us. Only a few buildings stood taller than Medhall, and none of them were on the same block. I think she spotted Orange and Green in the distance. The eyes of her mask looked their way intently a little too long.
I ignored that and kept talking.
"I try to save the Undersiders from a suicide bomber, and I get blown up. A lot. I try to help some outed capes and a school grade gets knocked out. Yay me. I go to chase some bad guys, and I find out they've got a conscience somewhere. Go figure."
Rune turned her attention back to me, one of the ABB guys saying something in Chinese. Veda translated it as some kind of idiom about plans not surviving contact with the enemy.
Life lessons from gangsters. How valuable.
"It's discouraging. Really bums me out. I haven't attacked any of the gangs all week because I keep thinking, what if I push them too far? What if they go after Sabah Ibnat-Salah, or Trevor Medina, or Lafter Frankland? Their friends. Their families."
I let the words hang. The Merchants lived up to their reputation, cursing at me and grumbling. The ABB guys seemed more intent to listen in silence.
For Rune's part she quickly pulled up her phone.
SttN: I have no idea what she's talking about
Lt: what did she say
She started typing and then stopped.
"Fuck this. Can I put this on conference call?" She held up her phone. "I'm not your fucking messenger girl."
"Go ahead and tell whoever you want however you want."
SttN: one sec
She dialed a number and lifted her phone parallel to her face.
"Okay, get on with it," she said. "We can hear you."
"Well, I was just talking to Rune"—that got some odd reactions—"here about how I'm too afraid to attack any of the gangs. For all I know, I go to blow up a drug stash and Kaiser puts a blade to Parian's throat. Or Lung threatens to burn Chariot alive."
"The unwritten rules," a voice from Rune's phone said.
It occurred to me the entire Empire might be on the other side of that call. Ten capes, maybe more, listening to me.
"The rules suggest," I challenged, "that anyone who breaks them will find themselves surrounded. An enemy to everyone. But how many villains are fighting the Teeth right now?"
Rune tilted her had to one side. "I—"
"None," I pointed out. "The Protectorate sent Legend to shore up things in Boston, and not a single villain has stepped in to help."
Rune scowled.
"This isn't Boston," the male voice said. "The capes here follow the rules."
"Tell that to Fleur." And that's the elephant in the room.
Someone attacked Fleur, and New Wave died. Sure the group still existed, but they didn't act. They couldn't. If they even tried to push, to really fight, then the cornered mice would bite.
A voice from Rune's phone exclaimed, "That was—"
"It was an act of a fool who was punished," I said. "I know, but it happened, didn't it?"
"She lived."
"She got lucky."
Rune looked like she wanted to leave. I didn't blame her. In her shoes, I'd have a very uneasy feeling right now.
"When Fleur was attacked, New Wave retaliated, but no one else attacked the Empire. Lung killed Challenger in her home five years ago. Did the Empire, or the Merchants move to punish him for it? Squealer was stolen from her home and drugged up. Did anyone try to rescue her?"
I stepped back toward my suit.
"So that's my dilemma. It vexes, doesn't it? People break the rules, but no one enforces them outside the Protectorate and realistically the Protectorate can't do a lot there."
Red and Navy both produced phones and dropped them on the floor. I pulled one from inside my suit and held it up.
"And then I was talking to Parian the other day. She brought up a useful thought. Why waste all my time worrying?"
I waved the burner phone at Rune, making sure she saw it in my hand.
"If the gangs want to play like there are no rules"—I set the phone on the ground and stepped back—"then there are no rules."
Rune glanced to me, and then to the phone on the ground. Red and Navy undid the zip ties holding one captive each, letting the men take the phone and look at the contents.
Rune landed at the edge of the roof and stepped forward. I took another step back, one hand going to my beam saber just in case.
Rune hesitated a moment, and then continued.
She grabbed the phone and started looking through it.
Think I saw her eyes go wide under her mask.
I imagine she saw faces and names she already knew. Faces and names attached to masks and names everyone in the Empire preferred remain unattached.
I didn't know which ones.
I still didn't trust myself. I knew my limits.
But I trusted Veda.
She put the packages together. Identities, and not just of capes. High ranking lieutenants and dirty cops. City officials on the take. Smuggling routes and contacts.
The kind of information that, if it got out, would probably burn Brockton Bay to the ground.
And the gangs along with it.
When I started I wanted to gather as much information as I could. But what good is information if you never use it? I had enough. Enough to bury them all. The consequences wouldn't be limited, but I don't think they could afford it.
In front of me, Rune's hand squeezed the phone.
"You can't be serious," she hissed.
I looked her in the eye. "Plus and Minus are dead. Girl Wonder is dead. Blanche is dead. Concourse is dead."
Slight pause.
"I'm deadly serious."
One of the ABB guys asked who those names were. Figures. None of them came from Brockton bay. Three were from Boston, one from Providence, and another from Portland. I'd bet even the Empire didn't know them by name.
"What is happening?" the voice on the phone asked.
LayonHands: is she threatening to out us?
ReleasetheHounds: KILL HER
Walkure: what do we do?
JackofTrades: killing her is pointless
JackofTrades: StarGazer can follow through
"I'm going to make this simple," I said. "Pick the rules you want to play by, and those are the rules you'll play by."
I stepped back into my suit, the chest plate closing and the helmet coming back down.
I could probably stop there, but I didn't want any misunderstandings.
"One hair out of place on the heads of Parian's siblings, and I start putting names in a hat."
Dinah saw a lot of that when I asked. More than direct attacks against unmasked capes even. It needed to be made clear.
The rules say no going after family, and I had no interest in rules lawyers. One step out of line and I started planning retaliation.
"Someone attacks Dazzler without her mask on, and I start pulling names from the hat."
A necessary concession.
The gangs would just tell me to fuck off if I didn't make it clear. Anyone who put on a mask agreed, knowingly or otherwise, to the danger that came with wearing one. That included capes whose identities were known.
I couldn't realistically expect villains to back down from a hero coming after them. They'd never go for it.
So, yes. A concession.
"Laughter's body washes up on shore, and the hat starts finding its way onto Blue Cosmos forums and social media."
My feet left the ground, light rolling off of Medhall's roof in waves.
"People who break the rules don't get to hide behind them."
Rune remained perfectly still.
The ABB guy caught on fast. He pocketed the phone, and actually bowed his head to Navy.
"I will inform the Dragon immediately," he said in broken English.
sys.t/ let him go
Navy spun slowly as the man stumbled to his feet and left.
Of all the gangs, the ABB seemed like the one that might care the least. Lung was powerful enough to hold his territory almost solely by himself. He could just say fuck it to any threat against his identity.
But he still wore a mask.
His name and face meant something.
And maybe the Merchants should worry me more. Damn druggies were barely coherent even as they argued about what I was saying.
Good thing I planned to stick the conversation and all video on the Internet.
The Empire capes were still coming toward me, one blatantly violating the speed limit. If Hookwolf hated me now, he's going to loathe me beyond reason in a few minutes.
sys.t/ isolate the targets
Veda lit up my visor, of buildings turning red before my eyes
And oh look, all the Empire capes were in the wrong places.
Turning my attention back to a petrified Rune, I concluded my speech.
I hated it in a way.
The rules were bullshit.
They'd always been bullshit. A pleasant fiction for people who wanted to dodge responsibility by hiding behind another name as if they had two lives. New Wave got it right there, I think.
The rest of the world only got one.
But I was one of those people, wasn't I? Hiding behind a mask for safety.
So, fair is fair.
I'd respect the mask, as long as the mask was respected.
"Although, there is a problem."
Rune flinched.
I took hold of my bazooka and shield.
"People associated with the Empire attacked Aisha Laborn."
Rune stuttered, "I-I tried to stop that!"
"You did, but there's two sides to a threat. The ability, and the willingness to carry through."
sys.t/ do it
sys.v/ posting
"I'm going to be fair and out every cop on the Empire's take. All seventy-two of them. Oh, and if even one of them drops dead, I'll rescind my fairness and out the name I pulled from the hat."
I killed the transmission, ensuring only Rune and the Empire heard what came next.
I spun the drive up to full.
"James Fliescher," I said. "I hope you paid your dirty cops enough to keep their mouths shut."
sys.t/ begin phase two
I picked my first target.
O Gundam blew past Rune, nearly knocking her over again.
The timer appeared on my HUD, counting down from twenty-nine minutes.
More than enough time to make my point.
The city flew by, and I threaded a narrow gap between two tall buildings and dove. Lining up with a corner pharmacy, I slipped between two trucks. My feet slid over the ground, digging into the asphalt as my shield rose to meet the impact.
I crashed through the wall.
"Four nine millimeter," Veda announced. "One thirty-eight."
And fired.
