With the area around the Southside Evangelical Church in disrepair, Alberich had little issue with finding hidey holes to set up shop. Dressed down in drab attire and a courier's backpack, he found an abandoned tenement house with a good view of the side of the church. He climbed up to the uppermost floor of the house and quickly picked the lock to one of the apartments.
Unlike most of the apartments, this one had seen minimal squatter presence over the years, probably due to the padlock that had been recently put on the door. Finding a window with a good view of the church, Alberich pulled out the contents of the courier bag: his disassembled Ruger rifle, a localized scanner and a woollen blanket from a thrift store.
He assembled his weapon and rested it against the wall once it was calibrated. He activated the scanner to watch for any inbound signals and moved the rifle to his lap. He hunched over against the wall, hiding himself under the blanket, presenting the front of a squatter to any who might happen by. Now he just had to wait for the signal to move.
"Are you ready for this?"
Astrid looked up at Gemini. "As ready as I can be. When the job is done, I'll need someone to get back here and check on me. This is likely going to be hard on me and while I hope to hit this thing hard and fast, this isn't without risk. Keep a doctor on standby."
"You've got it. Best of luck, Astrid."
"You too."
Gemini and De Madera left the confines of the safehouse, allowing Astrid to focus on the task ahead of her. "Lord Tyr, I ask your blessing for the coming battle. May your wisdom and guidance serve me well."
The sun was setting in Renton, as the congregation gathered at Southside. Gemini stood back, watching as people filtered into the church. She spotted Robert Monroe eagerly moving through the door to find his place near the front.
"Our mark's on his way in," she reported over the comm channel. Almost immediately after the report, De Madera rounded the wall of the church. His face had been altered with a combination of latex and nanopaste and his skin tone lightened to look more Northern European than Spanish. He had altered his body language to display far less confidence the Madera typically displayed. Sidling into the trickle of foot traffic, he stepped into the church to try and find a seat close to Robert.
Gemini kept track of people as they entered the church and realized that the crowd was a little bit larger again than what Astrid and Madera had reported earlier. The growth of the congregation was swift and it meant less room to manoeuvre if things went poorly.
"I'm ready," Astrid said. Gemini hit the timer on her commlink, counting down from three minutes. She grabbed the tiny black package she had brought with her and got herself in character for the distraction she had opted for. She only hoped it would buy them enough time.
Astrid sped through astral space as she projected from her body and headed toward the church. What felt like minutes in astral space were fractions of a second in real space and in an eye blink, she had arrived at the church. Astral space here had changed since she had been here last. A latent background count was forming as the spirit's power grew and given much more time, the church would begin altering the surrounding space as well.
Sliding through the outer wall of the church, she looked around the congregation. A mix of scepticism, elation and a craving that could only come from addiction filled the air. The sensation was palpable and Astrid found herself sharing slightly in that craving, even though she had never once taken the drug. Pushing the sensations aside, she studied the crowd. She saw Robert Monroe's aura, front and centre yet again, his aura portraying a dangerous level of devotion, bordering on obsession. He was nearly an irreconcilable follower now and he would have a long road to recovery.
Directly behind Robert was De Madera. While his body was concealed, his aura could not be masked. Gemini's task would be to keep not only the priest distracted from Astrid's actions, but not scanning the congregation for familiar auras.
The priest was beginning his sermon, welcoming people to the church and exuding an aura of confidence and righteousness. His attentions being on his words, he wasn't watching the astral plane, giving Astrid free reign to search for the source of the priest's power. She studied the priest for a spiritual tether, but the spirit had done a good job in concealing its location.
"If I were to mislead a priest into thinking I was manifestation of his God, where would I..."
Astrid looked to the large faded cross behind the pulpit. Most inanimate objects had no aural presence, but the crucifix glowed with a dull light. Originally, she had disregarded it, as some items of holy worship can take on echoes of those who pray to it. But giving it greater scrutiny, she smiled. She readied her magic and moved in close to the cross.
"You can stop pretending now. We have a score to settle."
An explosion of light erupted from the cross, invisible to all those in the church but enough to cause Astrid to recoil. A large spirit stepped from the cross, in the form of an angel. Its wings were alight in shades of crimson, its body glowed in a deep violet armour and its halo a pure wreath of flame. Two bright points of white showed where its eyes were and they narrowed to slits as they scrutinized the mage before it.
"You dare to threaten me, human? I have little to fear from an insignificant creature such as yourself."
"I respect your power, spirit, but I cannot allow you to continue to exploit these people. I do not fear you."
"You cannot defeat me. Accept your fate and surrender."
"I think you'll find I'm full of surprises."
Astrid tapped into the local mana and spoke swiftly under her breath. "Oh Great and Wise Tyr, I call upon your grace and power. I call upon my ancestors and request that my name be sung in Valhalla, as I wade into battle. May the Valkyries claim my foe on this day."
The astral plane distorted as a spirit stepped in from its native plane alongside the mage. The muscular frame of a woman emerged from the ether. Wearing a helmet of gold, the Guardian Spirit stood a foot taller than Astrid. A skirt of leather and metal circled her waist and a robe of white light draped over her shoulders and between her bare breasts. One hand clasped an ornate shield of blue and silver, while the other held an enormous spear, its tip wreathed in an electric blue flame.
The angelic spirit looked at the Valkyrie-made-manifest in surprise. The summoning had taken a toll on Astrid, conjuring up such a powerful spirit, but on her own she would be defeated for sure.
Astrid drew power into her hands as she readied her manabolt. "For Glory!" she cried, as she hurled herself at the free spirit. The Valkyrie raised her spear and let out a yell composed of the cries of fallen warriors, leaping into the fray.
The priest was winding up for his big opening of his nightly sermon, when his face slackened slightly. A brief moment of confusion crossed his face and the congregation waited with baited breath to learn what was the matter. De Madera wondered if Gemini had missed her cue and his hand reflexively went to his weapons, should things unravel.
"Stop!"
Gemini strode into the centre aisle of the Church, holding a Bible aloft in her hands. Her voice filled the space and immediately drew the attention of every member of the congregation. "You cannot continue to give these sermons."
"Who are you to tell me I cannot worship in God's house?" the priest spat.
"You are twisting the word! You only speak of retribution and sin, but ignore the greatest truth."
"Oh and what would that be?"
"God's love! Ephesians 2:4-5, But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved."
The priest glared at Gemini. "How... how dare you quote the Good Book to me! I am His vessel. I know the Bible better than you ever will!"
"First Corinthians 16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong," Gemini recited from memory. Using her adept skills, her voice came on strong and her words stuck in the minds of those gathered, weakening the hold the priest held over them.
"Luke 1:50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation," the priest fired back.
Gemini stood in the aisle, countering the priest's volleys, verse for verse. As the exchange progressed, the people gathered became less and less certain over their viewpoint. The priest continued to fire off words about God's Wrath and the end of days, while Gemini stuck to verses of acceptance, redemption and forgiveness. The crowd slowly began to turn. Those not engrossed by the priest decided that this wasn't the church for them and went for the door and even some of the repeat visitors were starting to rethink their views.
"You're corrupting the minds of my flock!" the priest yelled. "Stop your meddling, or I will call down his Wrath upon you!"
"You are the corrupter here. Perhaps God has had enough of you distorting his lessons. If you continue on this course, perhaps his retribution will fall on you..."
In the air over the congregation, Astrid and her spirit waged war with the free spirit that fueled the priest's persuasive abilities. A blast of energy struck Astrid hard and somewhere distant she felt a sharp pain in her chest. Astrid shakily got back up and once again began channeling the power needed for a spell.
"What is happening?" the spirit asked, looking over the crowd below. The aura of the space was shifting and detracting from its power. "What are you doing?"
"Winning," Astrid said, hurling a manabolt at the spirit. It let out a scream of pain before the Valkyrie ran its spear through the angel's chest.
The free spirit let out a roar of frustration, grasped the spear that impaled it and snapped the weapon off. The Valkyrie let out a mournful cry, just as the free spirit wheeled around and dashed the Guardian to the plane it had been summoned from.
Unsure of how much she had left in her, Astrid opted against another spell and threw herself at the spirit channeling her energies into the charge. The two auras collided, tumbling end-over-end. Driving the spirit to the ground, Astrid straddled the spirit's form, exhausted and its power fading fast.
"Even if you defeat me here, I will find a way back to this plane. I will track you down and destroy you for this transgression..." the spirit screamed, the white light in its eyes ablaze.
Astrid reared up and drove her hand into the spirit's chest. She felt a white heat at her fingertips and she closed her fist over it. Ripping out a white ball of energy, she held it out over the spirit's face. "Bring it."
As the fire extinguished in her hands, the light faded from the spirit's eyes and it vanished from sight. Sighing with relief, Astrid closed her eyes and quickly returned to her body.
Reality struck home like being hit by a car. Her breathing was laboured and her body was covered in burns both from her summoning efforts and the spirit's attacks. She attempted to stand, but let out a cry of pain and collapsed back to the ground with a coughing spell. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, she reached for her commlink and held down the 'Transmit' icon.
"Go now!" she said in as strong a voice as she could muster, before collapsing to the floor to conserve her energy.
Upon hearing Astrid's signal De Madera started to move, rummaging for Alberich's toy in his pockets.
"The truly faithful will see the heathens removed," the priest said, looking to Robert. The man they were there to recover, stood in his chair and wearing a happy grin, drew a pistol, pointing it at Gemini. Madera sat upright and jabbed the stun baton into Robert's side causing him to briefly twitch and fall unconscious to the floor.
"You!" the priest yelled, pointing a finger at De Madera. "You aren't welcome here!"
"Oh well, one more place on the list..." he said with a shrug. Pulling out a tiny vial of liquid, he quipped a mock "Praise Jesus!" and hurled it at the priest. The prop glass the vial was made from shattered as it struck the priest's chest, spraying him with a glycerin solution full of RFID markers.
"What is this?" the priest asked, touching the wet splash and sniffing the concoction.
"Holy water, you twisted bastard," De Madera said, with a grin.
"H-holy water? I am the embodiment of all that is Holy! What do you hope to accomplish? My God will shield me from all ill will."
"OK then, riddle me this, Batman. If your 'God' protects you from all ill will, then how did my little water bomb hit you?"
For the first time, the priest's arrogance slipped away and a worried look crossed his face.
When Alberich heard Astrid's voice, he threw off the blanket and picked up his rifle. Walking over to the nearest window, he lifted the tired wooden-framed glass and let the dusk's air wash into the enclosed space. He shouldered the weapon and knelt down to keep a low profile, looking through the scope at the church's wall.
As his hand closed over the stock by the trigger guard, the reticule of the smartlink built into his contact lenses popped up. Wind speed and direction were factored into the ballistic arc and the targeting computer corrected accordingly.
The moment De Madera's vial struck the priest, Alberich's image link showed the point of impact as a blue area in his field of vision. He made out the contour of the priests' chest, despite the wall of the church being between him and the target. He took careful aim, controlled his breathing and centred the crosshair on his mark.
"Say goodnight," he muttered as he gently squeezed the trigger.
"I have stayed true to my God. There was no need to protect me from a little splash of water," the priest said, digging up his confidence.
"I beg to differ," Madera said.
There was a crash of glass as part of the stain glass window overlooking the pulpit blew out. The bullet struck the priest square in the chest, spraying a fine mist of red out the other side. The people in the church immediately panicked and ran for the exits, but the two runners inside remained where they were.
As if frozen in time, the priest remained on his feet, his hands still outstretched. The fading sunlight streamed in through the shattered glass, highlighting the dark circle in his chest and the growing pool of maroon radiating out from it.
"My Lord... Why have you...?"
The priest fell to his knees briefly before pitching forward and falling face down on the floor.
"Time to go," De Madera said, stowing his baton and starting to scoop up Robert's limp body. "A little help here and this will go a lot faster."
With Madera and Gemini under his arms, they dragged their unconscious quarry out of the church before Knight Errant arrived to investigate the shooting.
X3 felt the cool night air settling in, as he crept along the rooftops of Renton. The small portion of the city that the Triads had set up shop was a tightly knit community, but was ultimately controlled by the criminals. He found the bakery easily enough and crept along the roof watching the guard patterns.
"Way to draw attention, boys. Legitimate bakeries don't need guards..." he muttered under his breath.
As a guard neared the rear door, he soundlessly jumped to the ground behind the Triad man. Wrapping his hands around the man's neck, he pulled him over backwards, driving his knee up into the man's back. The spur implanted in his leg fired up into the guard's torso and as the man let out a muffled scream, X3 gave a sharp twist. With a crack the guard fell limp to the ground. The assassin dragged the body into the pile of garbage at the rear of the building and took the man's commlink. Holding the dead guard's commlink to the door, the lock clicked and X3 slid inside.
Moving cautiously, he looked around the storeroom he found himself in. There were boxes of baking supplies and kitchen tools, but there was also a remote corner filled with boxes with no labels. X3 could easily guess their contents.
As he neared the door to the kitchen, he heard discussion in Cantonese beyond the door and footfalls moving in his direction. Standing behind where the door would open toward, he ejected his arm spurs and waited. The door swung in and a Chinese man strode into the store room heading for the Mescaline stockpile. As the door closed, X3 moved quickly and quietly. He made three quick attacks: one to the back of the leg to drive the man down, as he fell forward, a blade to the back and finally, a grip on the man's hair and a blade raked across the neck.
Gasping for air and bleeding out, X3 pushed the dying man into a dark corner and moved toward the door. He pulled it open slightly and peered into the kitchen. Two others were mixing ingredients and getting ready to make a new batch of treats for unsuspecting clients. Waiting in ambush for the men, it wasn't until one of the cooks wondered what was keeping their friend that one drew close. X3 burst from the storeroom and closed his hand over the one cook's mouth, twisting his neck at a painful angle to keep him contained. Spinning around to keep his hostage in front of him, he drew his HK-227X just as the other cook went for his weapon.
By the time the Triad man had raised his handgun X3 was already holding the trigger. The sound suppressed burst stitched the man's torso and dropped him to the ground, slumped against the stainless steel kitchen cupboards. With a jerk, he severed the spine of his hostage and moved toward the door that read "Manager".
The runner strode in through the door and as the manager looked up, X3 pointed the gun at the man. "Good evening. So much as twitch and I fire."
To the man's credit, he didn't even nod to acknowledge. He merely froze in place and kept his eyes on the runner before him. Dressed entirely in black, tight-fitting attire, the man was obviously augmented. Even the runner's eyes had been adjusted to turn their surface solid black.
"What do you want?" the manager asked.
"It's a long list," X3 said. "Ultimately, I've just come to shut down your little operation here. People frown when you dole out confections laced with drugs."
"It was just business," the man said, still remaining motionless. "We had to get an edge on our competition."
"By lacing your food with a hallucinogen? Are you mental?"
"We worked with what we had at our disposal. We kept doses low enough to not cause overdoses..."
"But enough to turn children into addicts?"
X3 froze for a moment. He cared. As much as he disagreed with Gemini about her 'pay-it-forward' mentality, he did care. Damn. The elf could never know.
Popping out one of his gore-streaked spurs, he placed it against the manager's throat. "I'm going to ask you a series of questions. You are to answer promptly and with no extras. If you start explaining things, I'm going to be forced to kill you, understand?"
"Yes," the manager said. He was a quick study, it seemed.
"Do you have any other stores of Mescaline aside from what's in your back room?"
"No."
"You have a fund you use for keeping this place in business, correct?"
"Yes."
"Can I access it from your commlink?"
"Yes."
"Is it password protected?"
"Yes."
"Give me the password."
The man rhymed off the digits required to access the commlink and X3 recorded them on his Image Link for future access.
"Thank you for your cooperation," he said, raising the gun.
"Wait! I thought you were going to let me live!"
"I never said that. In case stupidity is contagious, I need to stop the spread here..."
Firing twice, he dropped the man before he could reach for a weapon or PanicButton. He then retrieved the man's commlink and entered the provided password. The commlink decrypted the information and showed a bank balance with just over 10,000Â¥ in it.
"That's a nice little bonus..." he said with a smile.
Returning to the kitchen, he set the burners to a fifteen minute delay to light and then severed the gas line feeding into the bank of ranges. He left the building promptly and watched from a block away until he saw the explosion that signified the job was complete. Slipping away into the darkening city, he moved to rendezvous with the team as sirens converged on the former bakery.
