Interlude 9: V
V coughed.
It was a hacking, wrenching cough, one that felt like it was ripping her insides clean out. The Relic was doing it's job, alright.
V could feel her brain dying. Feel the neurons shutting down. Feel her time running out. Her sight was intermittently hazy. Streaks of blue static flickered across her vision, and Johnny's presence grew with every passing second.
"He's a corpo, y'know," Johnny said. "Just another corpo-rat looking to make a quick eddy off your soul."
"As bad as 'Saka?" V questioned sardonically. "And here I was thinkin' they were one of a kind."
"They are," Johnny insisted. He turned his digital head, looking at the Militech men preparing themselves in the corner of the room, "Come a long way to get here, haven't we? Just think - it all started in a fuckin' landfill."
V nodded, "Mhn. Then you tried to kill me."
"Exactly what I mean. Here we are now, together, 'bout to storm the gates with fuckin' pitchforks." Johnny shook his head with a melancholy look on his face, "My only regret's that I won't get to see how it all ends."
V rolled her eyes, "Gee, thanks. Got that little faith in me?"
"Not you," Johnny gestured to the men, "in the rest of 'em. Listen, want to trust Arthur and his corpo goons? Fine. But it'll be their guns watchin' your six."
V was silent for a long moment, "High risk," she eventually said, "but high reward."
"You absolutely sure?" Johnny asked, his tone unusually gentle. "No goin' back on this, y'know."
V looked over at the men preparing in the corner of the room, "I know. I've got Goro watching my back." She looked back at Johnny, a melancholic little look on his face, "I'll be fine."
Johnny nodded and faded into the back of her consciousness as the Omega blockers kicked in. Around her were sat the men, former criminals and thugs and cyberpsychos the lot of them, each preparing for what was to come in their own way. They were all clad, apart from her, in Arasaka gear that Arthur had managed to 'acquire', to give them an advantage over the army they were about to face. Arthur had been optimistic that they could make it most of the way without being detected. In spite of this, nobody expected to survive.
Entry was easy. Exit would be the real killer.
V approached Takemura, religiously sharpening his samurai sword in the corner, "You ready?"
He gave a stiff, angry nod, "I have been preparing for this moment for months. Vengeance for Saburo-sama."
"And the rest of you?" V called out to the rest of the group.
One man seemed a joker, "Ready for hell." He waggled his eyebrows and let a suggestive lilt bleed into his tone, "Though, I wouldn't say no to you getting my dick wet one last time, eh? Reefer's all good, but there's nothin' like a throwback for a nice high. Whadda you say, sugar-tits?"
V raised an eyebrow, "Sugar-tits? Talk about a throwback..."
There was a round of crude laughter as Takemura stood up, brandishing his freshly-sharpened blade threateningly, preserving what little honour she had, "We have no time. We are almost here. Let's go."
True to his words, the rumbling of the engine of the truck slowed, and V could feel the inertia as they came to a stop. The men put on their helmets, and the doors of the truck opened, revealing the tunnel that lay beyond. They walked around the truck and towards the scaffolding that would take them to heart of Arasaka tower.
One of the men whistled, "What is this place?"
V responded curtly, "Maglev tunnel. Currently under construction by Night Corp."
"Hey, I've heard of that! Security by Militech SiteSecure, right?" V nodded, "How'd we get through?"
V shrugged, "Big man worked his magic, I guess. Pulled his strings, made some calls, maybe paid bribes. I dunno."
"How much further to 'Saka tower?" another, meaner sounding man asked.
"Not much. The tunnel should connect right to the basement level. All we have to do is finish it. If we're lucky, we can slip right in - completely unnoticed."
V scarpered through the scaffolds, light on her feet, making her way to the control room, "Everybody clear? Everybody in position?" she asked through her comm. She received a chorus in the affirmative in response, and with a smile she jacked in to the console, and brought the drill back online. The room rumbled around her as the tunnel-boring machine started back up, tearing through reinforced concrete as it entered the foundations for Arasaka tower.
Electronics shorted, sending showers of sparks to the floor. Pipes burst and clattered to the other side of the room, and still V gave it more power. The air filled with steam as the pressure built in the hydraulics. Only when the room had disintegrated completely, monitors hanging off the walls from wires, a mess of pipes on the floor and the roof threatening to collapse, did the affirmative come through on her holo. The hole was wide enough, now, and they had direct access to the tower through the seismic dampeners.
Quick as anything, Takemura sniffed out the maintenance shaft through which they would advance. They all snuck through the sub-level as silently as possible, though it became soon apparent that there were less guards than anticipated.
Ladder after ladder they silently, solemnly climbed. The grey concrete of the foundations quickly gave way to black metal and red neon, marking their ascent into Arasaka proper.
"Just think," one of the men chattered through the comm, "we're standing just where the AHQ bomb left a huge crater."
"Then... isn't this place just saturated with radiation?"
"Why?" another man glibly retorted, "You think you'll live long enough to get cancer?"
"Like to keep the option open," he grumbled.
"Enough," Takemura sternly cut in. "Keep the comm clear."
Silence reigned once again, supreme. Only the subtle whir of machinery cut the tension in the air. One by one, the men clambered through the vent as quietly as possible, winding up in one of the many server rooms in Arasaka tower. V climbed through after, and then promptly collapsed, streaks of blue exploding across her vision, "Arrgh!"
Takemura rushed to her aide whilst the other men watched, " V? V! Are you alright?"
V shook her head as the streaks faded, "Got it... under control... just another seizure... Can't stop now..."
Takemura nodded, the look of concern on his face traded for one of determination. He signalled with his hands as V gathered herself and stood up, her legs still trembling from the seizure. The door slid open with a hiss, and the sound of two silenced shots followed by two bodies falling to the ground could be heard.
Takemura pointed her to the next door, "Access point should be through there, V. Are you sure you can manage?"
V fingered the shard on which the fate of this mission would depend nervously, "Yeah, I can. Wait here."
The men all collectively nodded, and V inched her way down the stairs and through to the security room as quietly as possible. Lockdown orders blared through the speakers, but she ignored them, offing the netrunner manning the security system with a silenced trigger-pull, and slotting the shard into place.
There was a long moment of stillness, and then carnage.
Mechs turned on their owner, bullets tearing through flesh. Many simply dropped on the spot, their brains fried through the network.
"It is done," a woman's voice said.
"So we can keep going to Mikoshi? We're clear?"
"Your path lies open," she responded. "Though I feel I must inform you that fighting has already broken out. Arasaka security forces appear to be killing each other."
Takemura and V shared a look, "Right on time. Just like he said they would."
If in fact she did get out of here alive, V intended to ask Arthur some very pointed questions about where, exactly, he got his intel from. No man could be this accurate.
And so, onwards they charged. Their disguises bought them a mere few seconds before the guards opened fire. Before V could even respond, even more Arasaka personnel answered with rounds of their own. Two of their men, whose names V had never bothered to learn, fell to the crossfire, dead. Their compatriots did not bat an eye at leaving them there.
"Guys?" someone asked. "Is it just me, or..."
"No," Takemura responded. "I see it too. Something's wrong."
"And we'll soon find out what," V chimed in. "Mikoshi's near. So stay focused!"
They weaved through the fighting, the Arasaka uniforms providing precious respite, and around them, sparks would occasionally fly out of the necks of those who dared open fire in their direction, "I've cleared a path, but you must hurry," Alt declared. "An elite unit is following you."
V lifted up the shutter, ushering the team behind the security door as bullets flew past, "This is it," she stated. "We've made it."
Takemura nodded, "A few steps separates you from Mikoshi."
"It seems I'll get my chance after all, huh?"
Takemura advanced with her through the neon-lined corridor, "Yes, and I my vengeance."
She lifted the final security shutter, and the men filtered through, one by one, Takemura taking the lead. Suddenly, behind her, the sounds of metal screeching and slamming repeatedly against concrete could be heard drawing closer. She made it under just in time, only to be knocked flat when the it came barging through.
Adam mother-fuckin' Smasher!
One of the men, high on an adrenaline kick, charged, shotgun raised, muzzle flashing. He was knocked down the moment he entered Smasher's reach, his head reduced to a bloody mush with a single powerful stomp, "Fucking meat!" Smasher turned his attention to her, "Bold. And stupid."
Around her, a hail of gunfire erupted. The room lit up with orange flashes as she scrabbled to her feet and ran. Behind her, she could see sparks flying off his armour, bullets ricocheting off of hardened metal, the metal fibers suffering nary a dent. "You won't leave here alive." he calmly declared, sparks flashing past his metal jaw, moving unnaturally as he spoke. A missile launcher mounted on his back trained on it's targets and loosed a volley of missiles, trails of propellant smoke arcing across the room as the targeting system did it's job.
By her count, within maybe a minute of fighting, their numbers had been halved.
Not good. Not good at all.
Thankfully Takemura, ever the brave soldier, leapt into the fray. Eyes glowing, sword raised, he plunged his blade six inches deep into Smasher's internals, damaging his body significantly. Just as quickly, Takemura withdrew, deftly pulling his sword from it's makeshift sheath in Smasher's body with a shower of sparks and darting away. Smasher raged in response, wrist-mounted guns releasing a burst of impotent fire, "Come here!"
V stepped in before Takemura could get caught, her arms breaking open to reveal her Mantis blades, electrical arcs flashing as she slashed at Smasher. He taunted her in response, clearly unimpressed with her attack, though he ceratinly looked worse for wear from it, "You spared Oda. So very... human! And disgusting. Mercy is disgusting."
She leapt back briefly, and Takemura came back into the fight. Sword raised, he came down like a meat cleaver from behind, sharpened dura-steel cleaving clean through Smasher's left arm. Again, Smasher raged as he spun around, "I will rip your brain from your skull!"
"You are a criminal, I am a warrior," Takemura calmly retorted, skipping back to evade Smasher's retaliatory strike. "I would like to see you try."
"There will be nothing left, when I'm done with you!" Smasher warned, speakers blaring. "This is your ruin!"
Then, something changed. Smasher sped up, limbs moving faster than V could comprehend, a darting blur of black steel and violence. Takemura retreated, sparks flying off his blade as he deflected strike after strike, but it was clear he was struggling to keep pace with his foe. "You are nothing!" Smasher screamed, punching the space which Takemura had occupied not a fraction of a second earlier, his strike leaving a sizeable dent in the solid metal of the walls.
V raised her pistol, targeting his skull, only to watch as the bullets pinged off the back of his head, leaving only a scratch behind. Mag exhausted, she switched in a set of armour-piercing bullets, silently thanking Arthur's prescience for insisting that she bring the rounds with her.
Her next barrage was far more effective. The bullets were heavier and packed a larger punch. More importantly, they exploded on impact, leaving noticeable damage on his armour. Still the effort was not enough to deter him, and Smasher continued his relentless advance, much of his body now actively on fire.
Takemura, once again, took the opportunity to dart away. Smasher taunted him as he gave chase, "Come. Face me like a man. Don't prolong the inevitable."
Takemura turned, and that's when it happened.
Smasher moved impossibly fast. Faster than she could fathom. And with his one remaining arm, caught Takemura in his vice-like grip, mechanical fingers slowly tightening. Takemura hacked and slashed, and left deep gouges in his armour and significant damage to his servos for his efforts, but it was not enough. V charged, and was promptly forced to avert and seek cover by another volley of missiles. Smasher gave a sadistic grin as Takemura struggled, till, eventually, he could struggle no more.
His skull shattered like a watermelon, bits of brain and bone sent flying in all directions.
"GORO!" cried V, watching helplessly as her ally - no, her friend - died.
Smasher turned his attention to her, content to savour his next kill rather than rush it from fear. "I've always wanted to kill that fuck," he said, taunting her. "Don't worry though. You look like a fuckable piece of meat. I'll be sure to have some fun before I kill you. Break you around my dick. Maybe have some fun after I've killed you as well."
V threw a grenade in his direction, scampering away, unshed tears brimming in her eyes.
"Tell me," Smasher continued as he slowly, menacingly advanced on her, the grenade only momentarily hampering his approach. "Where is Rogue? Wanted no part of this raid, did she, the old bitch?! Once I'm finished with you, I'll hunt her down too! See how far that old cunt of hers will stretch!"
V gazed at Smasher out of the corner of her eye, briefly checking the remaining RAM in her Cyberdeck. Her eyes glowed, and code flickered past her vision at a breakneck pace, daemon after daemon unleashed into his damaged system. Hopefully, it would be enough to overload the CPU in his head.
And, sure enough, Smasher screamed a mangled scream, the sound emerging from warped speakers, sparks erupting from his joints as he fell to his knees, forced to run a system reset. At the same time, V hurled her last two grenades in his direction, one fragmentation and the other incendiary, shielding her ears from the sound of the explosion.
Acrid smoke curled up from his internals, the stench of melting plastic and wires thick in the air, Smasher's chassis damaged almost beyond the point of repair. Small globs of thermite stuck to his armour, slowly eating away at the metal. Shard of shrapnel lodged in his joints and sliced through control lines, further damaging the servos in his body, leaving him near-immobile.
V looked at the door. She could run, now, leave him lying there and make it to Mikoshi unscathed.
Yeah, I could do that.
She looked back at Smasher, and snarled.
The seams of her cyberware opened once again, Mantis blades emerging from her forearms. She hacked and slashed almost wildly, but also with clear intent. Each limb came off, then the comm system and control lines for movement went next, weapons systems soon after. What had once been an imposing variant of the Samson frame had been reduced to a hundred little pieces of scrap in her rage.
"Adam Smasher. I remember you. Promised to kill Silverhand once." What remained of his body twitched, "Gonna let you in on a little secret. Johnny? He's here with us. Now, he can't talk, but I can feel him under my skin."
Smasher's voice was distorted almost beyond recognition, tinny and filled with noise, but his words were still distinguishable, and angry, "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Then, V looked Smasher right in his beady little eyes, making sure his last sight was the self-satisfied grin on her face.
"Silverhand sends his regards."
Her Mantis blade plunged straight through his forehead, reinforced skull punctured with a combination of manic rage, adrenaline, and a bloody-minded sense of determination. V tugged at the blade twice, wrenching it free of his skull with no small amount of effort, now coated in a combination of blood, coolant and brain matter.
V's chest heaved, the rush of combat fast fading, the reality of her physical state setting in. But she could afford no rest, Alt urging her on, "Their defenses are breached. The path to the core lies open, but we don't have much time."
V coughed blood into her hand, silently acknowledging Alt as she lifted herself up, stumbling to the exit. She left the servers behind, the bullet-holes, and the corpses. What men had come with her were long gone, either dead, or disappearing into the mass of Arasaka soldiers and away to freedom. It didn't matter. She was here now.
Red light gleamed off blackened steel, an imposing portal into a new world. The door slid open with a hiss and revealed the access point, Alt's voice coming over speakers in the room rather than through her own head, "The access point lies before you. Link to it, insert yourself, then search for me on the other side."
Harsh blue light shone up from the floor, coolant vapour sitting dense and thick just below her path, drifting past her ankles, causing the skin to tingle. She stumbled and fell and travelled the rest of the way on her hands and knees, blue streaks sparking across her vision, her brain seemingly shutting down. V grunted in determination, "I can do this."
She jacked in, pulling the cord from the mainframe and plugging it into her neck. Then, she crawled over to the side, and tenderly lowered herself into the coolant, the script beginning it's operation to grant her access to Mikoshi.
V shivered.
Into cyberspace.
So... this will be my last chapter for a while. I will be taking a hiatus - from now to the end of June, to tend to an increase in my workload and the demands of my real life.
Please note - this story is NOT abandoned. I will finish it, I just don't have the time to do it right now. Same for all my other stories as well - no new updates till the end of June.
Feel free to comment and let me know what you think.
Hope you guys are enjoying the story thus far!
P.S. May be subject to edits
