Ground Zero - Afterglow
Call it what it was, chummer, a run like any other. Or rather, it should have been. For a couple'a assets like us, over-powered for what we're supposed to do, was s'posed to be a walk in the park. Couple'a class act assets like us, you'd never even know we were there. No, really - most you'd hear is maybe something happened, and dat's only if the embarrassed guard even figured out dat maybe he hadn't fallen asleep on da job, but actually was somehow put to sleep. Dat kinda vibe. Runner's dat knew how to run, dat's what we were.
Well, da three of us, anyway. Fragging Ground Zero, the fourth man, was clearly not cut from da same cloth.
It went like dis: Everything is fine, we get into the corp grounds, ID's cleared, no one da wiser. But den we get to da doctor. First thing's first, he's our extraction target - but apparently no one told him! So, in perfect shadow-style-frag-all, da extraction becomes an abduction. Green, no skin off my hoop. But of course, somehow, da target alerts da guards. Or maybe his doss is a sense-suite, keyed into his emotions, whatever, doesn't matter - cause what happens next is just ludicrous.
As soon as da fight breaks out, GZ, Ground Zero, just jumps in - two feet first. Before we can dictate a plan, through word or deed, dis guy is running, not for cover, or away from da threat, but straight for the armored, corp-sec team sent to ascertain what kinda threat we are. And that's their first mistake. You don't ascertain with an asset like GZ, you're either prepared, or you're not.
Obviously, no one was prepared for how dis guy operated, not even us.
Before you can say "do not engage" da fragger is waste deep in body parts. Seriously, he's got dis mojo, bad mojo, it'ain't good. I don't know how to say it, but he worships dese demon spirits that circle around da dying and da dead, takin' their souls to Hades or what not. Frosty story, pretty creepy, but just thinking about da power dey give him to… "present offerings"… to kill, dat's what gets me tryin' not to throw up when I think about it.
Anyways, at da time - GZ completely loses himself once da fight is on. Goes in fast and hard. And da whole time, we're not totally sure what he's doing, exactly what it is he does. I mean, he's obviously an adept, but what is his jam? As soon as da guards surprise us and tell us to hit da ground and surrender, his hands are glowing red. Looks like overheated metal, like dat. Crazy red. Not like da fire you see most adepts call into their hands - dis is different. Dere's no flames and dey explode on impact wit' some kinda concussive force, a lot like explosive bullets, but bigger and.. messier.
Guard opens up wit' his SMG, and GZ, he's halfway across the room - faking like he's running for cover. I say faking, cause he aims for cover, but doesn't take it. Bastard knows how to mislead counter-fire. Adepts, right? Me? I haven't hardly reacted yet. And dat's GZ. Fraggin' mayhem. And dat's how it goes. A second later, he's taking da guards apart, I don't know how to explain it - his hands are cutting through high-grade corp-sec armor like it's butter. Through the flesh and under it, and through da bones. I remember the way da blood splattered when he drove a bladed hand through dis guy's armor, his ribs, pushin' out a kidney or somethin' - the blood, it- it was still sizzling on da wall as I stepped over the body on our way out.
'What could do dat?' I thought, in the back o' my skull. But I filed it away for later cuz we wanted to get outa der 'fore the big guns arrived. Cuz dat's usually what happens when you bash da on-site squad into pieces, in our experience, anyways.
I remember runnin' for da roof where our ride was waitin' - a little beefed-up Ares Venture VTOL disguised as a catering rig wit' just enough room for the four of us. Ellis, he's our lead, he's yellin' at GZ a mean-streak. Sayin' he nearly compromised da op, bla, bla, all true and totally appropriate, but best saved for da after-pow-pow by da fireplace when certain death isn't incoming in under 5.
Ellis, he really blew a gasket. He's dressin' GZ down as we run for it - but GZ he don't even blink. Like he don't even care. Ellis keeps his drek-mouth goin' all da way to the Venture. We get der and Suzy Gears, lovely lil' pilot who owns the tricked-out rig, opens da cargo ramp in da back so's we can run into it. GZ's about to step on in front of me when Ellis gets in his face and tries to play big brother. Sayin' somethin' about listenin' to him when he talks to him. GZ studies him like a bug and interrupts him. I'll never forget this, he says, "I like working alone."
Ellis starts sputterin', turnin' an even darker shade of red, when we see the High-Threat Response Team headed by two massive trolls in Light Milspec armor, da real hardened shit, come runnin' through the slider-doors dat lead to the air-park. Carryin' Krime Cannons o'course. Dey was loaded for bear!
GZ tells me ta move and I realize I'm in da line a fire so's I run for da jet. But I'm just curious what he's gonna do so I turn ta watch when I get to cover. GZ whispers somethin' to his goddesses and holds out his hand. A glowing pink ball grows in his palm, like ta da size of a grapefruit. I heard'a dis before - some adepts can cast a single spell. I served in da UCAS so I know what I'm looking at - it's a Grenade spell, like we'd use to clear out hallways and toss inta fox-holes. He jerks and da grapefruit pops out'a his hands and makes a little arc ta land directly in front a da trolls.
And it basically frags 'em. The explosion is dis searing, white hot light melting right through deir armor. I never seen anything like it. Da rest of da HTR team behind da trolls is yellin' and we can see some drones coming through when GZ hits 'em wit' another glowing pink surprise. Da pink, ya know, it should'a clued me in, I should'a realized what I was lookin' at.
When we run on da plane we hear dis high-pitch ringin' like a real annoying alarm was goin' off. Suzy is hollerin' over the innercom', the ramps are comin' up, Ellis is grumblin' to himself, almost out'a steam, a lot was goin' on. As we lift off I finally register what Suzy is sayin' - she's yellin' dat it's a rad-alarm. Radiation - her rig was detectin' radiation and she's askin' were dey firin' radiation weapons? Even da doc we snatched is surprised - "Radiation?" He asks.
We look down out da window to see what der is to see - and dats when I see'em. Twin, double mushroom-clouds puffin' up right in front of da slider-doors - dey was from GZ's grenades. Jeez - it ain't no wonder dey call him Ground Zero. Sonnavabitch is radioactive!
Needless ta say we all sat as far away from him as possible - and Ellis finally shut up. Couldn't hide how he felt about Zero off his face 'do, but it didn't seem to matter to GZ. Suzy ordered decontamination for us, not even knowing da ticking time bomb was in her rig da whole way home. We scrubbed down, got paid and got da hell away from GZ.
Truth is, da guy gave me da creeps from da first meet. Kinda intimidating - and cool like he was above us all, like he'd killed so many people he could care less if you hadda be next. I wonder if he'd-a snapped on Ellis if he hadn't shut his trap. I could never forget his red-rimmed eyes.
Anyways, dat's da time I ran wit' a toxic adept. Never again, chummer, never again.