Aswon's kick destroyed the latch mechanism and the door swung open violently, Aswon diving through it and running to the left, body tensed and expecting to receive fire. As he moved, he felt Shimazu's hand lift off his shoulder, the Japanese bodyguard rushing in to the right of the door, sword ready to strike. Despite the pounding of his own breath, he heard the heavy boot stomps as Hunter piled in behind him, heading straight up the middle, each of them taking a sector of the room as their own responsibility.
The room was about twelve metres to a side, huge by the standards of the building, but without the signs of demolition and destruction that had been evident down in the drug-lab. Sunlight streamed in from two large sets of windows to the right of the building, the north face of the tower, illuminating the space well, even through the dirty and stained glass. They were stood on a large carpet, five metres to a side, that stretched from the doorway of the room most of the way to a raised dais – holding a throne-like chair nearly half a metre up from the ground. Spook was there, looking woozy and battered, obvious bruises marring her face, while her hands were in binders, held behind her back. A large metallic collar was fixed around her neck, a conspicuous bulge next to her windpipe, with several small lights flashing upon it. Holding on to her hair was a Chinese man in his forties, of average weight and height, and with a fairly unremarkable face. He was watching them, without any sign of surprise or alarm, but their attention was mostly focussed on the small device held in his other hand, a trigger clamped down tightly between his fingers.
"Ahh - our visitors have arrived. Hold your fire - for now. We've got plenty to discuss..." His English was understandable, but accented, and carried a slightly mocking tone. All three of the team slid to a halt, taking another second to look around and survey the situation. On either side of the dais were two more men, both wearing suits that were obviously armoured – enough so that they appeared to be blocky and angular. Still unmistakeably suits, the way the fabric hung was clear to anyone with even a modicum of sense that the looks of the clothing were a far distant second place to their protective capabilities. Possibly it was a statement in some circles, designed to let people know they were bodyguards for someone important – so that they, like here, could wear items designed purely for fashion. Both of them had large pistols out, though, the one to the north aiming at Shimazu, while the one to the south was covering Aswon, though both of them kept glancing at Hunter as well.
On either side of the armed bodyguards were three cages, large gilt affairs that seemed to be more ceremonial or decorative than actually designed to imprison or restrain. Delicate filigree wrapped around the cages, while the bars were thin and looked like they might be easy to bend, if not break. Hunter was reminded of something he'd seen in a nightclub once, where strippers danced in them – designed as much to protect them from wandering hands as to keep them in place. He thought about broadcasting that fact, but managed to keep it to himself… there'd be time to talk about such things later, he was sure. Behind each of the cages were paper screens, dividing the room up a little. They weren't that high, and looked to be stretched and painted paper over a bamboo frame – offering no protection really, but effectively hiding whatever was on the other side from sight.
Aswon barely took in the details of the rest of the room, sparing nothing but a single glance around to get the tactical lay of the land, before his eyes snapped back towards Spook, the collar and the device held in the strange man's hand. It didn't take a rocket scientist to work out that it was some kind of shock or detonation collar, no doubt designed to impress upon the wearer the need to behave themselves. His lips pulled back revealing his large incisors, staring at the man on the throne with obvious contempt.
Hunter and Shimazu were less transfixed though, and could take in the details of the cages – and the people inside them. Each one seemed to hold at least two people, swaying slightly on their feet, and occasionally one of them would stroke their own arms or chest with a sensuous motion, or lightly run fingertips down the flanks of the person they were trapped with, eliciting a quiet moan from their fellow prisoners. All of them were naked, a mix of men, women and androgynous beings, though some of them appeared to be more childlike than adults. They seemed unconcerned that armed intruders had entered the room, and instead continued to stimulate their flesh and stare absently into space.
"I have nothing to discuss with you…" Aswon snarled, and tried to step off the large carpeted area, recoiling slightly as a translucent barrier sprang to life. It covered from floor to ceiling on all three sides of the carpet, though the exit back into the hallway remained clear when Aswon snapped a glance backwards. He probed at the barrier, ripples of distorted light spreading out from where his fist landed on the wall of magic, rippling and fading away. It looked to be a powerful spell, and he wasn't sure that he could bring it down with a strike. Hunter or Shimazu – maybe, but not him. "You should all lie down!" He called out, his head moving around the room to address all of the slaves.
"Oh no, my friend. You misunderstand. They… well, they're all so happy to be here. All of them would be willing to guard me, with their lives." He reached down and triggered a button recessed into the arm of his throne, and the six doors on the cages sprang open as one. The slaves scampered out of them, moving quickly but without grace towards the raised dais, and then lined up in front of the Triad boss. Each of them drew themselves up into a position that thrust their sexual organs out in an obvious way, displaying themselves as if being paraded before a potential buyer. There was no shame in their movements, but their faces were also blank, their gazes still focussed on something unseen. A low grunt sounded in the centre of the room, as Hunter stared at the slaves now lining up and forming a human shield for the Triad slaver.
"Where's the mage? We kill him, the barrier drops, right?" Hunter flexed his throat, transmitting over the team frequency sub-vocally. He heard footsteps behind him, but kept his attention focussed forward, watching the two Triad bodyguards and their leader, trying to filter out the sinuous stroking from the slaves.
"So… what can we discuss?" Kai's tone of voice was tightly controlled, sounding light and unconcerned, as if he was choosing between several products at the supermarket. Nothing important or dangerous, just perhaps a matter of food for that day. Certainly nothing that indicated a life or death situation.
"You are interfering with my operation. But I recognise a business man when I see one. So the question is – what do you require to just… go away?"
"I was thinking the same things. You see, you have one of our people. Our local contact. She's useful to us, and it would be so expensive to cultivate another one. Give us our compatriot and we can be on our way. We don't have a personal issue with you. And we're happy to leave, without interfering further, if you give her to us."
"This one?" He shook Spook a little, making her hiss in pain. "No… this one is required for my plans."
"That doesn't seem like a good negotiation point. Are you willing to discuss this, or do we need to move on to the non-diplomatic solution?" Now there was an edge of steel in Kai's voice, as he glanced down at the nails on one hand, examining them for dirt as he spoke.
"You're not from around here – this is not your place. Not your fight, or your war. You should leave – move on. I would be willing to forgive you your trespass here, if you turn around and walk away now."
"This IS our business, and this IS our turf. We're international, you see. Fingers in pies everywhere. And talking about not belonging somewhere – the area where you seized her from. That's not your turf, not an area you control. That's frowned upon. We know who will be upset by that action, and we've done business with them and know how much they will be…troubled, by this turn of events. So I would suggest that it's you that needs to reconsider your actions." Kai finished checking his nails and stared up at the slave master, dark eyes meeting in an intense stare.
"If something happens to me – well, let us say, that it will be very unfortunate for her. Very unfortunate indeed!" He waved the hand in the air holding the transmitter or security device, then gestured to the collar around Spook's neck.
"It's a risk of the business. Nobody wants to die of course, but she knows that it's always a possibility. Unfortunate perhaps." Kai shrugged, giving no indication that he was bothered about the situation at all. He made a point of not even looking at Spook, treating her presence here as unimportant and fleeting. "We don't want it to happen, but sometimes things happen. And you just have to shrug and move on with business."
"I am detecting no radio frequencies, encrypted or otherwise, in the local area. Whatever the device is you reference, it is not a radio link." Marius checked his deck again quickly, then turned his attention back to the drone orbiting above the building. He wasn't sure why the team hadn't moved in and dealt with them yet, but he was trying to provide good intel to them.
"The boss is very composed. Feels like he is in control of the situation. Position of strength." Shimazu studied the man, then his two guards, trying to gauge their emotions and state of mind. He ignored the slaves writhing back and forth in front of him, focussing on the people who could do harm.
"Look." Kai gave a slight smile, as if holding out an olive branch. "Let's negotiate sensibly. You have something of ours, and we want it back. We ARE going to get it back. It just depends on your actions as to how many people have to die. We don't have all day to decide, and sooner or later, we'll have to take action. So really, the choice is yours. We don't dislike you, personally – or either of your men here. Or your mage, wherever they're lurking. But it's up to you how this turns out. Really, I mean it. Your fate is in your own hands here…"
"Ahh, of course. It is up to me. Indeed… all I need to do is look at you, and I could cause you the most agonising pain you've ever felt…" A short and pudgy finger gestured at Kai, and a grin started to form on the Triad boss' face.
At the doorway, Tads felt a blast of power drawing out of the air and splash harmlessly onto her defensive shields around Kai. It wasn't an insignificant amount of power, but it was ineffective against her defences, and dissipated away without any visible sign.
A second passed. Then another.
"I…SAID… I could cause you AGONISING PAIN!" There was a definite emphasis on some of the words now, and they were spoken more forcefully and with a slight change of tone. The smile had faded, but not replaced with anything else, just leaving a composed but blank face. Once again, Tads felt a blast of power wash off her shielding.
"The enemy mage is trying for Kai, shields are holding." She muttered. "No idea where he is, though."
Now the blank face faded away, replaced with a slight edge of concern and impatience. But more importantly, the Triad slaver's eyes twitched, just for a moment, to the screen on the south side of the room, to his right. It was only the briefest of twitches, a barely visible flash of motion. It was all Hunter needed, though, and he turned his head that way and stared, dropping into thermo-vision and staring at the screen. It wasn't for sure, but he thought there was something there, standing back from the screen, barely warming the surface of the paper with its body heat. But Hunter felt pretty certain that he had a good idea of what was going on.
"Marius, target – lasing now. Twenty-two dot three-three-one-four-three by one-one-four dot one-eight-nine-seven-zero."
"Laying in… five seconds." Marius sent the command to his drone, bringing it in over the location and swinging the guns around. Checking his own position, and the reported location relayed by Hunter, he edged east a little, then swung the drone to face north, angling the guns at a forty-five-degree slope, optimised to ensure that he could cut through the roof and still have enough penetration to hit the target, while still getting a good variation on impact zone to account for the rough height for the target and the potential for movement laterally.
"Yes, yes. Well, this performance is indeed quite painful." Kai said drolly. "It appears that you've not made a wise choice." He paused for a second, stretching out his response. He wasn't sure what Marius was doing, but he'd heard the time estimate. "But it's a choice." He gave a dramatic sigh, then waved his hand in the air, stringing out the response, while the enemy was still willing to give him time. "This is a nice place you have here. It'd be a shame if something happened to it. Now tell your mage to drop the spell. This is your last chance."
In front of the slaves, the air shimmered for a moment, then six fire elementals sprang into life, appearing suddenly from the astral plane. Their bodies rippled with flames, burning a brilliant yellow-orange, and the air around them was distorted by the heat-haze given off. The slaves stood behind them barely reacted, mostly just looking at the dancing flames with looks of amazement and awe, no doubt entranced by the beautiful colours and movement.
Kai called upon his own interpretation of power, summoning the control of his body from within, shaping and controlling his vocal cords. He turned to look directly at one of the elementals, and then gave it an order.
"KILL YOUR MASTER!" the harmonics rang out from the command, echoing strangely through the air. The barrier between the team and their foes did nothing to stop the transmission of the sound, clearly audible over the crackling flames. Kai wasn't sure it would work, if the spirit would actually be able to understand him – but it seemed to be worth a try.
The elemental spun around to face the paper screen, and two fiery arms seemed to push out of the body, before twin jets of fire burst forth, immolating the paper in an instant. The wood framing lasted a second longer before it charred and crumbled, sending smouldering splinters exploding outwards – and revealing the Triad mage standing behind the screen, moving backwards in shock and surprise. The elemental spun back around to face Kai, as if realising it had been tricked or duped.
"Target, max fire. Engage." Hunter lased the mage with his designator, sending over a refinement of the range and direction directly to Marius' cybernetic systems. The mage opened his mouth, no doubt to shout an order to attack – but he never got the chance.
"I did warn you…" Kai said quietly, taking a step backwards. He wasn't sure quite what was going to happen, but he was sure he didn't want to be close to it…
Overhead the drone opened fire, rippling off two long bursts of 12.7mm rounds down into the roof below. The first couple were deflected and destroyed by the roof material and the sharp angle of impact, blowing away large chunks of the thin rebar concrete. But there weren't just a few rounds lancing down from the air – and the follow-on rounds burrowed further and further through the concrete, widening the crater blasted out by their forerunners. They had no idea how many rounds made it through the roof, but the simple answer was 'enough', as the mage seemed to explode violently, sending a shower of gore bursting outwards as several rounds impacted his torso, transmitting their energy through his body. They weren't armour-penetrating rounds, but they were huge, and the hydrostatic shock they impacted onto the body was enough to kill the man. As the multiple rounds hit, they sent conflicting shockwaves through his flesh, tearing him apart and sending their energy outwards, propelling the meat, bone and gore into a rapidly expanding globe.
All three of the team members at the front of the room had been prepared for combat already, but as the rounds hit and decimated the mage, their reactions went into overdrive, the world around them slowing down from their perspective as either magic or advanced cyber-technology boosted their reactions to super-human levels.
As the mage disintegrated, four out of the six elementals just popped out of existence, disappearing back to their home plane as their controller died. The sixth, on the north side of the room gave a roar, the flames bursting out from his body in incandescent fury, and moved to attack Shimazu, a wave of flame blasting out towards him. The brilliant flames hit the barrier, but then split and deflected to either side, washing down the edge of the carpeted area and dissipating. Shimazu had no idea why the barrier was still in place – he'd assumed it was going to disappear with the death of the caster, but he was glad that it hadn't.
Hunter gave a roar of rage as he watched the Triad boss dive for another button or switch on his seat. The whole dais rose up towards the ceiling, rising with a speed that baffled him at first, until he saw the hydraulic rams that had been worked into the room below, pushing the entire assembly up to the roof. Presumably there was some kind of opening or sliding hatch up there so they didn't just get squished to paste, but the unexpected bolt hole took away his quarry – not that he could reach it at the moment.
"Marius! Get your drone to blast another hole, in the corridor outside. We need to get up to the roof!"
"Affirmative." A second later there was the sound of gunfire and shredding concrete, along with a series of coughs from Tads as she found herself enveloped in dust and debris. She barely had time to dive to the side of the corridor as Aswon and Hunter rounded the corner and ran down the corridor with scant regard for the still-falling rubble. As Aswon skidded to a halt under the edge of the newly blasted hole, Hunter ran up behind him and grabbed him by the waist, then lifted with a grunt, propelling Aswon up through the gap and to the roof above.
"Kai, catch!" Shimazu tossed his gun into the air in a shallow arc, then inhaled deeply, tensing, feeling his body change subtly around him. It was probably his imagination, but it felt like he inflated a tiny amount, growing and expanding, using the deep breath to send out strength from his core to impart extra power to his body. The sword came up to a high-guard position and then slashed down with all of his might, slicing through the barrier and opening up a huge rent in the force field. The edges frayed and tattered as the sword cut through it, fluttering away as the magical energies binding it together were disrupted. His attack continued, his waist turning and feet driving his blade further around, widening the tear further and further, then impacting the fire elemental on the other side, cutting through it like a hot knife through butter. The sounds of the flaming elemental shifted in pitch, twisting into a crackling scream for a moment, then being snuffed out as the blade emerged from the other side.
With a sputter, the energy field surrounding the carpeted area blinked out of existence, the damage being too much to retain cohesion. Shimazu let his normally impassive face fade for a moment, giving a wry grin as he felt strength and power surge through his body. He was going to regret it in a few minutes, he was pretty sure – but for now, he felt unstoppable.
Aswon appeared on the roof next to a bulky and decrepit metallic box, grumbling and shaking as fans turned within it to drive hot air out of the building below. He crept to the edge and saw the Triad boss across the roof space, about six metres away, still clutching on to Spook tightly, the trigger in his hand. He was spinning around, using her as cover and watching the drone fearfully – the twin heavy machines guns aimed down at him while it hovered on directed jets over the edge of the building. The Triad boss had rightly established that the drone wasn't going to fire while Spook was in front of him, and he crouched behind her and kept a watchful eye on the drone as the vector thrust jets slowly tracked around the side of the building. Aswon heard grunting behind him as Hunter jumped and caught at the edge of the hole, hauling himself up onto the roof behind him.
The drone continued to drift to the west, forcing the man to adjust his position, slowly turning Spook and himself further and further around, until they were side on, then edging around to face away from Aswon.
"Good job, Marius… just a little more… great." Aswon worked his feet back and forth, making sure there was nothing loose underneath them that would rob him of purchase. Unaware of the similarity in action, he took a deep breath of his own, drawing in air and then flexing – but unlike Shimazu, the control he exerted over his body didn't increase the bulk and power of his muscles, but rather their ability to contract and expand quickly. "Ready, Hunter… 3…2…1…" He took off like a cheetah, accelerating hard as he rounded the battered HVAC unit and sprinting across the rooftop, his long legs vaulting across pipework and cabling, bits of old guttering and abandoned materials. A split-second later, Hunter lumbered after him, his huge body not having a hope of catching up with Aswon, no matter how fit he was.
"Shimazu – Spook's kid, second cage back, on the floor. I think it's hers anyway…" She remained behind the doorframe as much as possible, aware that there were guards with guns in there who, no doubt, were going to feel somewhat trapped and likely to want to shoot their way out. With the magical barrier gone, now only the thin wall was between them and her, so she wanted to maximise the cover she could use. But she could see most of the room well enough, and the slumped form in the cage certainly looked to be the right size and shape to match Aswon's description.
A gunshot rang out, as one of the guards fired at the rapidly advancing form of Shimazu, missing to his left. A second followed it, tracking left and just skipping off the armoured clothing on the top of his shoulder, making Shimazu duck slightly to the side. Two more shots rang out, as the second guard to the left of the dais also fired at Shimazu. He didn't have a clear shot, but seemed to have no compunction about firing through the naked slaves, who still remained where they'd been standing, oblivious to the carnage around them. Huge wounds opened up in one man and a young girl, sending them sprawling to the floor amidst a spray of blood, but the passage through their bodies slowed the heavy rounds down enough that Shimazu's armoured suit could absorb both of them without penetration.
Kai had caught the gun, somewhat clumsily, and managed to get his hands around the grip. Shimazu didn't have any cyberware, so he didn't have to worry about a Smartlink or any safety system, but there was a low-profile laser sight mounted to the top of the massive revolver, and he aimed at the northernmost guard first, squeezing the trigger until he felt it break. He wasn't a slouch with hand gun, though his preference normally was for tasers rather than pistols, but the Super-Warhawk was a large weapon, and he was thankful he had both hands wrapped around the grip. When the trigger finally broke, it was a surprise, and he snatched the shot slightly, but at this short a range it didn't matter much. A gout of flame left the end of the barrel, and he saw the round impact amidst a shower of sparks, sending his opponent spinning around and tumbling backwards.
He tracked left, taking a chance – he hadn't taken out the first guard, but he was pretty sure he'd manage to wound him, at least somewhat, and he hoped that it would buy Shimazu enough time to do whatever he needed. The red dot of the laser swung over the swaying slaves, then landed on the chest of the second guard, still tracking Shimazu with his own pistol. Fingers tightened on the trigger, having a much better idea of just how hard he needed to squeeze this time, and he managed to keep the dot positioned over the guard's chest as another round spat from the muzzle.
Kai didn't know what the gun was loaded with – he just knew it was big, heavy and felt serious. He hadn't really kept tabs on the guns of the team, and who fired what… it just wasn't important to him. He focussed on what he needed to do, and left those decisions up to the members who specialised in that kind of thing. So he wasn't aware that every chamber in the cylinder of Shimazu's hand cannon was loaded with so called 'Magna-Max' rounds, designed to be a step up from the 'ex-ex' super-explosive rounds that some shooters favoured. New explosive mixes, fresh out of the labs of chemical specialists operating for mega-corporations around the world tried to balance increased yield against the ever-present danger of the rounds cooking off in a hot barrel or just exploding when they were badly jarred.
He was fortunate that this batch seemed to be quite stable, and nothing bad happened as he fired. But when the explosive round struck the guard, a chain of events sprang into action that would be etched into his mind for several weeks. He'd aimed for the chest, not wanting to do anything fancy, and the round had actually hit a little to the right, as the guard continued to turn and twist, trying to track Shimazu. Unknown to anyone but him, the man carried a small flask of spirits in the inside pocket of his heavily armoured suit. In a standard suit he would not have gotten away with it – the bulge would have shown, and no doubt his boss would have castigated him for such unprofessional behaviour. But in these ridiculously bulky and heavily armoured suits, the stiff material used to line the suits would have covered a multitude of sins.
The round burrowed through the tough ballistic weave, smashed straight through the flask and then penetrated the hardened composites on the inside, detonating as the time fuse was triggered. The blast wave sent a hail of shrapnel bursting out from the suit, shredding the lining and peppering the flesh and organs of the guard – but it also ignited the alcohol vapours released by the transit through the flask. The blast ignited the additional fuel source, and by the vagaries of physics managed to mix the perfect combination of fuel, air and fire to create a small thermobaric effect.
The blue-tinted fireball exploded out of the man's chest, a visible over-pressure wave expanding outwards in a globe, flickering purplish flames riding the blast wave as the exotic spirits were rapidly consumed. A high-pitched wail gurgled out of his mouth, at least until the flesh was riven and perforated, and he lurched around in a circle, consumed by intense flames that engulfed his chest and head. His hands waved wildly in the air, his fingers clutching reflexively, sending bullets out in random directions around the room as he shrieked in agony.
On the roof Aswon covered the distance between the HVAC unit and the Triad boss in a heartbeat, and launched himself at his foe. One of his lanky legs swung out and impacted just behind the knee, crumpling the Triad leader's leg and sending him tumbling to the ground, his grip on Spook lost. Both of Aswon's hands grabbed at the man, wrapping themselves around his hand – and the detonator or dead-man switch. He squeezed tightly, ensuring that there wasn't even a hint of space, no chance to manipulate or adjust the device at all. He was acutely aware that the other hand was free, able to reach for a weapon or to strike at him – but he had to keep the trigger depressed, keep Spook safe. He held on tightly, keeping the arm pointing vertically up, straining to keep tension on the limb to try and maintain his advantage and leverage.
He heard Hunter thundering across the rooftop behind him, but he wasn't prepared for the sudden appearance of the monosword appearing in the space between his right leg and the arm of the Triad boss, or that Hunter would slide into view a moment later, skidding across the gravel. With a grunt of effort, Hunter managed to turn his momentum into a slice, drawing the sword backwards almost the full length of the blade as he slid past. The blade wasn't actually only one molecule thick at the cutting edge, of course – that was marketing hyperbole. But it was about the sharpest thing that metahuman hands could make, and it sawed through the flesh with ease. The bone was harder, but with over two hundred kilos of orcish brawn behind it, the blade cleaved through the radius and ulna well enough, then ripped through the flesh on the other side.
Aswon had been pulling up to maintain the arm lock, and almost fell over backwards as the tension was released suddenly. His eyes bugged with alarm as he almost reflexively let get of the hand to steady himself, and had to override his natural reactions to keep the hand clamped down tightly, instead letting himself fall and roll as if doing a parachute landing.
The air was filled with the chattering of weapons as Marius saw Hunter slide past the target and Aswon falling the other way, and more fifty calibre rounds landed, exploding the torso into gibbets of flesh that redecorated the roof around him. Aswon and Hunter both flinched, trying to avoid being splattered as the drone carried out its strafing run, then struggled to their feet. It took no skill at all to determine that the pair of legs was all that was left of the target, and that they definitely didn't represent a threat anymore.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for the remaining team members down in the penthouse. Kai let out a cry of pain as a random shot struck him, piercing through his armoured suit and cutting through his oblique. The guard was firing armour-piercing rounds, and the tungsten penetrator sliced straight through his suit – fortunately, in this case, barely slowing down the round or causing it to tumble, and allowing it to burrow in, and straight out of the flesh on his side, just above the hip. Another round chewed up the wall behind him, and he threw himself out of the way as a third rumbled past him.
Shimazu made it into the cage with a leap, and stood over the shivering child, then extended his sword in a chopping motion, using it to focus power and strike at a distance. The blast of elemental ki travelled across the space and the remaining guard fell to the ground as his head was blasted with raw power. The screams from the other side of the room faded away as the burning corpse fell to the ground, a smell of charred pork washing over him.
Scooping the child up under one arm, he turned and headed back towards Kai and the doorway, keeping his sword levelled at the single remaining fire elemental – which was just standing on the spot, looking around.
"What about that one?"
"I don't know Shimazu. Tads? I could command it to go free? Would that work?"
"NO! I mean, I don't think it would. But even if it would – don't. I'm not sure if it has gone free already. If it meant to harm us, it would have done already. Keep an eye on it, but leave it alone. I think it's just… being." Tads reached out with her senses to try and work out what the elemental was doing, but detected no hostility from it, but a certain watchfulness. Considering the chaos that had erupted in the room, she couldn't exactly blame it.
"We don't mean you any harm – we're happy to let you be. Stay, or go – it's up to you. But you don't need to fear us." Kai said, lowering the Warhawk to his side. He wasn't sure how many rounds it might have loaded still, or if it would work against the spirit – but he wanted to try and show it that he meant what he said.
Shimazu swung around suddenly as one of the slaves moved – swiftly and surely, with none of the drug-induced stupor that had been their normal form so far. The slave sidestepped quickly, backing away from him and rushing towards the windows on the north side of the room. Shimazu's blade snapped up into a guard position, but he didn't move or attack, not sensing any need to, and not understanding what the purpose of the movement was.
The naked man took two more strides, picking up speed and then leaping, arms raised before him as he headed directly towards the stained and grimy window. As the flesh hit the window and it shattered, the body rippled, the flesh seeming to transform and split, revealing lizard-like scales underneath, rippling and pulsating, twisting and deforming as the being burst through the window in a gentle arc, carrying it through into the empty space beyond, then falling out of sight, while Shimazu stared and blinked in confusion. A distant memory tugged at his mind, but his attention snapped back to the present as the building gave another noticeable shudder, lurching a few centimetres to the side while a horrible grinding noise reverberated through the building and the air around it.
"Hey you. Burny thing." Kai focussed his energies. "GO HOME!"
The elemental vanished, and a moment later, a sensation rippled through Shimazu, Kai, Tads and Aswon, like a fresh breeze dancing over their skin.
"You feel that? The taint… it's gone!" Tads risked a quick glance into the realm of magic, wincing a little at the black malaise that surrounded the drugged slaves, and the small spikes of darkness around the dead guards. But otherwise the area was free of the taint that had been building up and getting stronger as they climbed – her magical skill felt uninhibited again.
"Did I do that?" Kai asked, looking around and then pointing at where the elemental had been only a moment ago.
The building lurched again, this time more seriously, huge cracks appearing in the walls as some key piece of support far below them gave up its struggle against the raging fires consuming the lower levels.
"No – definitely not! But I think we need to get out of here, pretty soon."
"Yes – but not before we go check those bodies, see what they have…"
"I'll get the mage then, see if he has anything worth salvaging."
"I'll check the… oh, he escaped, didn't he? How do we get up there?"
Shimazu looked around, then headed over to Kai and passed the child to him, recovering his pistol in exchange and sliding it back into the concealed holster inside his jacket. He headed over to the north-east side of the room, and found a cloth hanging on the wall from something – and with a quick yank ripped it away revealing a ladder bolted to the wall.
"This should help."
"What do we do about those?" Kai gestured with his head at the remaining slaves, who were still stood in a rough line, ignoring the two corpses laying amidst them.
"All of you! Over here, climb up this ladder." Shimazu called over, and then watched as they shambled his way. He jumped halfway up the ladder and then pushed open the trapdoor leading to the roof, before dropping down. "All of you up there, quickly!" The slaves started to climb, though quickly was not something they could master. "Aswon, Hunter – got the slaves climbing up onto the roof now, we'll come up after. Can we get onto the neighbouring buildings from up there?"
"Probably yes – though I think we need to keep going. If this one comes down, the ones next to it will, too. The way this drek-hole is built, it might all come down like dominoes!" Hunter responded quickly. "Ok, I see 'em coming up. Frak's sake – still naked?"
"Well, what did you want us to do?"
"I have the situation under control." Marius appeared at the doorway, looking a little vacant as he reached for the doorway and felt his way through, his eyes unfocussed on the real-world as his attention focussed on the relayed sensor feed from his deck.
"Oh, now there's a sight!" Aswon called out, staring off the roof to the south. He'd dipped into astral as well when he'd detected the change in the presence around them, so he saw the powerful spirit that Tads had concealing the Broadsword, as the aircraft rose into view from behind the parapet. Smoothly the vehicle turned, spinning on the spot and then gently backing up towards the roof, the back ramp dropping smoothly to land with a metallic thud.
"Stand clear – I will land the drone first. Then get everyone aboard." Marius bought the vector thrust drone down and then swooped into the bay, shutting down the thrusters as it entered the cargo area and landing in a skid. There was no time for a controlled descent and proper landing sequence – not when the tower was lurching like this. With the drone powering down, he set the Broadsword to hover and maintain position, then returned his attention to the world around him, blinking rapidly.
The last of the slaves were on the ladder now, climbing up, and Kai gestured for Marius to go up next.
"I'll pass the kid up to you, and then come up and take him back. Shimazu – make sure Tads is up next, will you?" He glanced over and saw the shaman searching through the gore that was the Triad mage's body with obvious distaste, but she was clutching a few things in her hand that she clearly felt was worth hanging on to. "Tads! Ten seconds then you need to be over here!" He looked up and saw that Marius was crouching down already, reaching down with a hand to grab the child and haul him up by the straps on his dungarees as Kai lifted him. As soon as the child was out of the way, he started to climb too, heading up onto the roof himself. "All of you, go over to that ramp there, and climb inside. Quickly!" The slaves seemed happy to just obey the orders given to them and wandered that way, struggling to clamber over some of the obstructions, but managing to get there slowly.
Shimazu checked the holes in his suit while he was waiting for Tads, frowning at the holes punched cleanly through one side, and glad that his form-fitting underlayer had also been there. He frowned, then ran over to the first guard, checking the pistol and ejecting the magazine, then smiling as he saw the tell-tale colouring of the armour piercing round. He collected them swiftly, then headed over to the other guard to repeat the process, before swinging back past Tads and firmly ushering her towards the roof ladder.
"What are we doing with those slaves?"
"We can't leave them here, Marius – we've got to get them down off the roof at the very least. After that? I dunno. Let Spook decide once she's had a bit of time to recover. She seems like she's good people, as Aswon would describe it." Kai shrugged, and waved towards the waiting ramp, indicating the space they had. "If we leave them here, we're killing them."
"Fine. But I am not responsible for them!" Marius jumped aboard and headed for the cockpit, leaving the loading to someone else – but that was fine with Kai. He'd not expected Marius to be thrilled with the idea, but he clearly also didn't want to flat-out murder these helpless people, and that was good enough. Kai headed over to the remains of the Triad boss, pulling a face as he saw the devastation that had been wrought upon him. "I hope he didn't have anything in his jacket pockets…" He gently reached into the trouser pockets on each side, rooting around and then giving a happy noise as he managed to find and remove a cred-stick from the right hand side.
The tower trembled again, then sagged, giving another horrible groan as it settled a few centimetres.
"We are leaving. Ten seconds! Be aboard, or left behind – your choice!" Marius sounded as serious as ever, but given the circumstances, Kai and the rest of the team actually had more reason to believe that this wasn't an empty threat this time, and they hustled over to climb aboard the Broadsword.
Hunter grabbed the remains of the Triad boss and heaved it over the edge of the tower, glancing down to watch the body tumble. The central square formed in the centre of the surrounding buildings stunk, and it looked to be used as a dumping ground or cess-pit of some kind, a huge mass of detritus, several stories high. He frowned as his cybernetic vision focussed in on a hole in the mound, a tunnel entrance that looked out of place – but then he saw a gout of flame bursting out of the side of the building below him and decided that now was not the time for sightseeing. He turned and sprinted towards the Broadsword, vaulting up onto the ramp and skidding to a halt.
"All onboard, mate, close her up! I'm coming forward." Hunter gave one last quick glance around the roof to make sure they hadn't left anything obvious or incriminating, then headed up through the cargo area towards the front of the plane. He passed Aswon in the passenger compartment, busy strapping in Spook and her child into one of the seats and gave him a quick nod, then continued forward to claim the co-pilot's seat as usual.
"We don't have enough seats for all the people…"
"Don't worry Aswon, they're taken care of. I got them to stand next to the walls and netted them in place. They might not be super comfortable, but they're as safe as I can make them. I don't think we're going to be in the air that long, anyway, are we?"
"No idea – but I'm going to leave that to Marius to sort out right now. I don't think he needs any of us badgering him." On cue, the engines increased power, and they lifted up and started to accelerate away, though at a much more restrained pace than he would have expected. He got the answer to his unasked question a moment later as Marius called back to them over the speakers.
"There are a number of drones in the area, recording footage. I am trying to limit our turbulence and any other effects. Some of them appear to be news cameras, and I can see at least two choppers coming in as well. Feed coming up." The screens flickered to life in the troop bay, relaying the sensor feed and letting the team see first-hand what was going on around them. Marius had the view to their rear showing, and they could see huge numbers of people streaming from the buildings, carrying bags and boxes, no doubt their most prized possessions, fleeing from the conflagration. The bottom four or five stories all had black smoke pouring out of vents and windows, rising upwards and enveloping the higher floors in choking smog.
But, in a typical view of human behaviour, lots of people were also standing and watching, cameras out and recording the incident. They saw others moving amongst the refugees, stripping them of goods and possessions at knifepoint, robbing the victims blind and taking away their last hopes with them. A single fire tender was on scene, its crew aiming three jets of water at the fifth floor, panning left and right.
"Fire chief down there knows it's hopeless – he's not trying to stop the fire, just slow it down and disperse the smoke a bit. Buy some time for those in the building." Hunter paused as a large chunk of the building seemed to shudder and then slide down, a huge slab of concrete coming away from the structure and plummeting to the ground below, revealing the interior of the building and savage flames rising up, fed with a new source of oxygen. "That place is gone. Even if they get more units here, like a lot more – there's no way they can get in and fight it from the inside. And spraying the outside is just going to keep the fire in the core. We know what a maze that place is – ain't no way that fire is getting stopped."
Marius panned the view around, zooming in more and more on the sensors as they flew away, showing the orbiting news choppers with their high-definition trideo cameras now trained on the human tragedy below. More drones whipped back and forth around the scene, some bearing the logo of the police services, others unmarked. One dumb and unlucky drone flew towards the building, carrying a basket full of take-away produce and was incinerated as a jet of flame burst out of a window.
Marius twitched as his phone rang, then checked the number and accepted the call as it flashed up the caller ID for Nadia.
"Marius – are you ok to talk?" Nadia's voice was neutral, and she looked like she would be at least acceptant to hear a no as much as a yes. Marius gave a quick check on his proximity radar and a flick over the other sensors, then adjusted course slightly, heading back towards the building site.
"Actually yes, I am good to chat. I may not have more than six or seven minutes before we land, but it is good to hear your voice." After the events of the past few hours, he realised it WAS good to talk to Nadia, to experience a little of a normal life. Nadia grinned at him, her face lighting up in the small 'window' floating in his mind as the inbound signal was routed through his rigger systems. She couldn't see him, but he knew his avatar would be visible to her, crudely animated, but his face none the less.
"Oh good, I didn't want to disturb you, but there's a couple of things I wanted to run past you. Nothing too urgent. And I needed to let you know about our room – and the new decorations. Someone left some crayons where Junior could get at them… and well, let's just say that the floor won't ever be the same again, I think!" Marius relaxed into his chair and let the news wash over him, a small part of his attention making sure the aircraft stayed on course and was safe, but the rest listening to his wife tell him all about the things their baby had gotten up to, what was going on at the ranch, her shopping trips, research… the intervention of 'normal life' grounded him, and gave him a sense of peace – even though he also wasn't looking forward to seeing just how much havoc his budding Picasso had caused around their quarters. He chatted away in turn, describing some of the things they'd seen – butterflies, plants, new foods – things that he could describe to her without causing concern or alarm, or that he could send over images he'd captured along the way that might interest her…
In the back, as the flight had steadied down, Kai, Tads and Aswon checked that Spook and her child were ok, then had headed back into the cargo area to make sure the slaves were still with them. Shimazu remained in his seat, his eyes half-closed, coming down from the rush of combat and trying to ease away the ache that pervaded his entire body as his muscles complained about the stresses they'd been subjected to.
The slaves were stood splayed against the walls, held in place by the magical net, but seemed unconcerned by their restraints – though given the events they'd been through in the last half hour, that was probably the least of their issues.
"I have a spell that might be able to purge the drugs from their bodies. Or at least the effects?"
"I don't think that's a good idea, Tads." Kai pulled out a small flashlight from his medkit and waved it over the eyes of one of the men, seeing barely any change in pupil response. The man licked his lips suggestively though, and tried to reach out to Kai, seeking to make skin-to-skin contact, no doubt responding to some training or programming that had been instilled into him. "You might get rid of the drugs, but that's going to make them feel lousy, possibly terrified. But you're also not going to do anything about any mental or physical addictions they may have. I've no clue what particular cocktail they've been hit with, but it's probably some variations of the date-rape chemicals or barbiturates, maybe some mood enhancers. We need to test their blood and find out – and we also need to make sure they're stable when we draw bloods too. If they've been used like I suspect they have, there's no telling what diseases they may be carrying as a result."
"So what do we do with them?"
"I don't know, Tads. But I'm inclined to agree that Spook may be the best person to make that decision, once we're landed and sorted out. We should get them some clothes though, as soon as possible. That at least shouldn't be too difficult, we can at least just go out and hit a vending machine. There's bound to be one somewhere nearby."
"We can probably get a drone delivery set up. Once we're landed, I'll ask Hunter to look." Aswon pulled up his own datapad and started to make quick notes on the size and shape of the slaves, building up a shopping list to buy them some 'flats', the low-cost disposable clothing that many lower class citizens used.
"So are you going to be home soon, do you think, Marius?"
"Hopefully, Nadia. I think we've got one more cargo run to do over here, then we were planning on heading back to the ranch. At least I think so. Why?"
"Nothing urgent – but things are actually somewhat busy here. We've had a corporate booking come in, with all the cabins taken. We've actually had to turn some people away, which has Rusudan happy and sad, all at the same time. But I was chatting with some people, and I've had an idea. Based on the new aircraft. Here, let me send something over… promise not to laugh!"
Marius waited, and then checked over the image that was sent alongside the call, showing an area just to the side of the ranch, behind the workshops. Then there was an isometric sketch, somewhat crudely drawn and with primitive colours – but showing a sports field mounted on some kind of machinery, opening up to reveal an underground hanger hidden underneath. Tunnels led off from the hanger, and he guessed they were to meet up with the underground facilities already built. It wasn't an engineering diagram or even that well drawn, but it showed her intent quite clearly."
"Wait just a moment Nadia." He activated a different circuit in his mind, and then shunted the image over to Hunter's station. "Hunter – check this out. Nadia is planning an upgrade back at the ranch."
"That looks cool!" Hunter leant in and looked at the detail, such as it was. "Yeah – love it. Though we need some palm trees for sure." Marius frowned at him, not understanding the reference, but Hunter just grinned and waved at him. "Never mind. Tell her I like it! What does she need?"
"Is that feasible from an engineering perspective?"
"Oh yeah. Pricy though… excavating a hole that big needs some heavy machinery but… oh, Tads. Yeah, so that's a lot easier. Still expensive, though. Lot of material there. But doable. And very cool. Thumbs up from me."
"Ok, good." He switched back to the first call. "Hunter thinks it is a very good idea too, and the engineering should be workable. So, what do you need?"
"Well, I've been looking at the prices and things, and it's actually not that bad. You know that corporate booking? Well, it's from a construction company, 'Bouygues' and I was chatting with their agent when they were making the booking, just finding out details and such like. And we got chatting about stuff, and they passed me on to one of their marketing and sales people, and it turns out that they have some stock from a failed military contract for some hanger facilities. And one thing lead to another, and I think we can do a deal with them. The all-weather sports fields are not that expensive, and I've found somewhere I can get the machinery from. So I think perhaps…" Nadia paused, and when she resumed it was somewhat more quietly. "About two-hundred-thousand?"
"I think that should be fine. I shall certainly endorse it to Kai. But for now, sorry – I need to concentrate. We are coming up on our landing zone. I will call you later on, to discuss!"
They said their goodbyes, and Marius did turn his attention to the matter at hand, bringing them in carefully for a landing on the foundations for the future tower block, putting them down in exactly the same place they'd landed before.
As the engines cooled, the team took a moment to take stock, checking around them for any signs of alarm or pursuit, and then started to get themselves sorted. Kai appeared at the cockpit door and handed a still somewhat tacky credstick over to Hunter.
"Check that over, will you? See if we've gotten lucky? Took it off the boss dude. Though next time Marius, just a couple of bullets please? Easier to loot the body then!"
Kai ducked away as Marius started to bristle, his grin stretching across his face, while Hunter grabbed the stick and plugged it into the cred-reader and checked the contents. He whistled, and then showed Marius the total loaded – one hundred and thirty-two thousand, eight hundred and seventy nine Nuyen.
"Do not tell Kai, please. At least not yet. I have plans for that money." Now it was Marius' time to grin. Hunter chuckled and nodded.
"Just make sure I'm there when you do, will you? This the secret base thing Nadia has planned?" He got a nod and then his grin widened. "Yeah, definitely want to be there to see that!" He unbuckled and headed after, grabbing his gear and getting ready to deal with whatever excitement came next. Entering the passenger compartment, he saw Aswon sitting next to Spook, talking quietly with her, a hand placed loosely on her shoulder, while the other held onto the hand still containing the detonator, holding it tightly closed. Spook seemed to be rocking back and forth slowly, and it was unclear if she was consoling herself, or her child. He headed over and plonked himself down in the seat next to them, then laid a hand firmly on her shoulder, squeezing just a little to get her attention.
"Hey Spook. Listen. I don't know you. None of us do really, not 'cept Aswon. But that don't matter. He knows you, trusts you, likes you. You're 'good people'." He did a very bad and thoroughly racist impression of Aswon's Nigerian accent, overstressed and overplayed, but it bought a little smile to her lips. "But that don't matter. Aswon's prepared to run risks to come get you. And that's enough… he's our family, and you're his. So that makes you our family too. And family don't ditch family, ok? Ok." He gave another little squeeze then pushed himself up out of his seat, his face sliding back from something that looked like he cared to his usual sardonic smirk, as he headed through the next door into the cargo bay. "Alright, you neeked buggers. Assholes and elbows, time to get off. We got clothes coming at GREAT expense I tell you, in a variety of colours. Off the ramp, come on, move it, move it!" The door closed behind him, cutting off his yells as he marshalled their rescued slaves down and out of the aircraft.
"Hunter has a style of his own. But sometimes he shows… depths you might not assume are there." Aswon said quietly. Spook took a deep breath, seeming to calm herself, and then squirmed around in the seat slightly, handing off her child to him. Aswon took the boy gently, feeling him cling onto his clothing tightly, burying his head into his shoulder. Spook pulled out her commlink and hit the 'end-call' button, severing the link which had remained open to Aswon's own link all that time, then started to search though her messages. Aswon wasn't sure what she was after, but she seemed to be going back a long way.
It took her thirty seconds of searching and scrolling though, before she found what she was looking for, and she turned it around to show him the screen. There were the first messages she and Aswon had exchanged after he and the team had escaped from the hands of the Chechens up in the mountains. The second of December, 2059. He saw the details of Spook sending through cash to him, to help them get restarted, his messages back saying he didn't want a loan, her insisting it wasn't one.
"Told you it was an investment." She said quietly, then moved over to embrace him, and her son, in a tight three-way hug. For a moment, in the passenger compartment, silence fell as all three shared a moment. Spook broke the embrace and looked at him, her dark eyes serious and locked upon his. "That's twice now. Thank you."
"It's not over yet – we still need to get that collar off you. Come on – we need to be outside for this, I think, away from the Broadsword." He led them both out of the back, and found that the slaves had been tucked away in the partially-built and enclosed structure of the next tower over, at least getting them out of sight and the elements. Hunter informed them the drone would be here in about twenty minutes with clothing for them, but there wasn't a lot else to do right now.
Marius appeared with his electronic tool kit and gestured for Spook to sit down on the floor, then moved to sit next to her. Aswon lifted up her hair, holding it up out of the way, giving him better access.
"You should stand clear, Aswon. I do not know how powerful this charge is. Better not to risk additional people."
"I'm fine here. Besides, you're good with electronics, but I'm the whizz with demo and explosives. I'll stay."
"Fine. You are indeed noteworthy for using your face to detect mines."
"Hey! That was a long time ago…"
"Shush now. Concentrating." They fell silent as Marius probed at the collar around her neck, working delicately to establish how it had been put together and how he could disarm it. It was fairly tight fitting, and most of the controls appeared to be internal, along with the actual detonation charge. It looked like explosive cord running around the neck on the inside of the collar – more than enough to decapitate Spook if it was triggered. Two minutes went past, then Marius sat back a little and sighed.
"It is complex, and very hard to get at. I believe the lock is protected by at least two separate anti-tamper circuits, and it is a highly complex design. It can be done, but this will be tricky. Very dangerous."
"How about if I use a static-aura on Spook? Would that shock the lock, make it malfunction?" Tads called out.
"NO!" they both responded. Aswon pressed on ahead first. "I'm not sure that would work on the electronics," – he saw Marius shake his head confirming that – "But det-cord is normally electrically fired! We definitely DON'T want any static or shocks around here."
"What about chemicals? Anything we can do to melt the explosives or the electronics away?" Kai suggested.
"Not really. Anything strong enough to do that is gonna be really unpleasant on Spook. No good melting the collar off it you melt her neck off, too." Hunter pointed out.
"Very well, I will try to defuse the lock. Please, sit very still." Marius reached down for his tools again.
"If we can't melt it off, then we'll have to go for the really simple solution then instead." Kai sighed dramatically, and Marius frowned, his hands paused just millimetres away from the lock.
"I need to concentrate, Kai. What are you talking about?"
"Well, we just ask Spook nicely, and she agrees. And Tads turns her into a snake. Or something else with a small head. And we just slide the collar off and then deal with it later…"
There was a pregnant pause as everyone considered the stunningly simple solution that nobody else had considered, then turned to look at Tads.
"That should work. I can turn you back a moment later, Spook, don't worry. Yes, that will work fine…" Tads couldn't believe that she hadn't thought of it herself, but she strode over to crouch next to Spook. "Just relax, and try not to fight it. You'll feel yourself changing, and as soon as your head is small enough to fit through, I'm sure one of the guys here will get the collar off, ok? Then I just stop the transformation, and you turn back."
Spook nodded uncertainly, and Tads reached out to hold her hand, reassuring her and also making skin contact. It wasn't technically required for the spell to work, but it 'felt' better this way. Concentrating, Tads channelled mana through her hand into Spook, and the diminutive Chinese woman started to transmogrify in front of their eyes into a large python. As soon as the head and neck were the same diameter, Marius and Aswon lifted the collar clear, moving away towards the edge of the pad carefully. True to her word, Tads reversed the spell immediately, turning Spook back into her normal form.
By the time she'd adjusted her clothing and had scooped up her son once more, Aswon had managed to strip out the twenty-five-centimetre-long strip of det-cord from the inside of the collar, far easier now he could see and reach it without a neck in the way, and Marius had managed to pull out the tiny sparker that would have ignited it.
"Well, that went excellently!" Kai looked smug, and pulled out a drink he'd picked up from the aircraft, popping the top and taking a large gulp.
"Oh Kai, by the way. Nadia has been on the phone and wants to buy something. I told her it would be ok. The cost is about a quarter of a million." Marius watched carefully, gratified as Kai choked on his drink as he tried to respond. Hunter gave an uproarious belly laugh, as the drink sprayed out of Kai's mouth and he started to cough, gasping for breath and heaving as he tried to expel liquid from his lungs. "I will tell you more details later. But I told her it would be ok, so she has placed the order already…" Marius twisted the knife a little further, grinning as Kai turned a deep red colour.
While the rest of the team laughed, nobody paid much attention to Shimazu, who had laid back on the rough concrete surface and was staring up into the sky. In his mind, he replayed the scene of the slave – or what they had thought was the slave – jumping out of the window, transforming into something weird and horrific. The image played over and over again, with some element of familiarity to it. He couldn't quite place it. He knew he'd seen it before, or something very similar. Over and over the images ran, in a loop through his memories, as he racked his brain trying to work out what it was.
His eyes suddenly focussed as he neurons connected and made a link, and he realised what it was he'd seen.
"Fuck…"