Alex Hanzo's Story

Mars

Endeavour.

BC Industries Plaza.

53rd Floor

Jason Scammell quickly answered the call and a worried looking face was projected onto the large screen that dominated the far side of the wall of his office.

“Well?” He asked as he stubbed a cigarette out in an already brimming ash tray.

“We can’t find it. We think it made it off the island.”

“Impossible! We built it. Surely it must be covered in Goddamn trackers!

“It was, but they’ve all been deactivated.”

“Christ! This cannot be happening.” Scammell said as he sat down in the large chair behind his large desk. “If the board finds out...”

“They won’t. Pearce is hunting it as we speak. Besides this is Earth, Alaska no less. Where’s it going to go?.”

“I’m sorry Doctor but I’m not exactly filled with hope. How many men did it kill when escaping? How do you even know it’s still in Alaska? Siberia is closer. Are you sure it’s off the island?”

The large face looked ashen.

“Keep me posted. I can divert more resources to finding it but for now we keep this in house. Understand? This project must not leak.” Scammell continued.

“Yes, Director Scammell.”

The feed ended and was replaced by the Bauer Chenmo logo. Scammell sunk lower in his chair and lit another cigarette.

“Fuck.” He muttered.

#

Earth

Siberia

Gulf of Anadyr

Anadyr Estuary

The two raiders cautiously approached the still form lying in the sandy no man’s land between the Bearing Sea and the snow bank up the beach. He was dressed strangely in a dirty white smock and matching trousers lying face down in the sand.

“What do you think he is?” Milo asked.

“Cold.” Pavel answered simply.

They approached with their AN-94s raised and cautiously. Pavel kept scanning the horizon for any sign this might be a trap.

Milo finally poked the prone man with his rifle and the man didn’t move. He then kicked the body over and inspected him.

“I don’t think he’s from around here.” Milo said as he looked at the man’s features.

“Who knows could have died at sea and floated across the straight from China?”

“Wouldn’t he be more, you know, rotten?” Milo asked.

“Yeah he can’t have been dead long. Maybe the cold water stopped the decomposition process?” Pavel offered happy that the body wasn’t a trap.

Suddenly the body exploded into motion. A leg swept Pavel off his feet and he landed with a thud. Milo, failing to react quickly enough, caught a fist to groin followed by a rock to the face. Pavel was gathering his senses when his attacker leapt on him and pushed Milo’s cold Grach pistol under his chin.

The man spoke gibberish.

“I don’t understand!” Pavel cried.

“Where am I?” The man barked in perfect unaccented Russian.

“Anadyr.”

“How many are you?”

“Many they will kill you if you don’t let us go.”

The man lowered the pistol and fired once into Pavel’s shoulder.

“I can tell when you lie. How many are you?”

“Just me and him.” Pavel said nodding his head toward the unconscious Milo.

“Where is the nearest town? I need transport.”

“Around twenty miles west.”

Milo groaned. The man lifted the pistol and fired a round into the wounded man. He didn’t groan again.

“Twenty miles. Is it populated? Where is the nearest Port? I need to get to the M-Gates.

“Snakeheads run Anadyr if you have money they can get you out.”

“Thank you.” The man said simply before firing the pistol again this time ending Pavel’s life.

He stood and rooted through the men’s equipment before taking their clothes as his own. He then set off West.

#


Mars

Kaiser

RSI

Frank Decker rubbed some of the sleep out of his Blue Polaris model eyes and yawned loudly before opening the door to the ground floor of RSI. The place wasn’t exactly a hive of activity. The range didn’t seem to be in use but the quarter master, Jenks, was in his corner working on what looked like an Akita Assault rifle. He was about to go speak to Jenks when Rob appeared.

“Good Morning, Mr Decker.” The Synth said with an awkward smile while holding a tray containing cup of coffee and a slice of toast.

Decker kept walking towards Jenks while the Synth followed alongside.

“Morning Rob.”

“You coffee is ready sir.” Rob said in his odd accent that made him sound like a folk singer.

“I know, first, I’m going to speak Jenks.”

“That’s fine Mr Decker. It’s just your coffee is currently at optimal temperature and I am concerned that any delay will result in it becoming unpleasant to...”

“I understand Rob, I’ll take it in a minute.”

“Do so at your own risk, Mr Decker.”

Decker shook his head at the Synth, Rob was a Jeeves model Synth. Although attempts had been made to make the Synth less of a pain it was impossible to fix the core programming of the unit which was to do a good job for it’s owner.

“That butt kiss hassling you boss?” Jenks asked from the corner as he pointed the rifle at the Synth. “Just say the word.”

“He’s fine Jenks.” Decker said as he exaggerated the act of taking the coffee from the tray. “Thank you Rob.”

The Synth flashed another awkward smile before leaving the two men.

“You know they make ones now that don’t smile like serial killers?” Jenks said simply.

“I know but I’m nostalgic and he’s a great coffee maker.” Decker said taking a swig.

“So what brings a suit over to my office?” Jenks said setting the assault rifle down.

“It’s the Bulldog. Sights are screwed up.” Decker said as he produced a grey revolver from the holster beneath his jacket.

“Jesus you are nostalgic. I ain’t seen one of these in years.”

Jenks played with the sights for a moment.

“I don’t see a problem.” He said finally.

“No I meant the motion tracking.”

“No way you paid to have this wired with Motion?” Jenks said with disbelief on his face.

“It’s a good gun, lot of stopping power.”

“When you can hit what you aim for. Right to the range.”

The two men walked over to the range. Jenks set the Bulldog Revolver on the table and produced a dirty red tablet. He strung a wire from the tablet to the port behind Decker’s ear.

“Right. Select a moving target sequence.”

Decker played with the console on the range table then picked up his revolver.

The sequence started and Decker opened fire. All six shots hit.

“Ok so that was without tracking. You still got it. Engage tracking and increase speed.”

The targets flashed a lot faster this time and Decker only managed to hit two.

“Yeah it’s pulling to the left. You been fucking around with this?”

“I was learning.” Decker said simply.

“You should stick to easy stuff, leave the thinking to people like me.”

Jenks tinkered with his tablet.

“Ok go now.”

Decker rebooted the sequence, this time he hit six out of six.

“It’s easy when you know how.” Jenks said when he was done.

“Who’s upstairs.”

“You got one Keyboard Cowboy already here.”

“Anna?”

“You know it.”

Decker shook his head.

“We’ll have work today, make sure the equipment is good to go.”

#

Decker climbed the stairs to the Second floor of the RSI building. He passed a few offices that the Tech Support staff used and made his way to the end of the corridor to his own office. He stepped through and into the Office of Anna Hassan.

“Anna I thought you were taking the morning off?”

“Good morning to you to Frank.”

“A kid like you should be nursing a hangover on a Saturday morning not writing up Bounty reports. I can do that.”

She lifted a plastic bottle with a label that read Overhangover.

“Bah, Modern science confounding the traditions of the past. How do you know you had a good night if you don’t feel like crap the next day?”

Anna shrugged. “The pictures on the Net?”

Decker shook his head. “Ok what we got today?”

“Three new bounties.” She said as she used the motion controls on her desk to throw the screen she was looking at in her augmented eyes onto the screen behind Decker.

Anna walked around her desk and leaned on it beside Decker.

“We got Jessica Waylon, a cracker who is wanted DoA.” The screen was filled with an attractive looking woman who had minimal augmentation. “She’s actually pushing sixty.”

“Good Surgeon.” Decker said.

“Yeah I guess but you can see when they screwed up her... Never mind. Up next...”

She swiped her hand in front of her and the screen changed to the next Bounty.

“Joseph Khan. This one is for the MSS. He’s been implicated in the production of illegal drugs.”

“Illegal Drugs? Jesus they must be bad if the MSS is taking down a dealer.”

“Yeah you know Cangwu Slim?”

“Yeah the yuppies love it. Say all the stars use it.”

“Yeah well Kahn has been producing it on the cheap. A lot of wannabes are winding up dead.”

“I’m sure this has more to do with the actual producers getting pissed someone is ruining their brand than wannabes becoming neverweres.”

“Probably but Cangwu Slim is legal. Cangwrong Slim isn’t.”

“They want him alive?”

“Yeah, they reckon he’s part of a larger network.”

“Ok next.”

She motioned again and the screen came to the last job.

“Two for one?” Decker said as two images filled the screen.

“Yep. The Ramirez Brothers, couple of Ex Snakeheads off earth who decided to retire out on Mars and start hitting stores in Hades Kitchen.”

“Another one in Kaiser?”

“Yep it’s an MSS collar so don’t except too much green and they want one alive to face justice.”

“Or to be paraded in front of cameras.”

“Yeah like I said justice.” Anna said simply.

“Anyone else taking these bounties?”

“Dynamo are almost certainly but I don’t think Interceptor is going for it. Word has it they got something big going down.”

“Would be like Alex to play her cards close to her chest.” Decker said thoughtfully.

“Well you’d know all about being close to her chest.” Anna said with a smirk.

Decker shook his head. “You know Anna this isn’t a very professional working environment.”

“When was it?” Anna said as she returned to her seat.

Decker walked through the door opposite the one he entered through and entered his own office.

“Prep the reports and get them out to the teams.” He said before closing the door.

#

Bounties.

Keep Young and Beautiful if you want to be loved.

Target- Jessica Waylon.

Location- Iazu

Information- Don’t let the appearance fool you this woman is actually pushing sixty and not half as dumb as the blonde hair and ridiculous figure would have you believe. As you can probably tell this old lady is addicted to the knife and to finance all the work she sold out her employer Openwave. They’re based out of Iazu and are a small company that specialises in creating pieces of system architecture for larger companies. They are basically sub contractors. You know they build a little piece which is added to a lot of other little pieces by the client.

Anyway Waylon has been selling small System exploits for years to pay for her surgeries but she’s got her eye on retirement now so she went for one last big push. She over stretched though and got busted by Openwave security. They’re a small company so she was long gone before they could nab her. Whatever she made off with Openwave do not want getting out.

She seems to be selling on the black market so that might be a way to track her if you can find where she’s auctioning. It also looks like she had this plan in place for some time, it’s possible there’s a digital trail. In either case Openwave don’t really care about Waylon they just want you to recover the data. She may have stored it on the Net, on external storage or an internal Aug. I hope it’s not an internal Aug. That’ll get messy.

She shouldn’t pose much of a threat but she may have hired up a Merc. Her buyers are likely to be Keyboard Cowboys but just be aware the deal may go down in meat space. We have no reason to believe she has left Iazu but who knows where the investigation will take you.

The Bounty is to be returned to Openwave in Iazu.

Counterfeit.

Target- Joseph “Joe” Kahn.

Location- Kaiser, Juno Apartment building.

Information- Joe is scumbag operating out of the basement of the Juno Apartment Building in Kaiser. You’ve probably heard of the Juno it’s in the middle of the Q. Total dive and pretty much in the hands of the gangs now. A lot of scumbags lie low in there.

Joe is a chemist and he has hit on a formula that makes something similar to Cangwu Slim. The only difference with Joe’s product is it’s very likely to kill you, as is happening all across Kaiser. I guess people here like to pretend they’re just like the rich and famous in Cangwu. The MSS has put out a Bounty on him that has been inflated by the makers of Cangwu Slim who don’t like their name being linked to this illegal drug.
They want Joe alive but are offering a reduced reward if he dies. They also want the flow of drugs stopped. That means deleting the process for making the stuff and destroying his operation. Khan is linked to the Juno Raiders the group that controls the Building. Their main trade is offering rooms to criminals laying low. They are unlikely to welcome Recovery Agents in the area and a firefight would most likely result in death. For this reason subterfuge is the way to go.
Khan is a gang member so expect him to be augmented and well armed as will be every gang member in the place. He is also aware he is wanted on a murder ticket which means he’s going to ride the lightening if he’s taken, that means he’s not going to come along willingly. The trick here is to eliminate or retrieve Khan, delete his files and destroy the lab all without being detected.

The Bounty is to be taken to MSS central processing.

Brotherly Love.

Targets- Dingo Ramirez and Badger Ramirez.

Location- Hades Kitchen, Kaiser

Information- Colourful names eh? The Ramirez brothers are from Earth and are a pair of Ex snakeheads. They left the gang during one delivery and made Mars their home. They have worked for numerous gangs during their stay here acting in various roles. They’ve since branched out though and have been pulling armed robberies in Hades Kitchen. The MSS is facing heavy criticism from locals who want something done about it. So they issued a bounty for their arrest. Be aware these guys are heavily armed and used to violence. They will not hesitate to shoot their way out.

The Bounty only requires one alive which is a bit easier but these guys won’t go easily so you’ll need to be smart about capturing them.

Hades Kitchen is pretty deprived but it’s an honest enough area of the city. Just poor folks trying to make living, so try to avoid collateral damage.

The Target is to be delivered to the MSS central processing.

Earth

England

Birmingham

The Snakehead called Mr Singh looked the man up and down before spitting out the chewing tobacco. He the leaned over his desk and attempted to interlace his augmented fingers. With a bit of effort he finally did so. The man standing in front of Singh knew this signified that wherever the Snakehead had received the augmentations was of poor quality. Every Snakehead wanted strength but when it came to fine motor skills their Augmentations often fell short.

“Mister Vincent you look well!” Mr Singh said as the pale man entered his cluttered office.

“Thank you, your surgeon was very capable.” Vincent said as he sat down in the chair opposite Singh.

“Now we can discuss the rest of the payment?”

Vincent lifted the duffle bag he had brought into the room and set it on the Snakehead’s desk. The bag was full of augmentations, weapons and tech salvaged from Anadyr. After killing Milo and Pavel he had travelled to Anadyr and finished off the rest of the raiders. He killed most of them stealthily and by the time they realised he was there he’d already killed most of the group. When he had finished he picked up a wood axe and claimed their augs and weapons as his own. He then took a VTOL and got out of Siberia.

“I trust this should cover it?”

Mr Singh was smiling wide and showing his blackened teeth as he inspected the equipment.

“Yes this should do well... as a first payment.”

“No. This is all you get Singh.”

“That’s not how...”

“I killed the people who owned those augmentations. I am not the normal desperate person trying to get off earth. You are paid.”

He’d travelled to Birmingham as it was a Snakehead operated port where he could change his face and get an identity. He’d chosen the name Vincent Mishin on a whim when the Snakehead, Mr Singh, has requested a name for his new identity.

“I see but my bosses...”

“I don’t care Singh. What I want to know is when you sold me out?”

“I don’t know what you’re...”

Vincent moved rapidly and threw the large table aside, sending the duffle bag and its contents clattering to the floor, before grabbing Singh by the neck and thrusting him against the wall. He produced a silenced pistol and pressed it against Singh’s nose.

“Don’t bother trying to ping outside for help. Your men are dead as is the surgeon. When did you contact BC?”

“I don’t know what you’re...”

Vincent shook his head and lowered the weapon. He fired twice striking Singh in the leg.

The man cried in pain and Vincent let him drop.

“You’re lying. I need to know how long I have to prepare.”

“I called about three hours ago. They are coming here now. You were supposed to still be under, nobody would have gotten hurt.”

“I underwent the surgery without anaesthesia.”

“How?” Singh said.

“Did you bother to create new records for me?” Vincent continued ignoring Singh’s question.

“Yes of course!”

“More lies.” Vincent said sadly as he raised the Pistol and fired again this time striking Singh’s gut. “I always know.”

“No I didn’t, no point.” Singh groaned through gritted teeth.

“Alright I need the password for your system.”

“Flatlander Woman.” Singh said and Vincent knew he wasn’t lying.

“Thank you.”

Vincent raised the pistol and shot Singh in the head.

He then accessed the console.

#

Mars

Endeavour.

BC Industries Plaza.

53rd Floor

Jason Scammell stared at the large screen displayed on his wall watching static. Until a few moments ago it had been a direct feed to BC security operative Hani Pearce’s ocular augmentations. Pearce had been deployed along with a team of twenty contractors. Now all had either been killed or incapacitated. They had failed to recover the escapee and Scammell’s best lead was now cold.

Scammell knew the operation was blown as soon as the team entered Singh’s office. The place was empty but the bomb didn’t detonate until the team got to the back office and found the bodies. The escapee knew they would be watching.

“Tell me we got something off the net.” Scammell said finally.

“We’re going through Singh’s Net activity but it’s too well obscured. Near as we can tell he spent just over an hour looking at news wires. However over that hour Singh became an expert on hiding hacks. The News wire stuff is just placeholders we have no idea what he was actually doing.” Was the response from the team on St Lawrence Island, the facility the escape had happened at.

“He was giving himself an identity. Do we have an image of him after the surgery?”

“No, the surgeon and Singh were both dead. Augs tore out of anyone who would have seen him.”

“Great. I need all your files on this, we’ll run this from Mars. I also want the project ended, burn the subjects. If one can escape the rest can too. I also want a full report on the positive findings of the research, I going to need something good to tell the board.”
“All files on Project Blue Jay are now on your server.” The Tech at St Lawrence informed him.

Scammell sighed and ended the conversation.

Scammell then closed the feed from the team, they were of no use now, and opened the files he had received on Project Blue Jay. He went to the files about Subject 47, the escapee. The file photo showed a man of Asian descent and Scammell couldn’t help but wonder what he looked like now and what he had planned for BC.

#

Mars

Kaiser

RSI

Anna Hassan smiled as she pinged the last report on to Decker. Decker was more of a bottom line kind of guy and would just be happy that expenses didn’t exceed profit. She remembered how angry he’d been after one job when the repairs to a VTOL had totalled more than the bounty. When reading reports he was content to just read Anna’s brief synopsis but on this occasion she has requested he read the report in full as she knew the strangeness of it would appeal to him.

Hassan then closed her system and cricked her neck. It had been a slow but long week, The team had done well but Interceptor and Dynamo had become embroiled in an extended gun fight in Endeavour over a bounty. She had taken a pass on the contract as she knew it would be trouble. The money was too good and would attract too much competition. She’d heard through the Grapevine that Interceptor had made the capture but Dynamo had bounced them. One gunfight later and the bounty was dead along with both SI agents and three from Dynamo. Decker had called it a draw considering Dynamo outnumbered them.

Anna however had raised the more obvious concern a war was brewing and RSI would eventually be forced to get involved. Anna believed it would be most prudent for RSI to get involved early so they could manage things on their own terms. Decker still wanted to remain out of it but he could see he had little choice and that Anna was correct.

That was why Decker was meeting with Alex Hanzo, owner of Interceptor Solutions. Anna knew there was some history there but now the relationship was purely business. It didn’t stop Anna giving Decker a hard time though. She packed away her things from her desk and made her way out of the office.

#

Mars

Iazu

Adeyemi’s Bar

When Decker arrived Alex was already sitting at a table with a thin glass of wine sitting in front of her. Decker pushed open the door to Adeyemi’s and made his way towards her table.

“Just a second Frank.” A voice said behind him and Decker slowly turned to see a burly looking man sitting in the corner by the door. It was a good position that allowed him to see everyone who entered the bar before they saw him.

“Hauser. Didn’t know Alex was bringing you out on a walk.”

“Funny stuff. You packing?”

“Yep.” Frank said with a shrug.

“Gonna have to ask you to...”

“Don’t bother. It’s not gonna happen.”

“Then you best just turn yourself around and fuck off.”

“Witty as always, I can tell you spent a while coming up with that one.”

Decker was aware their conversation was gathering some attention which was exactly what Alex would want to avoid. Decker had worked with Hauser back when both had worked at Interceptor. Hauser had always been a brute force player, no finesse. That’s why Decker had never invited him to RSI. The two had always had a rivalry that stemmed from Decker’s being from Earth.

“He’s fine Arnold.” Alex said from her spot at the bar.

Hauser coldly eyed Decker who let a smile play across his face. “Down boy.” He mouthed before stepping past the larger man and approaching Alex’s table.

“Evening.” Decker said as he sat down opposite her. “You eating?”

“No.” Alex said icily.

“I’m getting some Potjiekos.”

“I though you wanted to talk business.”

Decker nodded as he pressed on the screen embedded in the table and placed his order. The small candle sitting between them flickered as he moved. “I do, I just don’t think we should do that on an empty stomach. What are you drinking ?”

“Mariner. Don’t bother, we won’t be talking long.”

“I’m getting a beer.”

Alex sighed and Frank stopped pressing the console.

“Look Alex, I’m not messing with you. I haven’t eaten. I want to talk about Dynamo. I heard about the job and we both know that was bullshit. We don’t work that way, I want to help.”

“So you’ve finally taken your head out of your ass?”

Decker smiled lightly. “You’re started to sound like Anna.”

“She was obviously a good hire then.”

“So is that why Hauser on guard duty?”

“They know I won’t stand for my people getting murdered while doing their jobs. It’s Dynamo’s style to go for the pre-emptive strike.”

Decker glanced back at Hauser shrugged before returning his attention to Alex. So what’s your plan? How can RSI help?”

“Well it would be nice if your people started putting assholes in body bags.”

“We’re not that kind of outfit Alex. My people decide how they want to do it, They’re not assassins.”

“Rich coming from you.”

Decker shrugged again. “It is how it is.”

“How Zen of you. You told that to the purpose built assassin you employ?”

“Eckhard?” Frank said trying to hide his surprise. “Everybody chooses their own path Alex, what we were doesn’t always dictate what we are.”
A Synth waiter approached the table and placed a beer and a glass of wine on the table. Alex and Decker fell silent while it went about its work. It nodded and returned to its position behind the bar.
“And keep your crackers outta my personnel files.” Decker said with more of a pout than he had intended.

“If you keep yours outta mine.” Alex said as she lifted the glass to her lips.

“Alright, enough dancing around. What do you need?”

“Hopefully nothing. Interceptor is handling the situation. All I need to know is if I have your trust to do what needs to be done. RSI, Dynamo and Interceptor are the three operating at this level. The smaller companies will like what I tell them to like and the bigger ones couldn’t care less.”

“Ok so what you’re saying is you just want to make sure the other big fish in our rather small pond are ok with you making a move on another fish.”

“Jesus, you still love over extending metaphors.”

Decker ignored the jab. “Yeah RSI won’t have any problems with that. I can’t say we’ll start capping Dynamo operatives in the street but we can throw a few spanners in the works.”

“Do it. I’ll have my people talk to your people.”

The Synth returned with Decker’s Potjiekos and placed it on the table next to him. It then placed a spoon beside the plate.

“Is that everything sir?”

Decker didn’t have a chance to finish because the glass window in the front of the building smashed as small black cylinders flew into the restaurant. Decker’s augmented eyes were able to detect two percussion grenades and a disruptor grenade. They adapted their settings to deal with the sudden change in circumstances before Decker was even fully conscious of what was happening.

A red warning message flashed across his field of view warning him that a Disruptor grenade was about to detonate. Although Decker had invested heavily in countermeasures Disruptors where something he truly feared. With his right hand he flipped the table and pulled Alex as close to him as possible while with his other he reached out, grabbed the Synth waiter and dragged it between himself and the grenade.

It detonated and Decker’s eyes flickered for a second before returning to normal. The Synth went gone limp in Decker’s grasp and he dropped it before pulling out his Bulldog Revolver and getting into a crouch.

He looked over at Hauser who was nowhere to be seen.

“Fuck.” He muttered. “Behind the bar.”

He stood and grabbed Alex by her black blazer and half dragged her across the room. He turned and saw two men in black combat suits enter through the broken window. Decker fired twice forcing the men to duck but they quickly returned fire with their automatic weapons.

Decker quickly sent out and emergency ping to RSI and hoped someone was at least close enough to the office to be in a position to help.

Thinking quickly he grabbed a bottle from behind the bar and poked his head above the bar. He spied a lit candle sitting at a table near where one of the men was in cover before ducking down behind the bar again before another salvo came. Using the motion tracking software Decker lobbed the bottle over the bar and it landed with a smash beside the candle.

Decker heard a whump noise as the booze caught fire, It was swiftly followed by a scream. He then poked out the side of the bar and saw one of his attackers was on fire thrashing wildly in the middle of the restaurant having abandoned his cover. Decker fired two rounds and both found the man’s skull. He couldn’t take credit however he was fully trusting his augmentations now.

“Decker move!” Anna said via the communication augmentation. While Decker had been occupied she’d synched them. He turned around and saw she’d opened a door to the kitchen.

Decker scrambled towards the door that Alex was holding open and the pair crashed into the kitchen. Decker kicked the door closed and quickly got to his feet. He couldn’t see a way to defend the space so he turned and looked for another exit. Anna was standing by a gas cooker which she was toying with.

“Gotta be a back exit!” Decker said as he moved towards a door in the rear of the kitchen. He was about to kick the door open when Alex stopped him.

“Two on the other side.” She said before marking the targets and sending them to Decker. He saw two silhouettes added to his HUD. Alex was sharing what her Augs could see with him. Neither form was moving which meant the lag wouldn’t be an issue. Decker raised his revolver and fired two more rounds through the wall and into the heads of the waiting assassins.

He then kicked open the door and stepped into the alleyway behind the restaurant. A man and woman lay in puddles of blood. Unlike the other two they were dressed casually. The man was reaching for a pistol but Decker fired his last round into the man’s chest. He then produced a speed loader and reloaded his weapon.

“Decker it’s Anna what the hell is going on your heart rate is...”

“ I’m with Hanzo we’re being attacked. No idea how many, I need an exit.”

“Damn. We don’t have any air assets in Iazu.” Anna answered.

“Just find an exit!”

“On it.”

“Frank my people are telling me to go this way.” Alex said as she pointed down the alley.

“Fine.” Decker said as he followed Alex down the alley.

A few seconds later a loud explosion came from the restaurant as the kitchen erupted out into the alley.

“So predictable.” Alex muttered. Then Decker understood why she had been messing with the cooker, she knew the remaining Dynamo operative would toss a flash bang before entering the kitchen. She had used the gas to create the bomb the agent then detonated himself.

“Smart.” Decker muuttered

“What was that?” Anna asked via the communications augment.

“Explosion. Get us out of here.”

“Wait stop moving!” Anna cried.

“What?”

“They’ve set up a kill zone at the end of the alley. You’re moving straight towards it.”

“What, Alex’s people are telling her... fuck.” Decker said as he realised what Anna was telling him meant.

“Yep.” Anna said as Decker ran forward and grabbed Alex by the arm.

“We gotta go this way.” Decker said but Alex pulled against him.

“But Mags is...”

“Trying to kill you. Where’s Hauser?”

Alex looked like she was considering something for a long moment before nodding and following Decker in the opposite direction.

“Ok good Frank keep going. Dyanmo have a drone in the air tracking you, so they know you’ve turned ar... aaaand their VTOL has just taken off from the kill zone.” Anna informed

“Can you stop them?” Frank said as his augmented legs propelled him forward.

“Yeah just a second.”

Decker could hear the VTOL somewhere above them. No doubt something nasty was taking aim at them.

He saw glint in the sky in front of him which quickly grew into a dynamo drone as it approached at great speed. It screeched overhead before impacting the VTOL. Decker didn’t look back he just kept running.

“Direct hit to one engine. From the chatter it sounds like they’re going down.”

An explosion erupted somewhere behind Decker. “Think they landed. You got an exit?” He said.

“Monorail station one block north.”

#

Mars

Kaiser

RSI

Anna Hassan had never actually met Alex Hanzo but she had spent so long hacking Interceptor files she felt she had some kind of bond with the woman. At least Hanzo had been nice, Anna had never seen Decker as furious as when she stalked into his office.

He had recalled the entire team as he believed Dynamo could try again.

“You got a serious friggin problem on your end Alex. Hauser was always a dick but switching teams?” Decker said after he had finally calmed down. He was standing in his office with Anna Hassan and Alex Hanzo.

“I’ve alerted Interceptor personnel they’ve got Mags in custody and they are actively hunting for Hauser. It was only a those two in on it.”

“Can you be sure of that?” Frank asked.

“Of course.”

“Next time you might want to do a bit more vetting on who you choose for bodyguards.”

“Frank this changes nothing. Interceptor is still going to take care of Dynamo. If we need you we’ll get in touch.” She stopped talking and her eyes went slack for a second, she was receiving some kind of message.
“My people are here to get me. They need clearance to land on the roof.”

#

After a tense goodbye that saw armed RSI Personnel staring across the VTOL pad on top of the building at armed SI Personnel. Decker and Anna returned to her office.

“I want to know everything that’s going on with Dynamo and Interceptor. Go through their files and find out what the hell is going on here.” Decker asked Anna.

“I wouldn’t be so sure that was Dynamo.” Anna said after a breath.

“What?” Frank asked.

“The MSS feed is stating all those involved with the hit where independents. None of them where ever employed by Dynamo or Interceptor.”

“Except Hauser.” Frank said “Besides that’s the MSS they could find their ass the dark with six augmented hands.”

“You don’t know he was involved Frank. You’re taking his absence as guilt. For all you know he could have been abducted. I’ve reviewed the recording from your Augs. When the shooting started you weren’t too worried about his safety, it’s inconclusive what happened to him.”

“I...”

“It’s fine Frank, you chose the person you like, Hauser just wasn’t that person.”

“Fuck you really think Hauser was pinched by Dynamo or these contractors?” Frank said before shaking his head. “The man was a prick but nobody... We need answers.”

“You know I wanted to get involved in this thing and strengthen our position but I don’t think things are as cut and dry.” Anna said with a frown.

“I know. I want to speak to Mags.”

“Mags?”

“Mags is Alex Hanzo’s you. She was the one who lead us towards the kill zone.”

“So she’s a PA?”

“I don’t need a PA. You’re not a PA.”

“Sure Frank.” Anna said rolling her eyes. “So what’s the plan? You want to snatch this Mags person from wherever Interceptor have her held?”

“Yeah, but it’s gonna have to be black. I mean like the night, Alex cannot know it was us.”

“Oh intrigue! Joy.” Anna deadpanned.

“What other jobs we got this week?”

Anna used the motion controls to display a BOLO on the large wall screen. A picture of a very handsome man filled the top right corner. The name read Charlie Lewis.

“So what’s pretty boy’s story?”

“He’s a Cat burglar who specialises in Casinos.” Anna said reading off her notes.

“What could he steal from a casino?”

“I know I was shocked too. Everything is digital however the stuff people wear to go to the classier establishments is not. Jewels, fancy tech you know.”

“So he steals from the patrons of the casinos?”

“Bingo, although I have it on good authority he has plumbed a few Digital Vaults in his time.”

“I guess the Casinos want to keep that quiet.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Ok who’s next?” Frank said.

“You’re not going to like this one.”

“Try me.”

Anna used the motion controls to display another bounty.

A heavily augmented strong looking woman filled the screen. Her name read Carla Reynolds.

“She’s an Arms dealer who primarily trades in disruptors. The MSS contacted us directly with this one.”

“Always happy to help the local constabulary. Hate disruptors though.”

“Reynolds is attending a very small arms fair where she is going to be selling her goods. The MSS have no interest in getting in the way of the fair. Doubt they could afford the bounties if that became open season. They want Reynolds because she’s selling Disruptors. Apparently one of her cripple makers was involved in the murder of an MSS officer. The cops are crying out for blood and their brass wants someone to take the fall. The Arms Dealer is as good as it gets.”

“So what’s the catch?”

“The Arms Fair is taking place of the surface. Outside of an Atmo ring.”

“Ah I remember that. A few years back, when they still did these things in cities some gang steam rolled one of ‘em and made off with a ton of loot.”

“Yep not a great day to be an Arms Dealer.”

“Ok sounds good. Prepare the briefs and keep me informed.” Decker said as he walked out of Anna’s office and into his own.

Anna turned to her own console and began to prepare the mission briefs.

Jobs.

High Roller.


Target- Charlie Lewis

Location- Golden Mile, Cangwu.

Information- This is Mr Charlie Lewis and Mr Charlie Lewis is a Cat Burglar who specialises in Hot Prowls. For those not in the know a Hot Prowl is a robbery that takes place while people are about. They’re often asleep at the time. What makes Mr Lewis notorious is he does this in casinos. High class casinos. He steals whatever he can get his hands on but more often than not he does one big score and then goes quiet for sometimes years at a time.

He is currently believed to be active in Cangwu’s Golden Mile. The Golden Mile is a strip of the finest Casinos the city has to offer. It’s very exclusive and entry doesn’t come cheap. Most of the Casinos have agreed to allow Bounty Hunters into their casinos but you’ll need ID and the security goons will most likely blow your cover before you get started. You know how rent a cops are, all has beens and never wheres.

All seems pretty cool, sip a few cocktails and bust a pretty boy. Trouble is the picture above is around two years old and Lewis changes his appearance for each cycle of robbery. The only reason Casino security knows that’s him is they lifted DNA from one of his robberies. So he could be anyone at this point.

While Charlie does steal physical objects he’s also been known to pocket Creds by accessing the digital Vaults of casinos. The Digital Vaults are kept separate from the Net are normally just a simple storage device. Charlie is able to access the devices by bypassing physical security and connects the digital vault to the net. He then strips the Vault of just enough so as not to arouse suspicion or trigger any alarms. By the time the first casino realises they’ve been hit he’s done three more.

This guy almost certainly has outside help and may even be part of a gang so be aware. He’s very professional and is very slippery. He may not fight but he will do his best to get away.

Charlie and accomplices are to be brought to the Rising Sun Casino and handed over a security officer called Mr Graves. It’s a Red Dragon owned place so don’t hang around. You will then receive payment.

The Bazaar

Target- Carla Reynolds


Location- Aeolis Mons, 5.08°S 137.85°E


Information- Arms Fairs, Hard Suits and Disruptors. What’s there not to like?

Carla Reynolds is wanted by the MSS because one of the disruptors she sells was involved in the murder of MSS Detective Rico Thompson. Det. Thompson was hit with a disruptor before being murdered by an unknown assailant. The MSS predictably had a shit fit, this is first cop to die in the line of duty in almost ten years, that’s because people like you take the actual risks. Nevertheless they want someone to pay for this. The disruptor used has been traced back Carla which means she’s in the noose for this one. MSS are paying big money for her too.

So Carla is an Arms Trader who trades primarily in disruptors. Apparently she is something of a savant when it comes to bypassing shielding. Speak to Jenks I think he some examples of her work. Before she discovered this skill Carla was a Gang Girl. I don’t mean this in moll kind of way, she’s got rap sheet with career highlights such as armed robbery, assault and dealing of prohibited biological agents. She knows her way around the underworld.

Carla is attending an arms fair near Aeolis Mons, so there’s no Atmo Ring, that means Hardsuits. They hold these Fair’s out here to avoid attracting gang attention. There was an incident a few years ago where a few Gangs teamed up and hit one of these things. They made off like bandits, which is what I guess they were, you know what I mean. Well the Red Dragons did the best though. It was their plan and they pulled a Judas on their allies and became the best armed gang on Mars.

We only need Reynolds but the other arms dealers will not like one of their own getting pinched so when you move make it quick or make it stealthy. You don’t want a fire fight out there either a hole in your hard suit you’re done.

Just the facts Ma’am.

Target- Margaret “Mags” Borodzicz


Location- Interceptor Solutions holding area, Iazu.


Information- For a kick off I don’t know if the location is accurate, this one is kind of last minute thing. As you probably know Frank and Alex Hanzo, CEO of Interceptor Solutions, narrowly avoided being assassinated yesterday evening. It’s why RSI is on full alert today.

Frank knows that Mags was involved and wants to speak to her about the attack. He also believes that a SI operative called Arnold Hauser was involved with the betrayal but there’s no evidence of that. Frank doesn’t believe the SI is secure and wants to move Mags into our custody. As you can imagine SI would never go for that.

Which is how we arrive at this mission. Your team is to locate Mags and bring her to an apartment Frank has rented in Endeavour. There are to be no fatalities on this mission, violence to SI personnel is to be minimised and all connection to RSI is to be minimised. That means you cannot be captured or killed, back off if it gets too hot.

SI personnel will not hesitate to gun you down and they are as well trained and armed as we are so keep you head on a swivel.

Cangwu

Ivarest Apartments

Night

Merek was asleep in his secure pod, ambient music resembling waterfalls and chirping birds played at a low volume. His eyes shot open as he received an emergency call on his internal aug comm, a number only a few knew. The inside of the pod was pitch black, so even with his eyes open, he could tell no difference. A check on the data trace showed the caller to be Joseph Schlager, Ry and Merek's ever vigilant friend from the underworld. He accepted the call.

"Merek?" Schlager was always matter of fact with no emotion.

"Yeah Schlage, what's up?"

"Did you happen to attack a member of Godiva recently? Perhaps one you used to have a certain . . . attachment too?" Merek paused, Joseph knew her name was Mizaki Gono. He was fairly certain that he could trust Schlager, but one never knew how far a man would bend to exist in the underworld.

"I don't know what you're talking about." There was a short pause on Joseph's end as he contemplated the evasiveness.

"Regardless, Godiva Corp. had an attack on one of their executives. I'll assume you remember Her." Of course Merek remembered the woman, and he had been the one who accosted her, finding a pre-teen boy in her bedroom red and sweaty, as naked as the day he was born. Gono liked to rape little boys. To top it off, she was a hermaphrodite, which led to even sicker abuse and confusion for a child. "They investigated all pathways and came up with placing the blame on one of Us, the surviving Godiva Children. Don't be surprised if net searches start going out on you and Ry, they want to keep tabs on us."

"Just tabs?"

"We'll have to wait and see. When you are a company as powerful as them looking to rise all the time, eliminating loose strings from the past can only tighten your security. When the Martian Government first found out about us, it ensured we got out. Time has passed and people don't care too much anymore. Iazu is back up and running, why drag up ghosts of the past? Just a tip. And don't forget one day, I may have a favor to ask of you." Schlager hung up.
Academi had left him alone for years, shortly after trying to assassinate him, they went through a change in leadership. There were still a few mercs who would try to kill him on sight, but nothing he couldn't handle. Sneaking into the executives house had been mildy challenging and he left no trail, he hadn't accounted for the paranoia of Godiva Corp.
-------
Ryia woke up in a cold sweat, reaching out into the air above him, fingertips hitting a glass encasing. He slept inside a tube that had a climate simulator, this way he could adjust it to help with his condition. It also meant that he didn't have to worry about having a coughing fit while in bed and spreading airborne pathogens. There was never a one-hundred-percent guarantee that his mouth cover would stay in place.

He had dreamed of Iazu. Ry was really too young to remember anything, but in his recurring nightmare, Godiva mercs scoured the land his family owned. Doing the history he had found that his father, Dearl Hawkins, was an upstart computer tech. He was trying to start his own company out of their storage space. Speculation at the time of the Iazu Incident was that Dearl could be the next big thing for cybertech. Godiva shot his father down outside the home, then ripped him from his mothers arms inside the house, as he reached out to her. Then a montage of the experiments that had been done on him played. At the end, it came back to an image of his mother, reaching out to him. Then he awoke.

Harsh coughing followed his awakening, leaving him short on breath. Blood had flaked out into the glass of the chamber and onto his clothing. Ry grabbed sanitation wipes that he always had nearby, cleaning the mess up. Then he got out of bed, stripped off the cheap robe, and exited their apartment with some kerosene and a projectile lighter. Walking to the alley behind the church, he found a dump bin, tossed the robe inside, and burned it. The cough had not been too severe, it was a lighter one. It would get worse in the coming hours. Working with his disease is something he had accomplished before, but he always feared it would be a liability.

Maybe he would have to talk Merek into getting a new tech. He had tried once before, and Merek had none of it. If there ever came a time where he had a coughing fit and Merek almost died because of it . . . he could never forgive himself. Under those conditions, he would finish the suicide attempt he tried as a teenager. Realizing he forgot to bring a mouth cover out, he rushed back into the church and into his apartment.

Eckhard, as they called him in the Red Sands HQ, wanted Ry to go in and work with some of the other techs for once. It certainly wouldn't be today. Entering the apartment, Merek was waiting for him. The living area glowed a pale forest green for the fiber optic lighting.

"Schlager called me. Godiva did some digging and is blaming one of their former wards for the accident." Merek's eyes were heavy, only halfway through his sleep. "No guarantee they want to off us but we'll have to keep an eye out."
"I warned you about pulling that stunt you did, putting the knife to her throat! It would have been better to have ended her then and there for the things she did to you. To me. To all of us." Ryia grabbed one of his spare covers out of a drawer in the kitchen table, wrapping it around his lower face in time before the next coughing fit started.

Merek took the disease symptoms easy, he was used to seeing his friend cough up his own blood. "Well, we might still have to do that. This mission today, it i big time. Frank is counting on me here."

"Then go get your fucking sleep, I could pull an all nighter and still op on the net, you're the hunk of meat that does the heavy lifting." Merek didn't argue, trotting off into his room. Ryia returned to his room, rummaging in his nightstand for the pills he took. The drugs suppressed his tuberculosis, but the persistent viral strain still got out on occasion.

Iazu

Slums - Likely Target Coordinates

The coordinates for the mission came down from the boss-man himself, though there was no guarantee that they were correct. Frank did not give much away, only that he had been attacked by forces and the target may have some answers. The fact that a rival, but friendly, apprehension company currently held custody of the target was a complicating factor. No one dead, and minimal harm. This was the sort of mission that Academi would scoff at one of their trained killers taking on. They would go in guns blazing, even if it meant taking a limb off the target. If they could still speak, all was well! Eckhard crouched in an alley across from the building, lighting a cigarette under the cover of his hand.

What's up Merek? Trapped in your own thoughts again?

Hard to describe it as "trapped," when someone elses' voice is inside with me though, hmm? How are you feeling? Is it bad this time? Merek was referring to his tuberculosis.

Never better! I feel as right as the Iazu Atmo Ring right about now. They both had a little laugh at that to break the tension. From what Merek had described to Ry, this mission was penultimate to Red Sands Investigations immediate future. Merek had never belonged to an organization that he felt was doing the right thing until he had joined RSI. He didn't want to disappoint Frank.

Crouched in the alleyway across from his target building, Merek inhaled Red Sands brand smokes from deep into his lungs. The company was no relation to RSI of course, with a planet full of red sands, the phrase was popular. He crouched next to a disposal bin. A synthetic arm lay half out, robot thrown inside like a hunk of junk. Its headpiece was battered and crushed in resemblance of a tin can. Someone seemed to have treated it like a spouse they were angry at, and they could get away with it; Synth's were not considered people. He took another drag on the cigarette.

You know that shit will kill you Mere.

If an atmo ring can fail, what's the point of being so careful? Merek did not smoke too often, but this mission had him a little stressed. They were back in Iazu, one could say the two of them took a special interest in missions that were located there. He crushed the cigarette up and put it in his pocket. No DNA could be left behind.
Sami Rouvelle was on standby with a VTOL nearby. She was capable of much more than being a driver, but Eckhard had needed someone to drive that he didn't have to worry about talking. That meant almost anyone from RSI, and Sami was the agent he had muttered words to most frequently. She insisted on being a part of the comm-line for the mission, but they kept her at bay.

Iazu

Inside Building Coordinates

Dyson walked down his hall, on a routine patrol. He was bored, walking back and forth, forth and back. Several guards were in this building. He didn't even recognize half of them, the team must have been thrown together quick. Some tough guys were on the second floor, higher level guards. Still, not the best the company had to offer. Rumors were that they were holding one of their own employees hostage, maybe a turncoat, but he was too low on the totem pole to have any real information.

A thump sounded above him. He looked up and around, seeing nothing.

"Time for a break, I'm starting to imagine things here." He and Thomas in the next corridor were waiting to be replaced by a couple of the guys so they could eat. The building was in the Iazu dumps, the odds of anyone finding it, let alone breaking in, were low in his estimation. The rest of the guards seemed to agree, leaving a skeleton crew in the hall. Everyone was sure the outside team would alert them first if a snatch was attempted. He walked past the part of the hall where he had heard the noise. Five paces later her felt a sharp sting in the back of his neck, falling to his face on the ground.

Merek was hanging out of the ceiling from the ventilation shaft, one hand still holding firm. The other held a tranquilizer pistol. He scanned the hall for cameras, seeing one in the far corner. Dropping from the vent in a silent crouch, he drew another weapon. Disruptors weren't made to only target augments, as Eckhard carefully aimed a red laser into the lens of the camera, effectively cutting off two minutes prior recording and the next two minutes. The only way of detection was if someone had been watching live. It was a chance he would have to take.

"While I was busting my ass finding a way into this ventilation, did you find me the blueprints?"

No answer from Ry. He was either taking his time or hacking out his liver.

"What the fuck Ry? I don't have all day here!

Hang on Merek, just hang on a second. Yes, I have them! A friend of mine who is obsessed with the Iazu buildings no longer under use since the Incident had a ton of files. I had to sift through. Merek moved down the hall, peeking around the corner. A second guard was coming his way, with another camera at the far corner of the hall.

I need some ideas here on what room to check. There were tons of doors.

Well, it is a three story building, but the top is an attic with a low roof, I doubt Mags will be there. Both weapons were now hooked back on his utility belt. Ry uploaded the schematic blueprint of the building into their comm link, all through data. His internal aug computed it, giving him a general feel for the structure of the building.

If she is even here in the first place.

Lets assume she is. The building used to be a small apartment complex. The first floor is one-room apartments. The second floor is a little more extravagant. If you're going to have a guest in here, forced or willingly, why not use the presidential room? Well it was actually the super's room but you get where I'm going." Merek picked the baton out of the fallen guards belt, rapping it on the wall to draw the other guards attention.

His augmented ears allowed him to hear the man's footfalls as he slowly approached the corner. Merek hugged the wall as closely as he could. The second man turned the corner, seeing his fallen comrade first. He rushed in to check on his health, catching a glimpse of Merek right as he passed.

A little bit of brute force was necessary here. Merek didn't go for a technical move, he reached his left arm out, gripping the far side of the man's neck and pulling him into a headlock. They struggled, hitting into the wall. Luckily the distance was only a few inches so it wasn't too loud. He gripped his hands together, transitioning the headlock into a bulldog choke. The man gurgled and gasped for a few seconds until he lost consciousness. Merek held on to the choke a bit too long to ensure he was out, but not long enough to deprive the man's brain of oxygen. He shot the second guard with a tranquilizer in case he planned on making a quick recovery, sheathing it back behind his right side.

"Past that second guard is one of the stairwells. Merek grabbed the tech disruptor, ready to spring into action.

"But," Ry chimed in again, "I would recommend the dilapidated elevator shaft."

"Who the hell puts an elevator in a two story building?"

"Three stories Mere, three. It was for the rolling tables to carry food from the gourmet kitchen up. Who the hell wants to carry plates and trays when you can take the whole damn thing in one go?"

Sounds like a bunch of spoiled assholes lived here to me. He leaned out from the corner again, aiming the laser at the camera down the hall. After disabling it he waited a few moments, satisfied that there was no response yet.
Inching his way down the hall, he heard sounds of laughter and conversation. It sounded like a large group of men and women, well over 5 people. He was closing in at the end of the hall. Straight across from him was the door to the stairwell. On the left sat the elevator shaft, while a pair of double doors sat on the right with the sign, "KITCHEN," in empty glass tubing. Must have ran out of juice. Merek thought.

Pausing by the double doors, he glanced in the right window pane of the door. The guards were using the room as its original intended use, they were splayed about a couple of dusty old tables, chinese takeout littering the room. Entering the ventilation system he had to sneak past approximately 12 guards outside. Taking out these two in the halls, he must have lucked out on his timing, because from the looks of it each hall would hold at least 4 or 5 at a time.

That is the thing about the working man, they'll take long breaks if they think they can get away with it. "You see what I see Ry?" Of course he already knew the answer.

"Get in that damn shaft before they finish their chow mein."

Ducking low enough to be below the door windows, he strafed over to the elevator. Getting a bit of leverage with both hands into the door, he started tugging. Even for his slightly enhanced strenght, it was a tough pull. A pop noise sounded through the air as he broke the seal that had formed for 20 or so years. One of the guards must have told a hell of a joke, because roaring laughter sounded at the same time. Merek stepped into the elevator, full of dust and mold, shutting the door as best he could. There was a slight crack, it wouldn't close completely. Hopefully none of those guards had augmented eyes.

Quickly, he opened the hatch of the elevator and climbed on top, grabbing the cables and shimmying toward the second floor. When he reached the right height, he jumped toward the door, fingertips holding on to the edges of the outside border. Now came the hard part.

Nothing I can do if there are guards in here, I'm going to have to go all out.

Do what you have to do, Frank just doesn't want anyone knowing who is doing the taking. They're going to know when they lose their goods." Eckhard opened the elevator door, but this one wasn't as forgiving. A long, screeching noise lit through the shaft. He could only imagine how loud it must have been in the hallway. Giving in to indiscretion, he wrenched it open.

Four guards were staring him down, from the direction of the "presidential room. A large man, half-muscle half-fat, stood at the forefront. All of them held stun batons, as well as weapons at their belts. It seemed like lethality wasn't a priority for them. Behind fatty stood a short-female with a pink mohawk. A Martian-baked skin tan man, a horrendous look that turned your skin into pleather, stood on the other side. Behind those three stood an imposing figure at nearly seven feet.

"Holy shit Merek. Can you do this without killing anyone?"

Only one way to find out. He had not reloaded the tranq gun. It was top of the line, and as such, it was quality over quantity. It only held four shots too a clip. Two had been expended on the first floor. This team of guards seemed a bit more clued in than the ones below, without speaking they started moving in.

"They must all be on an internal aug line."

[i]"Quiet Ry." He had to make this quick, the guards from below could be well on their way.
Merek walked toward them, baring his fists to give the impression he was about to brawl. Mohawk smiled at him, seemingly in pleasure at the idea of fisticuffs. He used his heightened speed to quickly draw the tranq gun from the small of his right back. In quick succession he shot Sun-Tan Man and Mohawk, both dropping to the ground. The Fat Man seemed unfazed, still walking forward. Merek took three lunging steps toward him, then stepped into a superman punch, cracking the man in the jaw. He stumbled backward, stunned, and slipped to a knee. A roundhouse kick to the jaw stunned him further, but he was still rising. The Tall Man started striding toward them.

In reaction to the Tall Man, Merek lunged back several feet, grabbing for a tranq clip and quickly reloading. He fired all four shots into the Fat Man. The quality of the chemical he was sure of, but a man that big could take one hell of a dose. The large man managed to take a couple of steps toward him before his eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground in a heap, rattling the floor and shaking the walls. His baton fell out of his grip, rolling toward Eckhard.

He managed to grab the baton and bring it in close right as the Tall Man moved in with a left straight that he avoided, the man was a southpaw. Merek bobbed and weaved past two more jabs, then felt a solid hook collide into his gut. He brought the baton up into the Tall Man's neck, pulling the trigger. A jolt of energy hit the man and knocked him back an inch, but a straight left came right down the pipe, smashing into Merek's left eye socket. There was a crunched as his orbital bone gave way and his vision was clouded with blood. His nervous system let a bit of morphine out into his blood to calm the pain the instance the break was detected.

This guy definitely had a strength augment.

Sliding through his legs, Merek rolled and picked up Mohawk's baton, pressing both up to full charge. Noting this, the Tall Man reached for the firearm at his side. Closing the distance between them as quickly as possible, he stepped into the Tall Man before his hand even made contact with the handle of the weapon, blasting him with both batons in the chest. The man whimpered and Merek drove him toward the elevator shaft, knocking him off into the black space. Hell, it was only a one story drop. An augment should survive that just fine.

Yells could be heard from the floor below. A door slammed against a wall from the direction of the stairwell, likely the first level door.

"Move quick Mere."

"Get Sami to move a little closer Ry, half the distance! I'd like her six blocks here to the Northwest, in run-down park."

"Done, she is moving. " As they spoke he ran toward the stairwell door with the industrial strength batons, sliding them in the outward facing doorhandles. The batons would likely buy him an extra 10 seconds. He turned and sprinted across the hall toward the room, never bothering to check for the cameras since stealth time was up. Merek was masked enough to avoid being identified on clip.

After reloading the tranq gun with the third of four clips, Merek sprinted toward the presidential door, drop-kicking it
with both feet. Whatever locks may have been in place shattered and the door broke off all its hinges but the top one, dangling in place.

The hard part of the job must have been over, because the target Mags sat in a wooden chair in the center of the room. Her mouth was covered in tape, skirt hiked up so high he could see the crotch of her black laced teddy under her outerwear. The girl didn't seem to get outside much by how pale her inner thighs were. She definitely didn't hang out with the Sun-Tan Man. The target stared at him through a pair of glasses.

"Target confirmed Ry." An unecessary comment with Ry in on his feed, but it felt fulfilling nonetheless.

It was a trend for some to wear glasses for show, something set in the 22nd Century by some obnoxious sport athletes. While some people still let their eyesight go with no augs and needed real prescriptions, the target seemed to be in great health. There was a window three paces behind her chair, boarded up with planks of wood. "Now that is old school." They must have moved the target quickly, no time to weld the room shut quite yet. His augmentations could take the strain of a two story drop no problem, breaking through the planks would rough him up a bit, but it was nothing that a little RSI maintenance couldn't fix.

The rest of the room was a large mass darker than black. There appeared to be a side door that likely housed a full-sized restroom. To the right, a small kitchen with inset appliances in the walls. He already passed what he took for the master bedroom back by the front door. The living room had a mass of furniture housed under plastic covers, likely luxurious pieces. A bit of fur stuck out under one of the covers. The only uncovered piece was a small wooden table with a suitcase on it. Mags started struggling with her bonds, attempting to speak through the tape.

Hang on one sec, 'bout to have a freaking attack here. Ry cut the line audio during his coughing.

"Lets make this easy Mags." Merek steadily aimed the tranq at her and shot, the dart piercing her high in the left breast. A rustle sounded to the left, in the peripheral of his vison he saw the wallpaper move in the shape of a human.
Ry came back in on the other line, DOWN MEREK!. He was a bit too late. Merek held no anger toward him, this mission was in a dark zone, the net couldn't help much beyond plain research.

A disruptor blast momentarily deafened him, flowing through every fiber of his being. Having only been disrupted a few times, it was exceedingly painful. Merek screamed as all his joints, bones, and muscle were set afire. His brain felt like it was about to melt as he fell on his back. The shape stood over him, camo-cloak switching to off. He recognized the figuret as Frank's friend Alex, and why the mission was supposed to be carried out undetected made a hell of a lot of more sense.

"Don't worry yourself, you'll recover in seconds. Unfortunately, you appeared to have riled the whole house up." Alex checked on Mags, ensuring she was out. While Merek was stunned, she ripped his mask up, taking a quick look at his face to ensure she knew who she was speaking to. She dropped it back into place as he felt his muscles begin to recover, but still incapable of movement. Whatever kind of disruptor this was didn't do any damage it seemed, but it was an inhibitor of some sort.

"Frank will join me against Dynamo sooner or later. I think that him getting ahold of Mags will expedite this process. Maybe Dynamo weren't even behind it. The point is, whatever information Frank gets out of Mags will get him involved in the game. That, and other than myself, I trust him to do right by what he finds." Or so I hope, he heard her whisper to herself. She placed her heel on his chest, looking down at him and reaching a hand out to help him up. Alex timed it perfectly as he felt well enough to reach out and take her offer, standing on his feet.

"You do NOT tell Frank I know that he has Mags. He needs to think this mission went off without anyone clued in to who did it. If I brutally tortured my own girl, traitor or not, it looks bad on the inside. People can lose morale. If she is taken elsewhere my employees can hold out hope that she didn't sell us out, and that she has been taken away to be silenced or used as a pawn by Dynamo. I'll spin it however I can." Alex exchanged the disruptor for a pistol, talking quickly as they both heard the crack of the batons he had placed snap. He attempted to contact Ry but his comm aug was down.

"I have to make it look real." She stepped back behind him a few feet, giving him space. Merek didn't question what that mean, tearing Mags from the chair and throwing her over his left shoulder. Screaming guards were hurtling down the hall as he turned his head and saw Alex clubbed herself in the face with an object, blood bursting out her lip.

"Get the hell out of here." She said, seemingly able to yell with a whisper. Eckhard drove himself into the thick window and boards, breaking through it in a waterfall of glass and splinters. Alex fired twice at him, bullets tearing through the shoulder opposite Mags. He could hear the rumbling footsteps of men enterting the room as he vaulted out. More blasts of gunfire flew out into the night over his head. It seemed like an eternity, but he came down to the street, landing on his left foot, right knee, and right fist. Pain shot up through his right arm up to the gunshot wounds, body kicking more morphine in as the fall rattled him enough for the eye pain to resurge. The rest of his body absorbed the trauma relatively well. A few gun shots littered the ground around his feet as he rose, Another one tearing across his right thigh in a burning flesh wound.

He sprinted away, a slow sprint for him. If he ran too quickly it would be easier for outside eyes to determine what augment had visited this night. Once he was far enough from the building, he turned into a side alley and went full on speed, zig-zagging through the maze of dark corridors and neon lighting.

Cangwu

Ivarest Apartments

Ry had been unable to reach Merek for almost two minutes now. He double and triple checked his gear around the sofa, checking for malfunctions, ignoring what he knew was a disruptor blast that had hit his agent. A few tears trickled down his face, it could only mean his friend had been caught. His mind turned to death as a result instead of capture. Another coughing fit set in, an ounce of blood projected from his mouth into the face cover. Closing his eyes in mental and physical pain, Ry slammed his fists into the coffee table.

He received a call from the other line; Sami. Ry hadn't bothered telling her the comm link had went out.

"I got Merek and the target. He looks frickin' battered...mask is still intact. He needs medical attention. Why didn't you let me know he was out?"

"Sorry, I had some technical difficulties. Merek's line was buzzing back in.

"Difficulties might be an understatement. But...Merek and the target are alive at least." Sami spoke across the comm.

One second Sami. She seemed frustrated but let him go without any more hassle.

He activated Mere's line, putting Sami on hold. "Ry, does Sami know the comms went black?"

"I didn't have time to tell her, I was too busy thinking you were dead. It had been an emotional reaction, one he realized could have actually lead to Merek's death. Sami would be fully capable of attempting a rescue."[/i]

"Good. Don't mention it."

"Anything you want to let me in on?"

"I will say that this is the one time not working through HQ benefits us. Later." Ry wasn't used to the silent treatment. Something had gone horribly wrong in that building.