DON'T! I repeat, DO NOT fuck with Samurai, even if they are new. If they aren't new, that is all the more reason to not mess with them. Look at what happened to Marcus's Furs and that WASN'T a Samurai, that can buy any kind of weapon they could possibly need and have it appear seconds later!
- A corporate memo that didn't get read
********************************************
Ten miles north of Bill's hunt. In the inner city closer to the epicenter of the incursion.
Elizabeth Bertarelli-
Elizabeth Bertarelli was having a bad day.
It hadn't started off all that badly. I had come to New Pittsburgh to visit my aunt and uncle. I liked the somewhat slower pace compared to home. My aunt and I had gone shopping to get some new dresses for my birthday party coming up next month. We were enjoying ourselves when my aunt Millie asked me about any boys that may have caught my eye, and if none had, maybe she could introduce me to some of her friend's sons.
"Are they only after my parent's money, Aunt Mildred?" I asked using my aunt's full name, which I knew she hated.
"You don't have to be mean. I know you probably won't like any of them because, yes, they are only after my brother's money. I'm just saying you should meet them and see if there are any you don't truly despise and might be able to tolerate. You're lucky that you were born in the Bertarelli family, or you might have ended up like your friend Mellissa and married off to the highest bidder."
That stopped me cold as I remembered my friend, who had as my aunt said had been married off to a company head, who had paid her father trillions and gave him a sizable chunk of shares to said company. A 70-year-old pervert. Most of us who went to school with her heard nothing from her after that. If we called, we got a message saying that the number we were trying to reach was no longer in a service area. Then six months later her family informed us she was dead at only 19yrs of age. It's been 3 months since then.
"Are you saying that if I don't get married soon, dad's enemies/business partners will start making offers like that, and that he'd go along with it?" I asked, fighting tears at the thought of my friend. When I took over the company, there were going to be changes made with who and how we did business, I reaffirmed my vow to myself.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to bring up bad memories for you. Of course, your father won't just go along with that; but the longer you take to get married, the harder they can make his life. While our family is powerful, it isn't invincible. If other corporations start dragging their feet to meet deadlines in regard to business they have with us, they can make us look bad to those who are expecting prompt delivery of our goods. So, I'm saying find someone that you can deal with, before your options start getting limited by others."
I was about to respond when...
Incursion Detected
Please head to the nearest shelter.
Which for us means going back to my aunt's house. We left the dress shop with a couple of dresses we had already purchased. Our guards escorted us to where our driver would pick us up with the limo. As we flew toward her house and its shelter, we were swarmed by model 1s. At first, we didn't notice anything wrong, as my dad had this limo made for his little sister as a present. It was made to ensure that the occupants in the back were comfortable even if the limo was doing light evasive maneuvers, and Henry was a skilled pilot. Then Henry's voice came over the system that allowed the passengers to speak to the pilot through the armored partition separating them.
"I am sorry to interrupt you ladies, but I wished to inform you and apologize for the fact that the ride is about to get rough. The swarm is much larger than anticipated. Our escort car has already crashed. One of those bastards got sucked into the engine."
"Thank you, Henry. We will prepare ourselves, you have proved yourself reliable and we will not hold anything that happens to us against you, when it comes time for performance review, provided we survive." My Aunt responded, as she worked a screen and activated a restraint system to lock both of us in our seats. Even with the restraints the ride was still comfortable, until it wasn't. Two minutes of hard dodging and juking later, Henry's voice came over the system again.
"I'm sorry ladies but we're not going to make to the house. I'll do what I can to crash as close to the house as possible."
Then came thirty seconds of a rapid descent, followed by a sudden stop and blackness as I lost consciousness.
"ELIZABETH, ELIZABETH"
I woke up to my aunt hysterically calling my name and shaking my shoulder. She wasn't shouting. It was more of a very intense whisper. As I looked around, I realized that the driver's compartment of the limo was gone.
"Wha-"
I started to ask what happened, but she covered my mouth with one hand and pointed with the other. I looked and saw a 3 with its head in the other half of the car. I stopped trying to speak and nodded. She helped me out of the restraints. I brought up a map of the city and realized we were only three blocks away from the house. Three blocks that probably had antithesis on them. I took off my heels, as even walking in them would not be silent, let alone trying to run in them.
My aunt looked at me strangely, until she took a few steps herself and took off her heels. The 3 was really focused on the front half of the limo and didn't turn at the sound. We left the ruins of the limo quietly and started walking in the direction of my aunt's house. We walked for about a minute, and were starting to think we might get out of this alive, when a second 3 came around from behind the limo. It started charging at us as soon as it caught sight of us. We started running but the 3 was faster. It pounced on my aunt and dragged her to the ground. She screamed as it bit into her shoulder. Wishing that I had one of my grandfather's friend Peter Grazer's grandsons here, I acted maybe not smartly but I acted. While the 3 was busy mauling my aunt I approached armed with only my 6" high heels, one in each hand now. I swung one at the eye of the 3. The heel sank into the eye up to the sole of the shoe. It died.
System Initialized
Congratulations, Elizabeth Bertarelli through your actions you have proved yourself worthy of joining the ranks of the Vanguard. I, Reckoner shall be your partner in uplifting humanity so that your homeworld may be defended from the Antithesis threat. Now rise, Elizabeth Bertarelli, and protect the weak.
I don't react to that right away, as I turn my attention to the front half of the limo. I realized that the other 3 might not have ignored us earlier, as I looked at it struggle to free its head from the limo. I look at my aunt's condition, she's still breathing, but her dress is a mess.
"Reckoner, do you have a catalog with something to help my aunt?" Being from a corporate family, I knew more than most regular people how the Samurai and the point system work, as our company once worked with a Samurai in my grandfather's time. We still get calls from Samurai occasionally who wish to sell something, who were referred to us by their mentor.
Yes. You currently have 111 points the Class I Medical Utilities will cost 50 points, and wound stop will cost 5 points. Leaving you with 55 points to spend on weapons.
"Let's do that then. As far as weapon choice, I have training with the rapier, so I'd prefer to use one of those."
Very well. The Class I Bladed weapons have a rapier in it for five points. This will put your point balance at 1 when combined with the medical items. Are you sure that is alright?
"Yes, that will be fine. I don't see myself being able to kill the other 3 over there with my high heels, and if I get injured later, I'll already have the medical catalog unlocked already."
My aunt had calmed down a little and looked at me took note of my silence and inactivity and asked:
"Are you sending a message to get help instead of calling someone?"
"Something like that." I replied, as two boxes appeared in front of us. She was shocked into silence, which worked for me. I opened one of the boxes and started applying the medicine inside to her wound. Once I finished, she looked at me and the obvious question came:
"Elizabeth, are you a Samurai?"
"I am now. Can you give me a minute?" I responded. I opened the second box and beheld a beautiful blade that was strong but flexible. It was also a lot lighter than many other rapiers I had used, I noted, as I picked it up. I went over and beheaded the 3 that still had its head stuck in the limo.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Threat Eliminated
Points awarded 10
"Reckoner, can you just keep a running tally in the corner of my vision, so I don't get distracted by the alerts in a fight?"
Reckoner will see it done.
"Thank you, Henry." I said quietly then walked back to my aunt. We then walked the two blocks to her house during which I killed several more 3s. We didn't say much during the walk. About twenty yards from the entrance of the property she broke the silence.
"Well, this solves your not getting married problem. No one will argue if a Samurai says they don't want to marry someone. Just stay safe out there and get as many points as you can, so the other corps actually cannot mess with you, my dear." She said with a smile. "Please be safe out there and if things get too difficult find your uncles shop If you end up that far out."
I smiled too, gave her a hug and said to her: "Thank you." and hugged her even harder. "Having your blessing is almost like having dad's approval."
"Reckoner, my uncle's shop is south of here ,and I want to check on him. Can you plot a path on the map for me?"
Of course, may I point out that it is ten miles away and you'll be fighting antithesis almost the entire way?
"You can, but I used to hike 15 miles through mountains with a friend back home, so I think I'll be fine. How many points would I need for armor? What kinds of armor are available anyway?" It didn't even cross my mind that the last time I had done that was over three years ago.
Well, let Reckoner ask you this then: Would you wear some of the outfits you have designed and posted on fashion forums?
"You mean my steampunk designs? YES! But how? I thought all the catalogs came from more advanced alien races. How would they even know about steampunk? Wait, does that mean the weapons and armor are actually powered by steam?" Fortunately, Reckoner was smart enough to interrupt me, or we would have been there for hours with me asking questions.
Well, a Vanguard from one of those races was curious about the newest race on the block and asked her ai to provide her with information that is open to the public. She then noticed the fashion and fictional literature of steampunk and became obsessed with making weapons that looked like they came from the books she read. She also became obsessed with making armor that looked like the designs she had seen posted to the forums. Your designs in fact. She had to modify some of it to be able to wear it herself, but what is in the catalog is designed to be worn and used by humans. Powered with her race's technology, not steam.
"Okay, buy that catalog, and then we can start looking at the armor I want." Mama needed a new pair of shoes first and foremost.
Class I Steampunk Catalog unlocked
Considering you're still barefoot, I would recommend some footwear first. You could get a decent pair now, or if you don't mind waiting until you gain some more points, you can get a pair that should last you until you decide to get a full set of power armor. They will make it so your footsteps will be silent even if you're running, and there is a stabilization system that will make it difficult for you to stumble or trip if you are running, even with the size of the heels that were on the shoes you used to kill your first 3. You can stipulate the size of the heels at the time of purchase. It will cost three hundred points.
"Great minds think alike! While I don't like the idea of going barefoot much longer, if I only have to buy the boots once and not have to worry about it for awhile, then let's do that. Why are they so expensive though? Will the rest of the armor cost as much as the boots?"
Other catalogs offer a pair of boots that do the silent footsteps only, for two hundred points. Another pair of boots that do the stabilizing and make the heels themselves a weapon that can be used to set your enemies on fire, if you kick them with the heel, also cost two hundred points. So, given that the boots that I'm proposing are missing the weapon system, they are three hundred points. This combination is only possible because the steampunk look gives added room to store the stabilizing system in. As for the rest of your armor, you have some different options. You can get an armored blouse and pants set for two hundred forty points and an armored corset for another two hundred. There is an armored dress for three hundred fifty points, and the corset would work with the dress as well. The corset can project a forcefield to protect your head and can store nanites that can repair your other pieces of armor or heal you if you get injured. It also adds significant armor around your torso. The price difference between the dress and blouse and pant set, is that as a single piece the armored dress doesn't have overlapping systems. So, it has things that could not be included on the blouse and pant set. For example, there is a temperature regulation system in the dress. You currently have one hundred eleven points.
Reckoner showed me four different outfits in my augs. One was the blouse and pants without the corset, the boots were thigh highs. The next was the same but with the corset. The other two were the dress with and without the corset. I was going to use the corset either way. Its benefits and the way it completed the steampunk look was too much to pass up. Out of all my designs I had always loved the dress more.
"As an old friend of mine would say let the hunt begin."
I headed south to check on my uncle, and also check to see if he had run into a certain young man, whose sister Mary had told me was around the area. My aunt was right about being able to reject marriage proposals without consequences now. She just hadn't extended the thought that I could also marry whoever I wanted without a worry, except that he might say no. After a few blocks of killing 3s and 4s, and clearing out a building that had some people trapped inside, I had enough points to buy the boots and the dress. Sadly, not enough to buy the corset, though. I found a room with no cameras and changed into my armor, as it was better than just wearing my casual dress. I left the building with a smile, as Reckoner told me of another group of 3s and 4s nearby. Time to see how well the boots worked. I ran down the street, the heels were only 2" as that would make it so I could look my old friend in the eyes. The 3s and 4s were traveling in the same direction as I was so their backs were to me, and they didn't hear me approach. It was a massacre. Reckoner tried to warn me about something and then there was nothing.
Luxury Fur Companies Security and Acquisition Squad
"Copy that HQ. Target is still in sight." Captain Miller said
"I can't believe that they want us to pull a stunt like this in the middle of an incursion." Sgt. Matterson said, "I mean if there is another Samurai watching over this one, we are screwed."
"Talk like that can get you killed." the captain warned. "Plus they have cameras on all Samurai in the inner city. None of them have had any interactions with her. So, load the tranquilizers and get ready. Besides, they figure that between the furs that they are going to be able to get because of our last action, and the manufacturing capabilities that they'll make our new target purchase, that they'll be able to make the bitch up in New Montreal eat shit for a while." the captain added with a smile. He was a twisted fuck who enjoyed making people suffer and playing mind games.
Matterson went quiet at that. Even though he had made it to the rank of sergeant in the company's security division, that op hadn't and still didn't sit well with him. Here he was though, doing a job similar to that, but on a whole different level of difficult and fucked up. He followed his orders and loaded his tranquilizer gun, and taking aim, he waited until she (no, not she, the target) finished fucking up the group of 3s and 4s it was currently fighting with what looked like a thin sword of some kind. HQ wanted the target alive and as unharmed as possible. Once the target was handed over, it was up to the target whether or not it remained unharmed. He had to think of them as targets and not people, or he wouldn't be able to do this. It was hard though, because he had a daughter of his own. It may be time to find a new job, but he knew too fucking much, and he knew it. The only way out now was in a body bag. As these thoughts tumbled around in his mind, he saw his moment and pulled the trigger. The target, a new samurai who looked to be a 17- or 18-year old brunette, 5' 5" tall, dropped to the ground like a puppet who had its stings cut.
She was pretty enough that he was worried about leaving the target in the "care" of the younger corporate soldiers with them. The captain seemed to be of the same mind as the sergeant, if only to satisfy the "as unharmed as possible" condition of their orders. The captain ordered him and five others who had children of their own to go pick the target and its equipment up and take the target to the safe house location. The captain and the others would clean up the site and scrub the footage that the local municipal surveillance network might have gathered of the event so they wouldn't get caught that way.
What the captain and the young corporate soldiers didn't know, was it was too late. Someone had seen the takedown as it had happened, and started tracking the movements of the squad to see where the young Samurai would end up. As the sergeant and the other five neared the target's location, they readied the steel manacles and a hood, so if the target woke up in transit to the safe house, the target wouldn't be able to move, see or hear. They also prepped a second longer lasting sedative for the same possibility.
The pickup and travel to the safe house went without any problems for the squad. No Antithesis interrupted them securing the target, and the target stayed unconscious for the flight. The first problem for the squad happened as they were about to leave; orders had come down that they were to help beef up the safe house's defenses, as the Antithesis activities around the district were increasing. The captain and the men with him would be joining them in an hour or so.
This someone also contacted the AI of the unconscious Samurai, once they figured out the location of the "safe" house. They informed the AI, by sending data of the aftermath of a non-samurai that had taken on a corporation (Marcus's Furs) and won, that backup would be there in three hours, more or less.
The non-samurai had struck random business holdings of the Marcus's Furs and then disappeared into the safety of the forest multiple times. Then Marcus's Furs sent five squads to search for the culprit. The non-samurai had prepared for this apparently, and had whittled the corps forces down to two squads over the course of a week. When they sent a request for reinforcements, five more squads were sent in, under the assumption that the bastard must be running out of tricks and ammunition. However, even the reinforcements found that they were not the hunters, they were the hunted. Over the next two weeks he continued to whittle down their numbers. The squads retreated when there were four left.
Another corporation, the Bertarelli Foundation got wind of the situation and leaked it to the media, who had been painting the culprit as a terrorist. They also leaked that Marcus's Furs, whose men were being slaughtered, had kidnapped the culprit's little sister. That the corp had done this to make said culprit sell furs to them. This caused the public to start boycotting Marcus's Furs and give the culprit the nickname the Woodland Wraith. The media sent out an army of drones to see if they could get an interview, but they couldn't find him, causing one of them to state that he was as elusive as a Sasquatch. The Bertarelli Foundation flexed some of its own corporate muscle and the girl was released. Marcus's Furs went bankrupt, as no one wanted to get on the bad side of the Woodland Wraith/Sasquatch, and the Bertarelli Foundation. The non-vanguard individual who had fought off a corp long enough for another to involve itself was now her Vanguard partner and already had an axe to grind with Luxury Furs Company.