Chapter Thirteen

“Home again.” Reign sighed, shaking her head as she looked past me to the building as we cruised to a landing. “Seems wild to say that. So, what’d Julius want?”

“We’ve got a mission,” I said. “Big specter nest in one of the old fusion plant cooling towers. Two hours before the gig starts, that’s all the time we’ve got, so we need to get things sorted now.”

“Uh…” Reign drew out the sound.

“I know, But that dickhead elf pushed Julius, and he paid him off rather than put up with it. Now the guild has fuck all credits left, and they lose the bid for this? The guild is done.”

“Shit, fuck’s sake Julius, you had to do it now!” She snarled, clambering out, and I joined her.

“To be fair to him, Gessh was hiding how badly her foot was fucked, and even if she was replacing it normally, he had no way to know she was going for two full limbs.”

“Crap,” Reign growled, shaking her head. “We need a team, and we’ve got fucking you and me.”

“And Todds.”

“Point, if he can get a fucking baby-sitter,” she groused, making an ‘I’ll call him’ gesture with her thumb and pinkie, as I grabbed my gear out of the trunk.

While she was calling him, I reached out to Luna, getting a clearly bored half orc grinning back at me.

“How’s she doing?” I asked.

“He’s just about done, she’s still out for the count, but these legs? Damn!”

“They nice?”

“Beautiful,” she said, nodding, then patching in her optics, hastily covering her unconscious sisters private area with a hand across that section of her vision. “Whoops, sorry, shouldn’t show you that until we’re all drinking and playing cards.” She grinned, before focusing in one the gleaming black metal legs. “Just look at those .”

I did and I couldn’t help but feel a slight surge of jealously.

They were, as she’d said, beautiful . All black polished metal and plastic, they were molded to look like a well-muscled natural pair of legs, but the build, the gleam, and the rest? They just looked amazing.

“I’ve been studying the specs,” Luna said quickly. “They’re jump-jet capable, short range, but seriously? We could get that upgrade to the calf’s and literally leap over buildings .”

“Well, you’ll get the chance to earn a down payment on them if she wakes up soon,” I interrupted. “We’ve got a job, big specter nest, and it’s a three team one, that’s how big, anywhere from hundreds to possibly thousands of the fuckers.”

“Sounds great, when…?”

“Two hours.”

“Uh…”

“I know.” I cut her off. “Not my idea, the guild had to bid, or bribe, for the job, and it has to begin in two hours or they lose it. We’re getting a bunch of newbies to secure the perimeter, but we need to be moving in, in two hours. Apparently the client is specific and an asshole.”

I added that last bit in on my own, but fuck it, it fit the data as I had it.

“Two hours… Give me a minute,” she said, shaking her head, then disconnecting the call to speak to Lion. I carried the boxes of ammo into the warehouse with Reign, the pair of us wincing at the down blast as the air-cab took off, rocketing upwards.

“Todds sorting cover,” Reign called, shielding her face as best she could with arms full of boxes. “Says he’ll be there in about an hour, and will wait on us.”

“Good man,” I shouted, before dropping my voice as the jet-like blast receded and we could hear ourselves think again. “Goddamn old model air-cars!”

“Yeah, the repulsors are much better, but hey, you pay for the privilege,” Reign agreed. “So, how’s Gessh?”

“Still out cold,” I muttered, before perking up. “Here’s Luna though, give me a minute.” I keyed the accept, and nodded to Luna as she appeared. “Give me good news.”

“Lion says she’ll be finished in time, but she’s going to need extra nanites to seal her up and get her on her feet. He doesn’t have any, so…”

“I’ll sort it,” I promised, getting a nod from her.

“Then we’ll be there, but we won’t be much before the two hours… the old fusion plants you said, right?”

“Yeah, this is it,” I said, sending over the locational data while trying to figure where I could get medikits from right now.

“The Pit?” Luna asked, and I shrugged.

“One of them used to be a live deathmatch place, long since closed down though. Specters live their now.”

“That’s all we need, fucking ghosts as well.” Luna sighed. “Right, I’ll get her on her feet, and see you there, bring ammo alright? I’ve got enough for today, but…”

“But you weren’t expecting a nest.” I nodded. “That’s fine, I bought plenty, I’ll bring it with us.”

“Thanks, boss. Okay, see you there.”

I cut the line, shouldering the door open as the locks disengaged, and we hurried inside, dumping ammo on the nearest counter and spreading gear out quickly.

“She can do it,” I called to Reign who was dumping more gear on the other side of a table. “Luna says they’ll be there, but we need to take their gear.”

“Oh thank fuck!” She groaned. “Okay, give me a minute to set the drone on the clean and sterilize cycle—it might as well be working while we’re gone—and then I’ll start loading mags.”

“I’ll grab the gear, and order some food…”

“And drinks and stims!” she called as I hurried up the stairs, using the facilities, then grabbing drinks, and a bag for the various gear we needed.

Ten minutes later, I’d loaded up the bag, and a second, and the pair of us were busily munching on pizza and sodas, while loading magazines, the next hour leaving us both with aching thumbs and fingers as we loaded mag after mag, putting them aside, adding to the pile.

By the time the air-cab turned up, blasting random shit everywhere, we were knackered, which was a terrible way to start a mission, but we’d gotten everything we needed together.

The last minute delivery from a Zon drone of ten small and ten medium medikits was enough that it seriously fucked with my liquidity, but we needed them, and like the theory of a condom, I’d rather have and not need, then need and not have.

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By the time we touched down on a stretch of scrubland outside the old cooling towers? The sun was down again, and a cold breeze was sweeping in, the promise of yet another downpour clear in the air.

“Hey, boss!” Luna called from the gaggle of people standing nearby—they’d backed off from the down blast and turned away, but were starting to look over now—and I waved to her as we set off to join them.

There were nearly forty people standing around already, with another cab—a ground one this time—heading across the wasteland to join us.

“Luna…” I greeted her, then shook my head as Gessh strolled up, a new bounce evident in her step. “…how’s the legs?”

We all looked at her legs instinctively, despite them being concealed by her trousers and she grinned.

“Seriously, I need to buy a whole new wardrobe to show these fuckers off. Just wait till we get back to the warehouse tonight, you better not get too handsy, boss, because I’ll be walking round with no trousers on any chance I get!”

“I get a hell of a reputation for absolutely fuck all,” I grumbled, but inside I was smiling, seeing the look on Gessh’s face, and the grin on Luna’s as well.

“So, boss, this job, are we likely to make decent bank?” Luna asked, nodding at Gessh. “We’ve got some saving to do so I can get mine.”

“Yeah about that…” I grinned, waving to the other squad leaders that I’d be with them in a minute. “Julius is basically up shit creek here, he’s going to help us set up to do a recovery, no questions asked. I wanted to discuss it with you all first, but frankly when there’s an opportunity like that, you don’t let it pass. Tonight when we’re all back and we’re sure we’re clear, I’ll bring you up to date. Things just got a whole lot easier.”

“Sounds intriguing,” Reign said, passing one of the long bags to Luna. “Come on, everyone load up, while the boss goes and sorts the details with the other teams.”

I nodded at the non-too-subtle dismissal and I left them to it, nodding to Todds as he hurried over to join the girls. I wove my way through the cluster of people, joining the human and half goblin as they made room for me around an upturned barrel that they had a map spread out on.

I shrugged, figuring it’d be easier to do this in virtual, but I guessed they wanted to keep an eye on people.

The half goblin was the first to offer a fist, and I smacked it in greeting, offering the same to the human a second later, who grunted and knocked it harder than need be.

“I’m Liolet,” the half goblin said in greeting, “As I know that bugger Julius is crap at introducing us, you’re Kabutt, and he’s Timur, yes I’m a half gobbo, no he’s not a half dwarf, he’s just unfortunate looking. Any other obvious questions to get out of the way?”

I shrugged. “No, I’m good… actually, yeah, sorry, team specialties. Are you all-rounders or specialists?”

“Teams or us?” Timur grunted.

“Both?”

“We’re hit and run,” Liolet admitted. “Most of my team are half gobbos, you got a problem with that?”

I shook my head.

“Good, well, we’re naturally good at hit and run tactics, there’s fifteen of us, so yeah, sucks when it comes to dividing the loot, but works great when a couple of runners bring a mass of them into an ambush. That’s how we prefer to work to be honest. We set up, create a choke-point, a few fall back positions, then we generally bleed them dry.”

“We tend to move slow and steady, elimination and sweep,” Timur said. “My team are fifty-fifty, standard assault load-out and heavy weapons, slow and steady keeps us all alive, we usually wait for Liolet to draw aggro, then we move in on the far side and crush them between the hammer and the anvil, but in a setup like this, we’d need more people for that to work.”

“How many in your team?” I asked.

“Eight. Four assault, four heavy, loaded out with chain guns and assault shotguns, battery magazines.” He jerked a thumb towards the massive backpack that sat on the floor next to him, and I nodded my admiration of the setup.

The backpack was similar to the out back mounted loudout I used in my APS, battery powered gravity feed that kept the ammo moving along a belt to the assault shotgun, able to hold literally hundreds, if not thousands of shells ready.

“Before we get started…”

“No I don’t have one spare.” He grinned at me.

“Ha!” I grinned back. “I wish! No I need a supplier for Dragons Asshole rounds… nowhere seems to stock them. You know anyone?”

“Nope,” he said. “If I did I sure as shit wouldn’t share that with anyone, they’re rare, specialty rounds, and dangerous as hell. I don’t want fuckers using them near me when I’ve not fought with them before.”

He gave me a look at that point, then a gesture of his head to encompass some of those hanging around nearby and listening and I took the hint.

He knew someone, and if this went well he’d possibly share their details, just not out loud where the newbies hanging around could hear.

“Ah well, I can respect that,” I said, then I patted the grip of my shotgun and grinned. “I’ll warn you now though, I’m loaded with solid shot and bolo mainly, with a single dragon at the very end.”

“So if I hear one go off you’re in the shit?”

“Basically, yeah!”

“Sounds clear enough to me.”

“And me,” Liolet agreed.

“So, what’s the plan?” I asked.

“There’s four entrances,” Liolet pointed out, touching four separate points equidistant around the map. “Too many for us to cover them all unfortunately. I’m suggesting we seal two of them, weld them shut, then we march in, clear as we go, and follow these corridors…”

He gestured to a series of interlinking rooms and areas.

“…there’s stairs that lead down here…” A stairwell, clearly marked.

“…so we clear to there as a group. Seal up as much as we can, then my team set up choke points and fall back positions,” Liolet finished.

“That’s where we take over,” Timur grumbled. “We split, one up one down, the up is literally just to hold the path, don’t push deeper into the building, just hold the ground for now. If possible? We seal a door or two, more even, and just hold the area until the other team returns.”

“The team that goes deep? If you’re alright with taking that role;” Liolet spoke up. “You’d be looking for the access point. Find it, seal it, cut off any reinforcements. Once that’s done you return to us, we load up and move out, if all is going well.”

“And if it’s not?” I asked, knowing what life was like.

“Then you get back to us. Timur will have sealed off most of the path to us, and I’ll have a choke point and fall back locations set up. We bleed them dry, if need be we fall back and back until we’re out of here and the newbies can earn some kills as well.”

“And if there’s too many for us to contain?” I asked.

“Then we fight until Julius gets here with reinforcements and we lose a portion of the pay, but we all live. That’s the outcome here, no matter what, the teams survive, because if we don’t? The guild is fucked. Too few teams means we can’t meet our obligations, we start losing those jobs, the guild will fall. Then we’re all back to slobbing around the shitty guilds looking for work,” Liolet growled.

“You’re not long out of the army right?” Timur asked me, before shaking his head sadly. “Believe me, you don’t want to go from guild to guild. Some are good, like this one, but some? They’ll stab you in the back as quick as the enemy…”

“Oh, I’ve heard.” I thought back to those fuckers that’d dumped me in the undercity. “So, we’re taking the basement, you’re taking the upstairs, and you’re building fortifications and a fallback?” I asked, getting nods. “Then good luck to us all, I need to activate the new tac-net, no time to do it yet, so give me a few minutes and I’ll have my team working, and then patch to you both.”

“Sounds good, ten minutes to the red line,” Liolet reminded me, referring to the two hour deadline, and passing me a small welding kit to seal the doors if I found the entrance the specters were using. “Can you use this?” he asked, and I nodded, having seen and used them before when fixing armor and army gear.

“Yeah I’ve used them, we’ll be ready,” I assured him, before heading back to the others.

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