“The vote’s in!” Biyu burst into the canteen, causing Mai and Dakota to jump in their seats, swearing as they spilled the contents of their cups. “We fight!”
Mai punched the air, then gave Dakota a high-five.
“What was the result?” Dakota asked as she drained her cup.
“Ninety-five per cent in favour,” crowed Biyu, snatching Dakota’s cup, filling it, and then taking a deep drink herself. “All of the factions have agreed to you being in command, Mai!”
“And their players?” Mai narrowed her eyes as she asked the question.
“Some have agreed to fight with us. Others tried to ‘persuade’ their people it would be best to remain loyal to the player base. They’re either dead or being hunted down in the city. The rest did neither, but just left. They were the majority”
“So how many do we have with us?”
“About three hundred. Which isn’t too bad. We’ll do as we did last time and spread them out amongst units so that they can’t cause too much damage, and I’ve got people monitoring them,” Biyu’s tone was one of utmost confidence, so Mai didn’t press the point.
“What’s the next step then?” Dakota asked after a minute’s silence.
“We need to find out what we’re facing. Numbers, disposition, entry points, anything we can,” replied Mai as she looked over at Biyu. “Can we get the rebel units in the city to help?”
“Normally, I’d say yes. But comms have started to go dark. I think there’s a clampdown and we’re going to lose everyone we don’t pull down here.”
“Things just keep getting better and better,” muttered Dakota as she poured another drink.
“Get them here. If they’re able to scout brilliant, if not it doesn’t matter as we’re going to do it ourselves.”
“Boss, you’re the boss. You can’t ask the city to fight and then fuck off on some side mission,” Dakota groaned wearily.
“Not just me. I’ll be taking Biyu and some of her recon platoon. You’re going to be staying. Use your gangster creds to get the other factions in line and ready. The only ones that might be an issue are the ex-prisoners, but I’m sure you and Ayres can sort things out,” Mai said as she stood up and motioned to Biyu to follow her.
“Me!” yelped Dakota. “Why me?”
“I’ve just said why. I trust you, and you’ve got good cred with the other factions. We’ll be fine, and I’m sure you’ve got enough good people to help you keep things going whilst we’re away.”
Mai didn’t let the spluttering Dakota get another word in as she and Biyu left the canteen to round up a squad of recon specialists.
“How many of you have been to the Upper City before?” Mai asked once Biyu had assembled her best team. None of them were players, Mai not wanting to trust such a delicate mission to people whose loyalty might still not be one hundred per cent. Only one hand went up.
“Okay,” she tapped her lips with a finger. “That’s not a bad thing. Like here, most people don’t know what the sun looks like. There’s even a myth that the sky is blue if you get high enough. I’ve not managed that, so to me it’s grey until proven otherwise. The hab-blocks here are taller, and naturally there’s no cave roof like the one above us. It won’t feel any more open, so don’t worry about agoraphobia.”
A couple of the recon squad smiled at that, relief evident on their faces.
“We’re going to enter as civilians. Those on the one-mile are a lot rougher than most. Just treat them all as if they’re a member a particularly nasty group of ex-prisoners. If we have to move up through the city, we’ll change our clothes to fit in. I doubt we’ll even need to leave the one-mile levels.”
“Is everyone clear on the mission objectives?” Biyu was wearing a particularly dishevelled looking set of clothes, and Mai had to admit she was impressed. Her intelligence officer had even gone so far as to rub dirt on her face and clothing.
There was a round of nods, all of the recon team were volunteers. Every face was hard-looking, and their eyes were focussed, keen knives. Mai knew they wouldn’t hesitate to do what needed to be done when the time came.
“Good, I want you in pairs. Avoid combat where possible. I’d say avoid trouble, but this is the one-mile. You will get into trouble. If you have to kill someone, use your knives unless they’ve got a firearm. Most people on this level have zero bio-mass to spare, so word will get out if you suddenly spout weapons and armour.”
Another round of nods and the odd Adam’s apple bobbing.
“Please don’t think that I’m exaggerating. One-mile is an utter shit-pit. Oh, and don’t eat or drink anything you don’t take with you.”
Mai glanced over at Biyu, who took the hint and split the squad into five pairs. Seeing that they were ready, Mai led them out of the rebel base.
“It’s funny,” gasped Mai as they finally reached the first one-mile set of doors of the elevator shaft. “It’s much easier falling down one of these than getting back up.” She groaned, shaking her arms and legs to get the blood flowing again. She didn’t feel too bad as she looked at the other members of her team and saw that even the elite recon troops had found the going tough.
“We know there aren’t any sensors in the shaft. Reckon they’ve got any outside on the doors?” whispered Biyu as she scanned the twin doors before them.
“Probably, the players that left must have warned them,” Mai looked up the shaft. It was as dizzying as if she’d looked down. Lights trailed up into the distance before seeming to merge into one.
“So how do we get out without setting off an alarm?” Mai chose to ignore the fact that Biyu was gritting her teeth.
“We climb up to the first two-mile, get out and then catch an elevator down. They’ll be tracking elevators as well, so if we just popped the doors they’d know it was us. But if we go past one-mile, pop and door and then catch an elevator down, they’ll hopefully be none the wiser.”
“Did she just say we climb another mile?” hissed a recon specialist. Mai chose to ignore that as well, merely smiling at Biyu and resuming her climb up the ladder embedded into the shaft wall.
By the time they reached the point at which Mai deemed it was safe to exit the elevator shaft, her muscles were screaming for relief and her eyes stung from the sweat constantly dripping into her eyes. The other had ceased complaining a long time before, now all she heard were gasps of pain or exhaustion and the odd groan.
“We’re here. Have a break,” she followed her own order, hooking an arm into the maintenance ladder and propping her hip onto a run. Cramp immediately set in and she bit back a scream as her muscles felt as though they were going to tear themselves from the bone. From the sounds that the others were making, they were suffering the same.
On impulse she activated HEAL and gave a sigh as the nanites in her body immediately set to removing the cramp and soothing her tortured muscles. Whispering what she’d just done, she smiled as she heard the relief in the voices of her people.
“Next set of doors up, Biyu. I want you to put a camera through first, make sure we’re not going to surprise any civilians,” Mai said as she swung herself out of the way so that Biyu could climb past her to carry out the recon.
“No-one there,” came Biyu’s whispered report. “Entry team up.”
Mai once more moved out of the way as the entry team made their way up the ladder and set about opening the elevator doors in such a way that they wouldn’t set off any alarms and alert the enemy to the fact that they were opening when there wasn’t an elevator present.
As soon as they were open, the team surged up the ladder and out onto the concourse beyond. It was quiet, no-one in sight, many of the lights dimmed as what passed for night on this level had settled in. It was common for different levels in the city to work to different times. It prevented system overloads and ensured that the factories and other businesses always had fresh workers arriving for their shits. It helped that no-one ever saw the sky, so couldn’t tell if they were on the correct time or not.
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“Close the doors,” whispered Biyu and the entry team set to work as the rest of the recon team guarded their backs.
“Done, calling the elevator.”
Too late, Mai wondered if someone calling an elevator from this level at this time would be suspicious. Sighing, she rolled her shoulders. Whatever was going to come at them would be dealt with.
Somewhat self-consciously they stood and watched as the floors counted down, the elevator having to travel some fifty levels before reaching them. Mai tutted as the sound of someone tapping their feet started to grate on her nerves. It was only when she looked around to see who it was that she realised it was her foot making the noise.
The elevator arrived with a bing which people had heard for millennia and the doors slid quietly open. All of them breathed a sigh of relief as they saw that the interior was empty. As one they moved into the elevator, the recon team stood aside so that Mai could select the level they needed.
“Game faces on people, we’re downtrodden citizens who have no future. And you won’t have a future if you don’t look the part.”
They nodded, Mai spotting the odd Adam’s apple bobbing. All too soon they felt the elevator slow and come to a gentle stop. A pause, then another ding and the doors opened. This level was in far worse shape than the one they’d come from.
Rubbish lay all around and the only lighting was cast by temporary lanterns. People moved around, but most seemed to be drunk and completely uninterested in the rebels.
“Activate every damned street-based skill you have. Stay on your toes. Only activate STEALTH and weapons if you have to,” Mai knew she was repeating herself, but her heart was pounding, and she was seriously having second thoughts about what they were doing.
She activated STREET SMARTS, leaving her other skills passive for now. Immediately she started to pick up on signals she would have missed had she not activated it. Most of the crowd were drunk, but there were small groups moving with purpose towards an area that the other locals were avoiding.
Catching Biyu’s eye, she motioned with a quick title of her head and started to move through the crowd, Biyu tailing her at roughly twenty paces. The rest of the team split up into their pairs and set to their own tasks.
Deftly avoiding the drunken clutches of a leering old man, aided by a quick open handed slap to his groin, Mai moved through the crowd as though she hadn’t a care in the world. Quickly opening up her clothing menu, she made a slight alteration to her disguise, tweaking it so that it suited this level better.
Slowing as she reached the edge of the crowd, she took a seat on a bench and watched the locals as they continued across the wide plaza to the other side. Although it was dim, there were several dimly-lit platforms, the Imperial Army glyph hanging above each one.
Biyu sat next to her as if it was a chance meeting.
“They’re recruiting more locals. Stay here, I’ll see what I can find out.”
Mai nodded, it made no sense for one of the most famous cullers and rebels in the city’s history to stroll up to an Imperial Army recruiting post. Still, it chafed to sit and do nothing, which was exactly what she had to do. Plenty of others sat on the benches, making the most of their down time before they headed back to their hab blocks for the mandatory minimum of six point five hour of sleep.
Biyu was gone for more than five minutes, long enough for Mai to begin to worry. Or, if she was truly honest, worry more than she already had been. Her stomach was in knots, and she desperately needed to find the toilet.
“We’re fucked,” Biyu’s voice made Mai jump to her feet, she hadn’t heard her intelligence officer arrive. “Ooops. Sorry.”
Mai rounded on Biyu, raising a finger as she saw the smirk on the other woman’s face.
“Not fucking funny.”
“Very fucking funny boss, you should have seen your face,” Biyu’s smirk turned into a face-splitting grin.
“Report.”
Smile gone, Biyu sat down.
“They’re offering everyone here a one thousand karma sign up bonus. For every day they stay in the army and train, they will earn five hundred karma. Another thousand if they pass training with above average marks. Another thousand when the attack begins. Fifty for every confirmed kill.”
Mai didn’t say a word. The pay being offered was beyond most people’s wildest dreams. Some could earn their way out of one-mile just by signing up. Not far out of one-mile, but enough to make a difference.
No wonder they’re so eager to sign up! Fuck, this is going to be hard.
“Anything else?”
“Something about a God-mecha. Not sure what that is, but the recruiter was using it to encourage people to sign up. They were so eager at hearing how much karma they’d get that they didn’t realise they were signing up for an additional five years after,” Biyu snorted at that. No matter what a citizen did, the Celestial Court found a way to keep them in their place.
“Good, let's see what else we can find out.”
*
“Well, I wasn’t expecting that!” Mai moved back from the corner she’d been observing the enemy forces. “They’ve got players from all factions, and from what I could scope, there’s cullers in the mix too.”
“Damn, I forgot that was still going on. It is still going on isn’t it?” Biyu sat with her back against the wall and leaned out to take a quick peak. “You notice how they’re all in their factions still?”
“Wait, cullers are in their factions?”
“Yeah, looks like some sort of truce has been called. We’ve got all the player factions, and a load of normal civilians as well.”
They swapped positions so that Mai could take a quick look again. She reactivated STREET SMARTS. The tension between the disparate groups was clear. All of the recruits in this area had been gathered in another wide open concourse, each one standing under a glyph. To the far left were normal civilians who had opted to try for a better life. Next to them were the locals who had volunteered for the culling. After that it was gangers, prisoners, urbexers and ex-military. All of them were in the culling from what she could see of their glyphs.
After that were regular gangers, urbexers, prisoners, and ex-military. From what she could see, those were all mixed, locals and players. A heavily armoured member of the Imperial Justice Force stood between the various different gangs, ensuring that only insults were swapped. Drones hovered above adding even more emphasis on good behaviour.
“You could cut the tension with a knife,” Mai stepped back and did a quick sweep of the area to make sure they weren’t being observed anywhere else. “How many do you think are at this point?”
“Easily a few thousand,” Biyu replied after taking another look. “Recruiter said that there are many more points like this. And that the regular Imperial Army has assembled on the next two levels. They’re going to use this lot to wear us down.”
“I think we need to throw a spanner in the works,” Mai smiled as she took another look. “Recon team two, this is Boss Lady. I need you to move into the gangers line. Join the members of the Five Fingers. From there, take a shot at the members of the Left Handers. They hate each other.”
“Roger that, Boss Lady, moving now.”
“Recon team three, join the civilian cullers at the end of the line. As soon as recon two kicks off, open fire on the gangers line, then run to the line on the far left and withdraw.”
“Won’t that draw fire on the civilians?” queried the leader of recon three.
“It will,” Mai sighed. “I’m betting that they either scatter or drop to the floor. None of them will have weapons, so they won’t be able to engage. Hopefully, they’ll realise just how stupid joining up is.”
“Roger that,” Mai could tell from recon three’s voice that she didn’t agree with Mai’s plan. At this point, Mai didn’t care. If they didn’t do something to buy time and allow the people in Nether City to prepare, they were going to all die. And these civilians had signed up to join in on that. No matter how desperate they were, killing innocent people was not in any way excusable. As such, Mai now considered them to be enemy combatants. “All other recon teams, be prepared to get out as soon as it kicks off.”
She tapped her feet as adrenaline started to flow, waiting for the teams to get in place. Time seemed to drag, and she forced herself to relax, shaking her arms to release the tension.
“Recon two in position,” came the whispered report.
“Recon three in position,” the second report came soon after.
“All teams, go,”
There was a pause as her people formed their weapons. She hadn’t told them what to use, trusting that they would know how to make the most trouble without it being tied to them. She formed a sniper rifle, poking it around the corner and using her retinal monitor to take aim on a particularly large urbexer. Ever since the fight in the sewers she’d harboured a grudge. Now she had time for payback.
And then all hell broke loose. Recon two opened up on the Left Handers, who immediately returned fire on the Five Fingers. Shots went wide, hitting members of other gangs, who naturally formed their own weapons and opened fire.
The lines rippled as people reacted to the gunfire. Those trained, especially the players, reacted instinctively, forming weapons, and bunching up into natural teams. That’s when recon three opened fire.
Their attack caused absolute chaos. What had been an already tenuous alliance immediately came to an end. Cullers turned on each other, literally stabbing on another in the back. Those with more bio-mass or time to spare formed guns and let rip. Bodies tumbled to the ground, some screaming in agony as they clutched wounds.
To the left, the line of volunteers scattered, the members screaming in terror as the concourse exploded in violence.
Mai took her shot.
HEADSHOT!
INSTAKILL!
CULLER 933333 ELIMINATED!
Even before the urbexer hit the ground she fired again, aiming at a woman who seemed to be trying to take control of the situation.
CRITICAL HIT! 86%
BLEED @5% PER SECOND
SUPPRESSED
Mai didn’t bother trying to go for a kill shot. If the woman was able to HEAL herself, she wasn’t that bothered. What she wanted to do was cause even more chaos. She heard recon two and three reporting that they were pulling out and issued an order to the other teams to do the same.
“Time we weren’t here,” she looked over at Biyu who had been pulling rear guard duty whilst she shot.
“Good to hear,” Biyu moved away, scanning the panicked crowd as the battle raged on behind them.