After leaving a quick message with AI Farrah, Kaleb and Roy hopped into the dump truck and rushed off to Under-Town. Unfortunately, they only knew about the one exit tunnel big enough for their truck. But supposedly it was now run by a friend, or at least not an enemy. Kaleb remained cautious as they drove down the dark tunnel with only the dump truck’s lights to guide them. When the Artificial lightning of Under-Town came into view, he had Roy slow down.
He examined the hole in the tunnel wall leading into Under-Town. A caravan of trucks was going in and outside by side as gangsters patrolled the exit. Judging by their skin-tone they weren’t the Quinica anymore though. Which made Kaleb hopeful even as Roy voiced concern.
“You sure about this, Doc?”
Kaleb nodded. “Yeah, we should be fine. We’re all friends down here.”
He put his hand over the small bag of credits chits they had brought. He knew they would have to pay for the use of the tunnel. There was no getting around that. The gangs of Under-Town protected their supply routes viciously. Even Shaggy’s group of players. In fact, Kaleb assumed the werewolf and his band of merry villains were going to charge him up the nose. But it would be worth it if they could get to the K-Tech dump site.
Roy pulled the truck into the lane, pulling into Under-Town, and waited. All around them, thugs in mishmashed armor were giving the stink eye to various people. More tough guys trying to intimidate other tough guys. Kaleb ignored them as they walked by a few walked by their truck. They waited in line for a few minutes until they reached the front and a Perinadon waved for Roy to roll down his window.
“State your business and affiliation.” The large alien Rhino-man said curtly.
Kaleb froze for a moment at how bored the NPC sounded, but eventually, he smirked. “Trash-diving and Contract Hero.”
The alien’s beady eye zipped up to Kaleb’s face. Probably to see if he was joking. When he saw that he wasn’t the big, bipedal rhino waved a hand.
“Could I get you to step out of the truck… Now!”
“Could I get you to go get Shaggy?”
The rhino’s placid face became angry, and he looked like he was about to hit Roy’s door. But a voice spoke up from behind the rhino-alien. It wasn’t Shaggy though.
“Professor?”
Thudding footsteps proceeded another Rhino-Alien approaching the truck. Kaleb could see they were drawing more eyes, but the new rhino didn’t care. He cackled as he peered through the window at them, and it took Kaleb a second to recall the name.
“Ren?”
“Hot damn! What brings you here?”
“Dumpster diving, chief. Vlad was bragging how you lot were going to kick the Quinica out any day now last time we spoke.”
“I wish we had. I’d feel a lot safer.” Ren scoffed.
“Do what?”
The big Perinadon player waved off his subordinate and crossed his arms. “They’ve vanished. Just up and disappeared on us. Right in the middle of our Gang War too. The boys were pissed.”
Kaleb grinned and looked around as Ren’s words had sent a quiet chuckle through those that heard him. “It looks like you’ve moved in just fine, though.”
“For now. You looking to venture out toward K-Tech’s dump site again?”
“Yeah. I need some things and was wondering if they could oblige.”
“Not very Hero of you.”
“I work with what I got.”
Ren nodded understandingly and then dipped his nose apologetically. “Look, I know you and Shaggy are friends, but…”
Kaleb raised an eyebrow and he saw Roy tense in his seat. “Problem.”
“The price is going to be the same as everybody else, Professor. This ain’t a charity.”
“Yeah, I figured,” Kaleb said, reaching down to the bag of credits.
Roy let out a breath as Ren stuck a giant hand through the window for the money. The rhino-alien opened the bag and peered inside. He nodded to himself and reached in a massive thumb and forefinger. Pulling out a few chits, Ren passed the bag back quickly.
“I wouldn’t be flashing that much cash, Prof. Not down here.”
“That was what the Quinica were charging. Far as I remember.”
A look of surprise crossed Ren’s face before he swore. “Shit! That explains why business is booming on this side of the cave. Oh well, we’re still making good money.”
“I bet. Anyone else headed out to the dump site?”
Ren nodded and waved a hand at a trio of white vans. “Just follow them. We’ve got a deal with the K-Tech guards this time. But only for this next shift. You’re lucky you arrived when you did.”
“Yeah, that’s me. Mr. Lucky.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Ren snorted. “Yeah, whatever. Just make sure you're out of there at the sound of the whistle. The next shift of the guards doesn’t play nice. Also, The Legion will pay for any excess tech you find.”
Kaleb cocked his head at the name of their organization. He didn’t think he had heard it before. Ren noticed and waved his hand dismissively.
“Just the name of the gang. Move along, Professor. The lines got to keep moving.”
Kaleb nodded as Roy put the truck into drive. Ren waved at them as they turned the dump truck back into the tunnel. The three white vans were already moving, and Roy had to give it some gas to keep up. They followed in silence for a few beats until Roy spoke up.
“I’m not sure about working with those guys, Doc. They’re criminals.”
“And we’re robbing a dump site full of discarded tech.”
“But it’s for a good cause.”
“That means that dealing with The Legion is also for a good cause, right?”
Roy huffed and thought about it for a few seconds.
“They’re criminals.” He said again.
Kaleb nodded. “And if we catch them in the act of doing something, we’ll arrest them. But unless you want to try to take out Under-Town with just the two of us, our hands are tied.”
“We took down the Faceless.”
“I think it’s more accurate to say that we were there when the Phreaks and Faceless decimated each other. And we barely got out of that alive, remember? In fact, I was shit-canned from the HLO and you were told not to come near me.”
Roy fell into silence again as they drove on. Kaleb understood the boy’s confusion. He had a strong sense of justice and morality. Which was fine in a Hero, but Kaleb understood they had to work in the grey if they wanted to get things done. Especially if the HLO was currently hogging the hero business. He’d do whatever he could to make fighting crime in their district easier. Including robbing a giant tech conglomerate, he was sure was evil, anyway.
K-Tech’s close ties to the HLO had always made Kaleb nervous. Seeing the way their guards could be bought off by Under-Town just made him more sure. He remembered the old quest he got from Roy about investigating the company. Once things were a bit more stable in the district, maybe he’d dig into that. Taking the HLO and the biggest company in Texas down at the same time would be pretty sweet.
Kaleb was imagining all the pencil-pushers and scientist of K-Tech and the HLO bemoaning the loss of their jobs when Roy tapped him. Snapping out of his daydream, Kaleb looked up to see the lead white van of the convoy ahead of them disappear behind a large gate. It took him a hot second to realize what he was seeing, but when he did, Kaleb gawped in alarm.
The old K-Tech dump site was guarded by a one-guard shack and a wooden gate-arm. Now a twelve-foot steel gate. It was a monster of an entrance. Complete with laser grid cover, and multiple interlocking plates. As he watched, Kaleb spotted the second van move up to one of the six guards in front of the gate and stop. The driver of the van said something to the guard and the giant gate was opened again. As the steel maw opened, Kaleb could see the same old dump site he had raided before. But the van was through and the gate closed before he could really contemplate the piles of junk beyond the gate.
“That’s new.” Kaleb whispered.
“What do I do?”
“Nothing. These guys were paid off by Ren and his friends. We might have to slip them some credits, but that’s how it goes.”
“Didn’t we just pay Ren?”
“That was to use their tunnel. Now we have to pay to get in.”
Kaleb finished speaking just as Roy pulled their garbage truck up to the guards. One of the K-tech guards leapt up to the driver's side door and held onto the side. He peered in at Kaleb and Roy before whistling loudly.
“Whoo-Weee! Y’all got a biggun’ right here! Don’t ‘cha?”
Kaleb could only see the bottom of the man’s chin from under his sleek black helmet. But that left enough room for the guard’s grin to be showcased loud and clear.
“Now what do ya’ll suppose you boys are goin’ ta be doin’ in this here mighty beast?”
Roy started to sputter out a response. But Kaleb simply raised the bag of credit chits, making them clack together loudly. The guard’s grin grew wider and Kaleb sighed to himself. He casually tossed the bag at the guard, who caught it deftly and peered inside. The guard whistled through his teeth again and shook his head dramatically.
“Y’know, for this much, I don’t rightly think what y’all are doing will have anything to do with me. Move along.”
The guard leapt from the side of the truck and the large gate opened again. Roy and Kaleb kept their mouths shut as Roy pulled them into the dump site. Kaleb spotted their guard moving over to his compatriots and splitting the credits Kaleb had given him. He was sure he overpaid, but hopefully that meant the guards would be a little more tight-lipped.
“Was that smart?”
Kaleb shrugged. “I do not know, Roy. But we brought that money to spend it. Now it’s gone and we’re where we want to be.”
“Let’s hope it was worth it.”
Kaleb nodded as Roy pulled in behind the white vans. The young man was about to stop the truck, but Kaleb stopped him.
“Not here.” Kaleb said as the van’s occupants filed out.
Several people in plastic-looking hazmat suits crawled out of the van and started looking around. They looked like old-time space explorers trying to catalogue a distant planet. They cast their helmeted heads over Roy and Kaleb’s truck before looking elsewhere. Kaleb didn’t know what it was, or who they were, but he know he didn’t want to be near them while digging through the junk. Roy seemed to agree as he quickly pulled out and drove further in to the dump site.
“Who the hell were they?”
“Don’t know. But get us far enough away where they won’t be a problem.”
“Gotcha.”
They drove in silence for a few more minutes. Zigzagging their way around the towers of trash. Large pipes and tubes funneled K-Tech’s castoff into the air above them. Large automated drones then caught the falling trash and dumped onto the nearest pile of junk. Bit of metal and random junk occasionally fell from the sky, but nothing large enough to do damage. Roy turned them down a row of cascading junk-filled hills and peered ahead.
“I don’t like this,” Roy almost whispered.
Kaleb looked around, thinking that the boy had seen something. But other than the large steel wall that surrounded the junkyard, he saw nothing else in the distance. He returned his gaze to Roy as his sidekick finally stopped the truck.
“What’s up, Roy?”
“We’re trapped like rats down here.”
Kaleb nodded as he finally understood. Last time the flimsy gate and the lackluster security had made their jaunt to the junkyard a fairly simple one. Now Roy was worried about the heightened level of protection the junkyard was seeing. He could understand that. But that just meant they needed to get in and out fast. He told as much to his young sidekick, but he also raised his Cybar pistol.
“And if we have to, then we shoot our way out of here. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Roy nodded as he finally cut off the truck’s engine. He still looked worried and he rubbed the spot on his right forearm where Kaleb knew his weapons were. Roy still wore the two housings that dispensed his stun batons and lethal spikes. Although Daivor had said that the boy had upgraded them. Kaleb hoped they wouldn’t get to see them in action. But he was reminded of the boy’s other upgrades.
“Hey, remember to grab some more repulsors while we are here.”
Roy’s face finally lost its worried look as he snorted. “Want some for yourself, huh?”
Kaleb merely winked at the boy as they both got out of the truck. They were in a giant pile of garbage run by the biggest corp in Texas. Locked in by a solid steel wall that wrapped all around them. With only one way out. What could go wrong?