Chapter 23
The ride out of the city was a pensive one. His thoughts were still held down by the recent loss at Roth Tower. Guilt, anger, and regret at being unable to stop Egorule’s plan pressed down on him. An unbearable weight he was hoping to escape on the drive. But no matter how far he drove, it clung to his shoulders like talons in his flesh.
As the urban sprawl eased into the dusty plains of the badlands, the mottled browns and the hazy distance hung like a welcoming fog. It wrapped its arms around him as his car plunged into the tan sandstorm at the city’s edge. The gritty roughness blasting against his car as it forced its way through unbothered.
He reviewed the plan mentally as he set the car to autopilot. Link up with the Desperados and Masri. Review their assets, and plan the strike on Haltech’s tower. Somehow, once he got inside, he deployed the Jade Dragon intrusion virus that Oraclehelix provided to him. After that, he planned to bring Haltech’s house of cards down on their heads somehow.
Ok, so it’s not a complete plan, more like a general flow of ideas. It was a work in progress. Besides, no plan ever survived contact with the enemy anyway, and he wanted to stay fluid and agile enough to adapt as the situation required. Much of his plan was going to hinge on just what he had to on hand to use. He knew the Desperados favored their rides, since they were a very mobile nomadic people. Masri’s men were likely going to be half reliable infantry. This would give him some versatility to work with. The bigger question was how to deploy those assets.
The Desperados had moved their camp location after he flattened the mech factory in the badlands. This new location gave them some stand off from the previous location. They’d been getting too much heat from Haltech and aggressive badlanders. He turned off the main road, taking a path to an access route.
Pulling up on the Desperado camp after a day on the road, he was actually expecting getting out of the car to stretch. He knew he technically didn’t have flesh and blood limbs that needed stretching, but he still felt cramped and couped up. Some kind of psychosomatic sensation linked to being stuck inside so long, maybe? He couldn’t be sure, he just knew he was looking forward to being done with being on the road.
Life for the Desperados moved along normally, aside from the casual interest of some of their members at the new arrival. Jon pulled the car to a stop, the gravel and dirt crunching under the tires ground to a stop. Powering the car off, he cracked open the door and set his foot out of the car onto the ground. The sensation of not being in movement settled in on him and he felt the tension of the ride easing out of him.
He stood up, stretching his arms out with a grunt, and his sternum popped, drawing a curious look from Dez as she approached. Her brow cocked upwards as she regarded for a moment. He looked a little more scuffed up than she had last recalled him. Or maybe not. He did just barely survive an orbital laser strike. The fact he survived that by the skin of his teeth not lost on him.
He glanced down at his hands, rolling his fingers back and forth. He could still recall his mortification when he awoke after the incident in Iraq. The horror at seeing what had happened to him. Of feeling less than human. Lately, he felt like he was more than human.
It was a weird thing, this acceptance of himself and what had happened to him. He couldn’t be sure precisely when it happened. He just knew that the more things between him and Haltech escalated and the more necessary his augmentations became, the less he thought about it. Until he arrived to this point, realizing that he accepted them about himself. He needed them to win this fight.
“You ok? Heard that pop. Didn’t know if that was normal or not for someone so heavily modified,” Dez’ voice cut into his thoughts.
He glanced up from his hand, clasping it shut. “Yeah. I’m good, actually. For the first time in a while.”
“Good, because when you asked if we wanted to go after Haltech I wasn’t sure how to respond to the gringo who almost got himself atomized,” she said.
Unable to bite back the chuckle at that, he nodded and fell in step with her as they strode into the camp.
“So, the mech factory I understood, but their corporate tower? That feels crazy. Unless you’ve got a magic bullet or something. So which is it? Crazy or Magic bullet?”
He shrugged, the servos whining gently in protest against the grit of the blowing sand. He reached into the cart and draped his long coat over himself to keep his joints clear.
“Someone approached me with a proposition. They gave me a way to make Haltech hurt. I just have to get inside.”
Dez blinked and looked absolutely beside herself before settling into full tilt sarcasm. “Oh, would you like the best seats in the house? Maybe a glass of bubbly? Wait here while I fetch the chef to take your order.”
He sighed. Ok, he deserved that, given the absurdity of what he was pitching, he knew that. But he had a plan. Well, more like the blueprints of one. Details.
“Well, some bubbly would be nice. Don’t have to be fancy, though. Just some cerveza?”
Dez tried not to smirk and still failed. She jerked her head towards the long bed trailer with its side panels lifted, revealing a bar. “C’mon.”
He fell in step next to her, hands in the pockets of his black slacks. He walked silently for a moment, trying to figure out how to pitch all this. Dez must have sensed his introspectiveness and allowed him the time to piece his thoughts together, considering how she was typically so direct.
“So I’ve got an inside... guy in Haltech. Wants to burn the company hard. They’ve got his... brother. Won’t let him see him. Making the two of them work for the company. He wants to see his bro real bad, but he can’t. So he’s got this plan. Use an attack against the tower as a distraction and go free with his brother. That’s where I come in. I hit the tower and fire off this fancy Chinese virus he gave me. Should cause a big enough commotion to give him time to get his brother.”
Ok, so that isn’t the exact truth, he knew. Somehow he felt like if he just came right out and said, “So Dez, an AI contacted me and wants to create the worlds first super intelligence, and the other is being a real dick to me, so I figure why the fuck not? Let’s see where this rabbit hole goes.” would not land as well.
She scrutinized him closely for a moment through narrowed eyes before sliding him a green glassed bottle of beer. Twisting the cap off, he tilted the bottle back and took a slow swig. The bubbly drink dancing against his lips and tongue before sliding down his throat. The entire experience made him sigh. He missed the simple things.
“Is it a paying gig?”
Jon shrugged. That hadn’t come up, but he could arrange that easily. “I suppose it can be.”
Dez nodded. “When does it need to happen?”
“Soon. We’ve got an operational window that is closing.”
She nodded. “And you’re gonna need all hands on deck, aren’t you?”
He shook his head. “Only the ones comfortable going.”
She pursed her lips thoughtfully before drinking her own beer. Returning her focus back to him, she nodded to the parked trucks and off-road cars.
“We’ve got rides to deal with the terrain and a little skirmish. But we have nothing purpose made for a fight. Yet. Got a little biz I need taken care of. Help me with it? And I’ll have all hands on deck for this little raid you’re planning. Deal?”
She held her hand to shake. Looking up from her hand, he could see the glint in her eye and the grin that was struggling to breach through the stern look.
He leaned back, “Alright, I’ll bite. Tell me about this biz you need sorted. Gimmie the deets.”
Dez leaned closer and flicked an overlay to download for him. Once it finished, a holo map of the area blinked up, rotating above the bar counter, their two glasses cutting through it like giant glass spires of beer. The terrain map had a location marked with a red circle and triangles on it. He leaned close after she gestured for him too and he blinked, then glanced up back at her.
“Is that a Miltech Bunker?”
Dez nodded with the biggest grin he saw her wear.
“Yup, and what I need is inside it. Preem stuff.”
She swiped the map aside and the image of an old M26B2 Hammer battle tank rotated in place. They discontinued the line a couple decades ago, but they saw pretty big use in the last big “War” the United States engaged in before the government stopped effectively resembling one and the Corps took control. To Jon, it was a lot like him. An old relic of an age nearly forgotten. A dusty old symbol just waiting to be used by someone with an agenda.
Haltech had absorbed Miltech. Though the last thing Miltech made worth mentioning was their bipedal combat mechs. The company had hoped to replace human infantry with them. Giving them a neuro-reality interface to save on personnel. But the project proved more expensive than the company could handle and merged with Haltech. Jon doubted Haltech would leave this armory unsupervised.
“We should expect resistance. Haltech owns Miltech assets now, and I’d bet they have their eyes on this.”
Dez nodded, “They do. Which is why we will not hit the bunker. That’s suicide. No, we’ll hit them in transit.”
He glanced up to her, “Transit?”
“Yup. Haltech is moving it. They’ll take it to some proving grounds and shoot it up till nothing’s left. But we figure why do that to a perfectly good hammer?” Dez said.
He nodded, a convoy attack presented its own risks, but it also put the convoy security at a disadvantage too. Hitting a mobile target meant they couldn’t account for every detail, and if something happened, help wouldn’t arrive.
“Ok, I’ll help. Shoot your plans. What do you need with me?”
“You’re my can opener. Once he stops them, I’ll need someone who can crack open the tank. From there, it’s a dual pilot interface and you’re the most qualified man I know to link up with the tank.”
He nodded. That was fair enough. “Is this a paying gig?”
She shrugged casually. “It can be.”
Biting back a chuckle, he nodded. She was enjoying hitting him back with his own casual nonchalance. “Alright, when do we move?”
Dez grinned, “Now.”
She turned and marched away quickly, leaving Jon standing there blinking for a moment before having to race to catch up to her. As the two marched, she stopped at a modified dune rider. Dust cover on the intake, enhanced suspension, larger after market tires made for off-road driving, and a specially rigged power cell with some curious nuclear warning labels.
“Relax, it’s safe to ride in. As long as it doesn’t blow up. Then you might have a really nice sun tan for a while.”
Jon tried not to look so horrified, but she smirked at his reaction. She gestured for him to hop into the passenger seat as she called out to the others she tasked with the tank retrieval. He settled into the seat and did his best to get comfortable. Comfort was relative when he felt like he was riding a dirty bomb waiting to go off on wheels. The Desperados were pretty tech savvy, and rightfully so, since their rides were their lifeline to survival.
Dez settled into the driver’s seat and pushed a red button with an etched skull and crossbones on it. The engine whirred to life with a high-pitched whine, like a turbine fan spooling up. The car rolled over the terrain with ease, and Jon appreciated all the extra work that went into the ride. His own car was fast, but they made it for streets, not rolling desert terrain.
Dez whooped as they jumped a small bank of brush at speed. A haze of dust kicked up behind them as the rest of the Desperados fell in on Dez’s flanks. They rolled across the desert like a coming storm bound for an old train depot. Dez gave him a headset to communicate with. He noticed it was an encrypted line, but had set had thick cushioned ear cups to cancel outside noise. Sliding them on, she turned to study him a moment, then nodded approvingly.
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“They may not be the most attractive thing ever, but they cancel out the noise, and make it so you can chat without prying ears listening in. I wanted to review the plan real quick. The first phase is the prep phase. We find the train depot and see about powering up one of the old engines. Stage it and then ram the convoy when it’s on the move. The depot is out of use so they won’t be expecting it when a 300 ton freight engine plowing into them at top speed.”
“And then I move in during the confusion and access the tank?”
She smirked, “Yep. Crack open the security on the lid, and then I’ll be there to join up with ya. They’ll have a QRF team on standby, so we’ll have to act fast.”
“Got it. How much further to the depot?”
“Still a few hour’s ride. Get some shuteye if that’s something you still do. I’ll let you know when we get there.”
Since he had nothing better to do but watch the same terrain race by at top speed, he leaned the seat back and settled in for a quick nap. He had a feeling once they got started, there wouldn’t be time for rest until they had possession of the tank.
#
Two swats on his bicep from Dez woke him instantly. He scanned around quickly for threatens before his entire body let go of the sudden tension it was clinging to. Dez gave him a gentle smile. “Easy. We’re here. Ready?”
He nodded, removing his hand from the hilt of his pistol. Leaning back, he fumbled the door open and blinked as his implant adjusted to the light because it was dark. The dust was still settling behind them, swirling and gusting. The wind had a small bite, like bothersome gnats thanks to the kicked up sand mixed with the soft wind.
The metal hood of the car above the engine pinged intermittently as it cooled off. Dez circled around to the front of the car, folding her arms and nodding to the train depot control building. “That’s our first stop, C’mon.”
As they searched for a way in, Jon forced open an old locked door, the metal lock popping after applying enough force to it with a hard metallic clunk. Gesturing for the others to follow him, Jon stepped inside, not wanting to assume the building was empty. Trash littered the area, discarded paperwork spread out across the floor and blown out of folders left on top of desks, and the remains of a building that used to employ people before the badlands overtook the region.
“So,” Dez started as she started inspecting the main control panel before glancing back at him. “What happened to you to warrant that? You don’t strike me as a full swap job. So I’m guessing that was injury response more than glam up.”
“Injury response,” he said. Unable to keep his amusement from showing. “Friend of mine peeled me off the desert floor after Haltech tried to tactical strike me dead. Put me back together.”
Dez nodded, her face contorted as she put pieces together. “So it’s personal then? This thing between you and Haltech?”
“Maybe at first. But, I’ve been coming to realize they’re too dangerous to be left alone for anyone’s sake. If no one stops them, they’ll stand a good chance of ruining everything.”
Dez choked a laugh back and apologized, “Sorry, you meant everything that’s left. If you haven’t noticed, we aren’t working with much.”
That was true. The badlands had been threatening to overtake the sprawl in Cap City. Only then did the city manage to engage in measures to push back the decay. What little good it was worth.
“So what happens when this is done? Say you get the best outcome you can. What then?”
He shook his head, uncertain. “I don’t know. Everything’s changed so much I couldn’t honestly even say where to start.”
“Is there a Mrs. Knight?”
“No. No, I never had time for relationships. They always got in the way.”
Dez smiled with a knowing look. “Married to your work type. Not a bad way to be. Those cities will chew you up if you don’t hustle. Although, Given appearances might show, that already happened to you.”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
Dez tried to roll the circuit over, but nothing happened. She slapped the console cursing in spanish and glanced around. “No power. We’ll need to find some fuses to feed this place some juice. We should check the basement. Scav’s will have picked the top floors clean already.”
She waited for him to follow her out of the dusty operation center graveyard. They walked through a long hallway that used to hold offices for upper level staff, a break room, and a records area. Dez traced a finger along a dirty picture frame holding an old painting of a train several centuries old and examined it for a moment before wiping it off on her jeans. For Jon, it just made him think of the barren nature of the badlands. Sites like these used to be small hearts, connecting the great cities together. Eventually, the decaying land and the rush to the remaining cities meant abandoning these hubs.
“So,” Dez said, verbally slashing the silence. “You mentioned this feud you have with Haltech used to be personal. What changed?”
“I’ve seen what they’ll do if they’re left unchecked. You know of Roth Industries?”
Dez perked up, “Yeah, a few of our boys are vets from the last war with China. Roth designed most of their chrome.”
“Haltech smashed Roth. Liquidated the company at gunpoint.”
Dez’s expression sank. “Fuck.”
“Yeah. That’s what we’re up against. If they aren’t stopped now, there’s no telling how far they’ll go.”
Dez studied him for a moment. “It’s more than that, though, isn’t it?”
Reluctantly, he nodded. “I was there when Haltech hit Roth. I’d agreed to help them with their security. We thought we stopped them, but Haltech injected one of their AIs into Roth’s network. Things fell apart after that. I did what I could to buy them time, but it was already a lost cause by the time we realized what was happening.”
Dez pushed off the wall she leaned against as he explained what happened. The pair of them made their way for the stairwell, descending towards the maintenance room at the bottom of the operations center. Jon forced the door open with a little effort. The lock cried out in protest as aged metal broke after reaching its stress point.
Sliding around him, Dez bolted for the workbench and started rummaging through drawers and boxes. While she poured herself into searching the dusty boxes, Jon did a quick visual scan to see if he could spot any kind of inventory or layout guide. Drifting towards a cleaner portion of the workbench, he shifted some yellowed paperwork around and found a clipboard that showed how the maintenance bay should be laid out. Assuming no one had touched it since they abandoned it due to it being locked.... he found where the fuses.
Opening the third drawer down and pulling a box out, he turned back to Dez giving it a jiggle. The contents rattling around inside. Dez turned, giving him an enthusiastic thumbs up.
“Nice work. How did you find them?”
“They have a layout guide for keeping it organized in here.”
“Nice work boy scout, let’s go light this place up and get our battering ram moving.”
It was a simple matter to slot the fuses and get power rolling back through the operations center. Dez guided one of the derelict locomotives to its standby position and the other Desperados got to work inspecting the engine to make sure the train would move. As they worked, she drifted out of the op center towards the back. Jon watched the others continue working on the train for a bit before he felt like he should probably check in on Dez.
Pushing off the control console, he wiped the dust off his hands on the sides of his jacket, then clapped it a few times. Small dust clouds puffed from his sides, leaving wispy wakes as he walked away. Rounding a corner, he found Dez leaning against a rail in the back of the operations center, overlooking a storage facility with a train graveyard sprawled out before them. He could imagine it running in its peak, the life and activity that died out to decay.
Jon slid in next to Dez, mirroring her posture to lean against the railing and look out of the badlands stretched out before them. The two of them stood in silence for a moment, taking in the moment’s quiet. It held a certain peace to it that the city came up lacking. Capital City often felt like they made it out of noise and madness. He thought of the badlands as something of a peaceful escape. It never came up wanting for silence.
“Something on your mind?” he asked.
“It’s funny. I spent so long dreaming this moment up. When we finally can protect our clan. We get hit pretty often. Rogue outriders and scavs mostly. Think they can come along and take a piece of us. We usually fight them off, but it comes at a cost. But this Hammer? That’s our deterrent. That big red sign that says Warning. Stay the fuck away from us or you’ll be dealt with.”
“I knew life in the badlands was rough, but I didn’t realize it was as bad as in the city.”
Dez nodded with a thoughtful expression. “Same shit, different backdrop. There’s always some asshole out there trying to ruin our day.”
He frowned, realizing that seemed to be a universal constant. Whether the guy wore scuffed up leather and had retinal-face distortion augmentations or wore a 1,000 credit three piece Italian suit. Silence took him over while he struggled with How he was supposed to respond to that.
“But now, thanks to your help? It all starts here.”
He winced at that. Could they really protect themselves if he was going to drag them into his personal war against the largest military industrial corporation in the continental US? “May want to hold off the gratitude until you see what survives against Haltech.”
She turned to study him for a moment and rested a hand on his. He tensed, unsure of if he wanted to jerk his hand free, but let it remain under hers. “We’re going to help with that because we want to. Because of what you’re doing for us. You might be an outsider, but you ride with us all the same.”
“I just hope I’m not marching you all to your deaths.”
Her hand slid to his arm, tugging him to face her. Her features were stern, but there was a softness in her eyes. An insistence she wielded that landed so alien to him. “That’s our call to make, and we’ve made it. You aren’t responsible for our choices. I’m not stupid. I know all this mil spec gear means you were probably a soldier or spook or something before. You’re definitely a merc. Those are pretty troublesome gigs to hold. You and Haltech, this beef between you two, it ain’t just between the two of you. Pretty soon it’s gonna spill out and be everyone’s problem if we don’t shut it down now.”
Her gaze dropped to his hands, black and semi-glossy compared to the smooth texture of his skin. “Besides, might come a way everyone might wind up looking more like you because of them.”
He flinched, looking up at her, but she held on just tight enough he couldn’t pull away. “Easy cowboy, I didn’t mean that as an insult as much as a cautionary statement. There’s nothing wrong with you. But you shouldn’t have had to go through this. No one should.”
She had a point, and he let his mind tumble down the rabbit hole she laid out. Still, he couldn’t help but feel himself try to assume a level of responsibility. It was part of who he was. He had to acknowledge that she and her people weren’t just soldiers or assets for him to use like pieces on a game board. They were human lives, with their own dreams and problems.
But then, isn’t this what he did to Sam? Spend him like currency? He clenched his eyes tightly at the thought. Bile bubbled up at the back of his throat in revulsion at the person he was. But not anymore.
“You know, ever since I got my ass half blown to hell, I struggled with feeling like I’m not human anymore. I initially thought it was because they had reduced me to a quadriplegic. I spent my entire life growing up fearing augmentations and the people who had them. To the point, I was even afraid of myself at first. Then come to find out I won’t wind up like my old man at all. More than that, I accepted all this as part of who I am.”
“But I also realized that my humanity isn’t just how much of myself was natural, but what kind of person I was. Sure, I checked the typical boxes when I was a soldier, but being an agent smeared a darker shade on top of who I was. Some of my friends are dead, and that’s my fault. This world, it twists us, warps who we are to fit the system.”
He shook his head, pausing for a beat. He was done playing by rules the system laid out for him.
“Not anymore, though. I used to think of all this like some elaborate game. And I was moving people around like game pieces. Spending them as tactically and efficiently as I could, trying to put off dealing with the costs later. But I don’t want to be that guy anymore. I can’t throw your people into gunfire, knowing you won’t all come back. I can’t ask you to come.”
Dez peered deep into his eyes, and that made him uncomfortable at first. To be studied so intensely. But after a moment, he leaned into it. This was who he wanted to be. Who he wanted to be seen as now.
“Good,” she said. “Because we’ve decided we want to help, regardless. Think of it as payment for services rendered. Knowing that’s not who you want to be is exactly why we have to come help you. There isn’t a lot of good left in this world. We should know, we’re the foremost authorities of what shit looks like. It’s literally called the badlands out here. So when someone volunteers to set things right, even a little, but it means assuming some risks too? We fucking answer that call. We’ll risk the fight if it means we got a chance of saving the half of your ass that wasn’t half blown to hell,” she said with a smirk.
“I don’t know what to say to that,” he finally replied.
“You say thank you, and then you kiss me.”
He blinked, unprepared for her forwardness. She smirked while rolling her eyes and leaned in to kiss him. Her lips were warm and soft against his. Her fingers gliding across his rough cheeks softly. For a moment, the world melted away, leaving just the two of them there, locked in that moment, locked in that kiss.
As suddenly as it began, it ended. She pried herself away, giving him a pleased look appraisingly. Spinning on her heels, she marched away, “C’mon on, boy scout.”
He followed her, after a moment’s hesitation, trying to make sense of everything, and the night was only just getting started.