With his scouting of the area complete he returned to the abandoned mall that housed Kay and the gang members that kidnapped her. There were the same number of people on top of the roof as before and in the building proper there were still the same mix of half of the gangers patrolling and the others grouped close to where Kay was. Wilde paid more attention to the patrolling groups this time, looking to see if he could discern any routes and more importantly any holes in said routes that they could take advantage of.

From what he could tell there were no set groups or routes that the gangers were following. Some would walk with a person for a while only to go off by themselves and join another group later. Some made loops of the entire building, others just wandered around a small part of it. The chaotic nature of the “security” for the building made any chance of infiltration practically impossible, but it did suggest to Wilde that the group had little in the way of organisation. That boded well for Kenda and himself as if the gangers weren’t well organised then there was a good chance that a strong, aggressive attack from the pair might be enough to get the group panicking, maybe even scaring some into running away. They didn’t need to kill everyone in the Nitro Mizuchi, they just needed to get rid of the ones between them and Kay. He couldn’t see any sign of the mystery spirit that he glimpsed last time he checked the place leading Pedro to assume that it had been passing through and wasn’t part of some hidden magical defence. The fact the gangers behaviour hadn’t changed was further proof of this.

Thinking of spirits though got his mind working. A plan started to take shape in Pedro’s mind. One to maximise chaos among the gangers and lower the risk to him, Kay and Kenda.

Just as he was turning away to return to Kenda and tell her of what he’d observed and his burgeoning plan, Pedro spotted one of the gangers moving towards Kay. Without thinking he rushed to her side despite seeing the spirit of man still hovering next to Kay, ready to defend her.

Whilst astrally perceiving Pedro couldn’t hear anything, nor could he make out any but the most general of actions. He’d be able to tell if a person was lifting something up, but he couldn’t see if someone was playing with their commlink or their gun. The ganger who had entered seemed to be talking to Kay, or perhaps they were just staring at each other.

Pedro stared at the newcomer in turn and studied him in as much detail as he could. Judging from the aura they were male, human, not magically active in any way, and had significant cyberware installed throughout their body. Most likely a cybernetic right arm given the faintness of that particular part of his aura. There also seemed to possibly be some cyberware in his head as well, cybereyes perhaps? There were even blotches of grey stretching through the rest of the man’s aura as well, but Wilde couldn’t guess what it all was. He made a personal note to keep an eye out for any gangers that matched that description.

From an emotional standpoint the man’s aura showed he was utterly confidant and joyful, with slashes of excitement and sparks of lust running through it. So strong were his emotions that they slightly bled into the surrounding room an otherwise barren place aside from Kay’s presence.

The figure didn’t stay for long, less than a couple of minutes by Pedro’s reckoning. Once he had presumably said what he had wanted he turned and left, utter satisfaction and anticipation dripping off his aura before it dissipated into the greater astral. When he was gone Pedro looked to Kay and his heart broke.

Her aura evoked equally powerful emotions, but only of fear and despair. Before there had been anger and hate in her, but whatever the figure had said to her and broken her spirit, now the vivacious woman that he had fallen in love with was wallowing in the utmost misery.

He wanted to hold her. To tell her everything would be alright. To let her know that she’d be free of the nightmare soon. To hear and see her in the physical world.

Despite how much he wanted to though he resisted the temptation to manifest before her. As much as he wanted to let Kay know that he and Kenda were nearby, he wanted to ensure the success of their rescue mission more.

Letting himself have one more quick look at Kay’s dread laden aura Wilde then returned to his own body. As he left though, he took a moment to find and examine the astral signature of the man who had spoken to her. The person had joined the rest of the of gangers nearby, but they were distinct enough for Wilde to make them out. He burned the man’s astral signature into his brain, memorising the tiniest detail of it; if he escaped their attack Wilde wanted to be sure that he’d be able to identify the man.

In less than a second Pedro was back in his physical body, an expression of grim resolve on his face. He still had some misgivings about what was going to come next, but an insignificant amount compared to how he felt before.

Exiting the truck, he jumped into the back and pulled his katana off his still strapped down bike, attaching its scabbard to his belt. Pedro then made his way to Kenda who was cautiously examining the area for any potential threats which he now knew there were none.

‘Hey! Did a check, we’re clear for now. Nothing but some devil rats hiding in the buildings’.

‘That’s good, I guess. I’ll lock’er up an’ we’ll head out then’.

‘Actually, I had an idea about how we could attack the place’.

‘Oh? Let’s hear it then’.

‘It’s the same as yours to a point. Taking out the guys on the roof and storming the place. But I think I could help us out by summoning a spirit and having it start attacking the gangers closest to Kay just as we head in. I could also levitate myself up to the roof as well after it’s been cleared out and let us attack from two points, one which they wouldn’t be expecting. From what I could make out they don’t have much in the way of patrol routes so I’m guessing if we hit them hard and fast, they panic and run’.

Kenda stood in silent contemplation for a moment, carefully mulling over his words as she toyed with the rifle in her hands. Pedro wanted her to reach a decision quicker, they still didn’t know how long until the corps would send some people out for Kay, but he appreciated the fact that this was a serious choice. Kay’s safety and life could hang in the balance of it, it wasn’t something to be made lightly.

‘Your spirit, can it sneak in there without bein’ spotted?’.

‘I’ve got one looking over Kay just now. They won’t see it until it manifests to attack, which’ll be when I tell it to’.

‘Hmm… An’ that other spirit aint gonna let anyone take Kay outta that room?’.

‘It’ll fight anyone that tries to do that. If they all open fire on it, eventually it’ll dissipate, but it should hold them off until we get there’.

‘An’ the spirit y’r thinkin’ve summonin’ how strong’ll that be? Could it take out all’ve the gangers there?’.

‘Probably not if their as well armed as Chuck says they are. Spirits are difficult to harm without magic, but it’s not impossible if you’ve got enough firepower. Still, it should take out a good few of them and they’ll panic, not having a clue what’s going on, they won’t be paying attention to us when we come in and start heading their way. What do you think?’.

‘… I think it sounds good. But I don’t like the idea of us splittin’ up when we go in. Too easy for one’ve us t’ get overwhelmed. An’ Kay’ll never let one’ve us leave if she knows the other is in there somewhere’.

Pedro gave a crooked smirk at that.

‘That’s true. But I won’t be able to levitate the both of us up. I can only lift so much and your too heavy for me’.

‘Heh. Never liked bein’ carried anyway. So that leaves us goin’ through the bottom an’ workin’ our way t’ Kay’.

‘Sounds like it’.

‘Y’ get an idea’ve how t’ get t’ her when y’ went back there?’.

‘I’ve… a basic idea of the layout. It’s difficult to equate directions from the astral to the physical world. There’s no way of reading signs there and landmarks are difficult to judge’.

‘So that’s a no then?’.

‘I know where she is! Second floor, west side! I just don’t have an exact layout of the building. It’s an old mall anyway, it shouldn’t be too hard to navigate’.

‘Well, then less get goin’ then’.

The pair crept down the abandoned streets strewn with a generation worth of refuse and rubble. They clung to the shadowy back alleys and side streets as they made their way towards where Kay lay captive, striving to keep the element of surprise on their side. If they lost that then their chances of saving her drastically diminished.

It took them less than five minutes to finally see the building, a three-story affair with most of its windows shattered or stollen a long time ago. The building may have been white at one point but years of exposure to the polluted Seattle air had stained it a sickly shade of yellow. The entire building reminded Pedro of nothing less than a giant rotten tooth.

Gesturing for him to stop, Kenda took out her rifle and gazed down its scope. Her finger remained off the trigger however as she studied the building, paying special attention to the roof and the people on top of it.

‘Looks like this’s the place. Hmm… all’ve ‘em’ve on the roof got assault rifles an’ machine pistols from what I can tell… A couple’ve got cybereyes as well… Can see some walkin’ ‘bout inside as well but can’t make out much. Don’t see any cameras ‘r drones round though, so that’s good… This, this looks doable. I take out the ones on the roof, y’ sic y’r spirit on the ones inside, we go in hard with the shock an’ awe, grab Kay, head back here. Yeah, yeah, we can do this’.

Kenda sounded confident in her assessment, nodding to herself as she spoke. Pedro couldn’t help but wonder how her aura would look in comparison to her self-assured appearance after seeing it before.

‘Hey, can y’ use magic t’ take out some’ve the guys on the roof as well?’.

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‘What? Too much for you to handle?’.

‘Just wanna take ‘em out quick. Make sure they can’t warn anyone ‘bout what’s goin’ down’.

‘Hmm. Give me a second, I’m going to summon a new spirit first, I’ll see how I feel after it’.

He took a deep breath of air, the bitter aftertaste lingering in the back of his throat and centred himself. The last thing they needed was him summoning a spirit only for it to go rouge and start attacking them, that would ruin everything. Pedro cleared his mind and extended his will beyond the reality perceivable to most people, commanding forces to come to his aid.

The air around Pedro became fresher, not a more appealing smell covering up an unappealing one but rather the air became truly clean for the first time in decades probably. A breeze built up around him as well despite the fact there was no wind anywhere else on the street. The growing wind did not blow past him but gathered around Pedro in a small vortex before him and as it did so a tiny mote of a greyish smoke like substance formed in the centre of it. This too grew with the wind and as it did so it became apparent that it was not smoke but a miniature cloud forming, the spirit of air he had called forth.

Equal to Wilde in size if not shape it was a formless grey storm cloud in which small flashes of lightning could be seen within it. The spirit was fairly powerful by Wilde’s estimations, the equivalent of the spirit of man that was guarding Kay, a dangerous opponent for someone who wasn’t expecting it or possessing easy means of fighting such an entity. Like the Nitro Mizuchi. The process of summoning it had also been rather smooth without inflicting any sensation of being drained to Wilde. Unfortunately, he had only managed to gain one service from the spirit during the summoning process, so he would have to make it count.

Communicating with the spirit through the bond they now shared Wilde made his orders clear:

‘Without being seen enter the building before us and go to the largest congregation of people inside. Once I give the order you are to attack all of them with your full power and keep them engaged in combat for as long as you are able. There is a woman inside’, Pedro mentally showed it Kay’s astral signature. ‘She is being protected by a spirit of man. She, the spirit, myself and the person next to me are not to be harmed in your attack’.

For a moment Wilde considered telling the spirit to incapacitate the person he had seen talking to Kay. A part of him wanted to deal with that bastard himself, but he decided against it. The coming battle was going to be chaotic enough and it would be bad if the person was able to abscond with Kay during the carnage. He contented himself with the thought that the person would either be killed by the spirit he had summoned (either the spirit of man or air depending on his actions), or it would leave him badly injured enough that he would be able to finish him off at his leisure. Wilde hoped that he wouldn’t be one of the gangers who made a move to flee once the fighting started.

Dissipating into the air, the spirit faded from mundane vison and followed the orders given to it. Kenda watched the entire affair with a slightly concerned look on her face.

‘Is it… Did it work?’.

‘Yeah, it’ll lie in wait until I give the order. Then it’ll attack everyone in the building’.

Seeing the flash of concern on Kenda’s face Pedro raised a hand to stop her before she could interrupt him.

‘Except for Kay, me, you and the spirit guarding Kay’.

An impassive expression returned to the towering trolls face as she looked around, as if worried that the summoning had attracted any attention. Seeing that it hadn’t she turned back and looked down at Pedro.

‘Huh, that was it? Thought it’d be more… Dunno, like a bigger ceremony type’ve thing?’.

‘Eh, it can be like that if you’re binding a spirit. But if it’s a quick and dirty summoning for a spirit you’re only needing for a few hours it’s a lot more basic’.

‘So, uh, y’ good then?’.

‘Yeah, it was easier than I thought it’d be. I can help with the guys on the roof. But it might not be that effective, I need to see the target of my spells in order to cast them and they’re a bit far away. I could get closer, but then I risk getting spotted. What’d’y think?’.

Rummaging through the pockets of her armoured jacket, she pulled out a pair of binoculars from one of them, handing them to Pedro. They were oversized for him but adjustable enough that he was able to see through them well enough. He could make out the Nitro Mizuchi on the roof of the old mall clearly now and see how well armed they were. The assault rifles they had looked like old Colt M23’s, or some knock off of them, a mass produced, no-frills weapon that was just about the cheapest assault rifle a person could buy. They were a much more dangerous weapon than the decades old pistols and shotguns that most barrens gangers carried around with them, especially at their current range, but the fact that the guards for their base in Redmond were carrying bargain basement assault rifles boded well for him and Kenda. The Nitro Mizuchi might have had more firepower than some gangers in the barrens, but they were nowhere near as well armed as Wilde had feared. He’d been expecting snipers with 50cal rifles and underbarrel grenade launchers; this was a welcome revelation to him. And with an absence of any visible drones or cameras it seemed that the gangers weren’t as well equipped as they’d been warned. Perhaps the Nitro Mizuchi were unwilling to send much valuable equipment to this part of the Seattle metroplex, counting on their reputation to ward off most people.

‘So, they work alright with you?’.

‘Yeah. Didn’t expect you to be that prepared. Figured you wouldn’t need these between your cybereyes and the scope there’.

‘The eyes don’t zoom in crazy or anythin’. But the scope here does, y’r right ‘bout that. I just liked bird watchin’ back in the Cascade mountains is all. Always had my binoculars ready when I was headin’ out. Don’t have much need for ‘em now though. Seattle’s only got pigeons an’ gulls, an’ most’ve ‘em don’t fly ‘bout these parts. Still, old habits y’ know? Anyways, can y’ cast your spells or whatever holdin’ them? Y’ don’t need t’… I dunno wave y’r hands ‘bout or somethin’?’.

‘Wha?-no, it doesn’t work like that. I can cast spells fine without chanting or waving my hands about. Some people do stuff like that as a centring technique, but that’s more of a meta-, never mind. I can cast a spell and hold binoculars fine. Didn’t Kay tell you about some of this stuff?’.

‘No? I’m not a magic person, we never talked ‘bout stuff like that’.

For a moment Pedro was going to ask Kenda what they did talk about when they were together. He and Kay shared being magically active together, though it would be wrong to say that their entire relationship was based off that one detail. They both respected freedom as a higher concept and held common interests that were more academic than the typical Redmond resident, things ranging from philosophy to logic puzzles. He’d never given much thought as to how Kay and Kenda interacted before though, Pedro generally considered the troll to be a nuisance when he thought of her, on the rare occasions that he did so. He pushed such questions to the side for now though.

‘It’s – No, we need to focus. It’s what, four people on the rooftop? Two for me two for you. You ok with that’.

‘Yeah, yeah sure. We drop ‘em and y’ sic your wind… spirit thing on ‘em when we do. Then we rush up an’ make our way t’ Kay. I’m thinkin’ we just make for the main entrance there an’ bust in, guns, or spells for y’ I guess, a blazin’.

The mall turned gang base was a streets length away from them, if they sprinted to it, and with the rooftop lookouts dead and the rest of the gangers hopefully in disarray, they might manage to get to it without being spotted. The entrance to the building was perhaps once the main entryway for the pubic when the building was still a functioning mall, a well-maintained doorway of glass and plastics; now it was a blown-out hole in the structure, a cavity in the great rotting tooth before them wide enough to drive a truck through. That gave him an idea.

‘Hey Kenda, why don’t we just drive the pickup inside? That way’s big enough for it and it’d save us having to run back here with Kay before we leave. Give us a quicker escape’.

‘First’ve all, I drive my truck, there’s no “we” with that. Second, I thought ‘bout that but I don’t think it’s a good move. The gangers shoot the dreck outta it an’ we’re stuck out here. Plus, these guys ‘parently got a rep for car theft from what Chuck said. I don’t wanna get t’ Kay only ‘t find my wheels been jacked by some dumb ganger tryin’ t’ runaway from us. Na, better we leave it back a bit, hide it here an’ keep it a lil’ bit safe’.

Her response was reasonable and made sense to Wilde, so he nodded in acceptance.

‘Fair enough… So, how we doing this? On three or…?’.

‘Wait. First, we pick out our targets’.

She looked through the scope of her hunting rifle up at the roof. The gun was modified to be useable for a troll, but it still looked like a child’s toy in Kenda’s hands. That detail struck Pedro as highly incongruous to the violence that would soon transpire.

‘Ok, so I’ll take the two on the right, y’ take the two on the left. An’ that’s our left an’ right I mean’.

‘Yeah, I figured…’.

Pedro looked through his borrowed binoculars and set his sights on the top of the roof once more, looking at the two men whose lives he was about to end.

They wore blue faux leather jackets with stylised Asian dragons on them that were probably brightly coloured once, but the grime, pollution and general hard nature of the barrens had weathered them to little better than rags. One wore a faded red bandana on his head. The other had shaved his hair into a mohawk that he’d dyed neon blue, Pedro could just make out some green beads that were woven into his hair through the binoculars. The unaware pair were sharing a cigarette, talking about something or other, Pedro couldn’t read their lips.

Neither of them had any idea as to what was going to happen. The pair appeared utterly apathetic to everything around them consumed in their conversation which was beginning to grow more animated. They struck Pedro as profoundly unsuited for acting as lookouts, perhaps they were on the duty as a punishment? He would never find out.

‘Got a clean shot?’.

Mohawk was gesticulating wildly with his arms now while bandana played with the cigarette in his mouth, his hands never still. Neither of them were walking around now, they were easy targets.

‘…Yeah. I do’.

Wilde’s mouth was dry and everything around him seemed to be more intense than normal. The faint breeze on the air irritated his skin, the chemical smell it carried stinging his nose and clinging to his tongue, the detritus it shifted breaking into a cacophonous noise violating the prior silence. He could feel sweat beginning to bead upon his brow.

He’d long lost count of the number of fights he’d been involved in over his lifetime. And that didn’t include the many amateur Urban Brawl matches he had competed in over the last few years. Violence was a natural part of life in the Redmond barrens and Wilde was a true born native.

But this felt different.

For as long as he had lived Pedro had never been in a fight to the death. The other side might have wanted to leave him bleeding and broken on the ground, but actual premeditated murder was never on the table. Perhaps he was lucky that he’d avoided such a situation for so long in the barrens. He didn’t feel lucky though, not about this fight.

It wasn’t a fight where the other side knew what was happening, where both understood the stakes and could walk away if they wanted. This was an ambush, an assassination, cold and calculated. The men he was about to kill didn’t know they were about to die, or why. Pedro did. They were going to die to serve as a distraction, to help minimalize risk to himself and Kenda. It wasn’t personal, just expedient.

Would anyone be waiting for those men later in the evening? Did they have friends or family that would wonder what happened to them? Who would break down in tears at hearing about their deaths? Pedro thought of Miguel in the Charred Tigers, most likely fighting away in a street war right now. How would he feel if he found out he’d died just because it made things easier for someone else?

He began to feel lightheaded. Kenda’s voice cut through that though.

‘We go on the count’ve three. As in “one”, “two”, an’ we fire on “three”, alright?’.

‘… I get it’.

Gazing through the binoculars Pedro watched the two gangers burst into laughter at some shared joke. Blissful in their ignorance. He forced himself to focus. Focus on why he was there, why he was doing this, why this was necessary.

Kay.

That woman was the love of his life. The person that made the miserable squaller of Redmond that bit more bearable. When she was near everything seemed brighter. When they touched nothing else mattered. He needed her. He needed her to know how profoundly sorry he was that he was late in coming to her rescue before. How he wanted to never let her experience such a thing again.

‘One’.

Inside that building Kay was curled up in a ball wallowing in a near suicidal depression. She didn’t know that he and Kenda were coming for her. As far as she was aware they had just abandoned her, written her off as just another casualty of life in the barrens.

‘Two’.

Wilde imagined how she must have felt, how it must have seemed to her when she was chased down and captured off the street. Her commlink and even her boots torn away from her and destroyed before having a bag thrown over her head. He imagined the gangers treating her as nothing more than a payday for themselves, not even seeing her as a person. He envisioned the two men he was looking at as being part of the mob that hunted her down like an animal as burning hate began to foment within.

‘Three’.

BANG!