After a puzzling series of turns, dog legs and double backs they finally reached what Wilde assumed to be the heart of the junkyard. Or at least where Chuck made his home. It was a clear patch of muddy earth surrounded with tall walls consisting of crushed cubes of what may have been vehicles at one point. Sitting in this clearing were several RV’s, all missing their wheels but otherwise in remarkably good condition compared to their surroundings. The windows were present and uncracked, the walls possessing only the occasional bullet hole, and they were all polished clean without a speck of dirt on them. Even the air in the middle of the junkyard smelt a modicum better, though the stinging smell of Redmond pollution never fully lifted.
‘CHUCK! Y’here?! Need ‘t talk ‘t y’! It’s urgent!’.
‘I hear ya, I hear ya. I’m commin’, I’m commin’.
A portly orc with a potbelly and shiny bald head trudged out of one of the RV’s wearing a severely stained set of grey overalls and a heavy pair of boots. The belt at his waist heaving with tools and pouches and the goggles around his neck completed the orc’s ensemble of the quintessential barren’s mechanic.
Pausing upon seeing Pedro, he looked him up and down for a moment in silent judgement before craning his neck up to look Kenda in the eye.
‘If ya want ‘t bring a joyboy over fer some fun y’ don’t need ‘t ask me fer permission. Just have yar fun, pay ‘em an’ make sure he don’t steal from y’ when he leaves’.
Kenda and Wilde both burst into spluttering protests much to Chucks amusement.
‘Damnit Chuck! Be serious! I need your help! Someone’s grabbed Kay!’.
‘Huh? Y’ mean yar kinda sorta not really but ya wish girlfriend?’.
‘Wh-yo-da-urghh! Yes! Kay! She needs help! We think we know the name of the gang that’s grabbed her but we need t’ know more about them! Can y’ help?’.
Chuck gave the sigh of an old-timer who’d heard the same sort of story a hundred times before, but his face took a more serious expression.
‘Wat’s the name o’ them then?’.
‘Nitro Mizuchi? Y’ know ‘em?’.
‘Nitro… Nitro … Nitro… Mizuchi? Hmm. Not a local gang… hmm, but there is that one chapter… Hmm, more’ve a hangout than a chapter though…’.
‘You know about them then?!’.
‘A little. They aint big players in Redmond, operate mainly out’ve Renton. But they’ve carved out a bit’ve territory here for when they want ‘t shoot some folks up without Lonestar Security commin’ down on ‘em’.
‘Where’s their base in Redmond damnit!’.
Wilde couldn’t hold himself back anymore. This was turning into their first tangible lead to finding Kay and the old man was just dragging things out. Kenda turned to look at him with frustration etched in her face, but he ignored her and pressed Chuck further.
‘We need a location! Numbers! Capabilities! And we need them Now!’.
The old orc bore a steely gaze that cut through Pedro’s anger. The old man showed no more concern over his frustrations than he would a fly buzzing around his head.
‘Y’ve showed up at my home, uninvited and ‘re makin’ demands of me? Listen kid. Only reason I haven’t turned the security turrets on y’ is cause y’re with Kenda. I’m helpin’ her out. You can just keep quiet’.
There was no room for dissent in the old timers’ tone and Pedro was smart enough to not threaten the only lead they had to Kay any further. He kept his jaw clenched and his mouth shut, as much as it annoyed him.
‘Now. As I was sayin’. Only a few’ve ‘em operate in Redmond. Come’n go outta an old, gutted mall south’ve here. Round… hmm, I wanna say 542nd Avenue-ish? I dunno. Don’t deal with ‘em. Hear some things though. Meant to have some kinda ties to the Yaks, but I doubt it counts fer much. It’s more like a buddy of a buddy’s brother is a low-level member kinda thing. Still, gives ‘em some connections ‘t a bigger outfit. Better than some barrens gangs can say. Does mean they’re better armed than y’d think for their size. Y’ thinkin’ about taken a swing at ‘em?’.
‘We need to. We’ve gotta get Kay back from them before it’s too late’.
Chuck let out a sigh and seemed to deflate for a moment before straightening up and looking Kenda in the eye once more. Pedro was entirely ignored.
‘Best take yer old man’s rifle with y’ then. An yer shotgun. An anythin’ else y’ can find’.
‘Thanks Chuck. This means a lot, honest. Anythin’ else you know bout these dreckheads that you think’d help?’.
‘Hmm…’, He rubbed his stubble encrusted chin with a calloused hand and once again looked over at Pedro, examining him in detail. ‘Y’ one o’ them magicy types?’.
‘Yeah. That a problem?’.
‘Hmph. Not t’ me. Might be ‘t the Nitro Mizuchi though. They don’t have any magicy types among ‘em. Least none ever come down ‘t Redmond. Might be an edge in yer favour’. Chuck shrugged non-committedly.
That was a major benefit for them if it was true. If the Nitro Mizuchi didn’t have any magically active members, then it meant they would have a massive hole in their defences that he could exploit. Summoning spirits, astrally projecting to scout ahead, and casting spells without having to worry about being counterspelled or having to counterspell others. It might have been the best piece of news Wilde had heard all day.
‘Hm. Other than that? Don’t have many in Redmond at any one time. Maybe fifteen of ‘em? I aint sure… Oh, another thing. ‘Member I told y’ the Nitro Mizuchi operate outta Renton? They do a little work as muscle fer hire, deal some novacoke, but mainly they steal an sell cars. They do a bit ‘o that down here too, but mainly they just drive about shootin’ places an people up. They aint locals an don’t respect other gangs borders. They deal’n steal wherever they want ‘t. Only reason the other gangs aint dealt with ‘em yet is their small time here, but a bigger deal in Renton. Nobody wants ‘t bring down heat they don’t need ‘t. Cause o’ that they don’t have much in the way ‘ve support from other gangs. No alliances an no friends. So, if you hit ‘em, none o’ the other gangs’ll be in a rush t’ help them out. But’. He raised a finger for emphasis. ‘Remember, the group here, they’re just a chapter o’ the rest’ve the gang in Renton. Y’ hit the mall, they’ll call the rest’ve the gang. So whatever y’ do, don’t stick around’.
Pedro considered everything the old orc had just said. He couldn’t be sure he was correct, but he didn’t have anything better to go from, so he just had to trust Chuck. And if what he was saying was true then it looked like they stood a chance of getting Kay back. Fifteen potentially heavily armed gangers weren’t nothing, but if they lacked any sort of defence against magic, if they didn’t have immediate backup, if he and Kenda could get the jump on them? They had a real shot of saving Kay.
Glancing at his commlink Wilde could see it had been just under two hours since he got that message from Kay. If they had a location now and moved quickly then they might be able to reach Kay before the gangers handed her over to MCT. That was of course unless they had already done so. Pedro’s throat felt tight and sore as he thought to how he arrived at the scene of her kidnapping too late to save Kay. He wouldn’t be late again.
‘Ok, I’m gonna grab some stuff from my place. You-‘ Kenda pointed a large finger in Pedro’s chest. ‘Stay here, and don’t do anything!’.
‘Nope. Y’ brought ‘im here y’ keep an eye on ‘im. Don’t have time ‘t do it maself. One of the wrecks brought in had a battery that went up in flames ‘bout an hour back. Only just put it out. Now I’ve got ‘t check through the other two that came in ‘t see if they’ll ‘splode too’.
‘Sigh. Fine, let’s move Wilde’.
‘Oh, and Kenda?’.
‘Yeah Chuck?’.
‘You see any devil rats on the way in?’.
‘Umm- ‘
‘We saw a couple of dead ones lying in the path. Some regular rats scurrying about too’.
‘Ah dreck. Make sure ‘y take the bodies an’ dump ‘em outside the yard. Dead devil rats just bring more of ‘em lookin’ ‘t feed. Nasty lil’ critters’.
With that Chuck trudged away down one of the many passages formed between the mountains of scrap metal and obsolete technologies leaving just Pedro and Kenda.
‘The frag was that about!’.
A giant hand shoved Wilde on his shoulder and left him stumbling, though uninjured. He regained his balance before squaring up to the mountainous troll, an act that had him bending his neck up to make eye contact.
‘What?! I thought you said you didn’t want him to know you missed a couple of devil rats!?’.
‘Not that dreck-for-brains! I told y’ not t’ get Chuck agitated! Told y’ t’ just stay quiet!’.
‘He was taking too long! Did you forget we’re on a time limit?! Just grab your guns and get moving! We need to head out to 542nd Avenue and start looking for malls!’.
‘Raahhh! Fine!’
Her fingers curled out like a tiger’s claws and Wilde wondered if Kenda had taken the popular augmentation of having blades implanted in her fingers. If she did, she never brought them out. Instead, she jerked her head towards an oversized RV and marched towards it, not paying any attention to whether he followed or not.
Making his way in Pedro looked about the once but no longer mobile home. It was sized for a troll and fairly spartan, the only furniture inside was that which was built into the RV, and the only attempt at decorating it were the occasional faded posters of various birds stuck to the walls.
Hearing some rummaging sounds coming from behind one of the doors Pedro made his way to look and see what Kenda was doing. But before his hand reached it Kenda burst out with a rifle in hand. He wasn’t an expert in firearms, but Pedro had picked up a little over the course of his Urban Brawl career. It seemed to be a bolt action hunting rifle with an oversized grip, trigger and buttstock to make it suitable for a troll to operate easily. The polished wooden stock struck him as an unusual feature, but he figured that was because it was more of a hunting rifle as opposed to the more combat focus weapons he was used to. The scope mounted on top of the gun appeared to be high quality from what he could tell as well, so even if Kenda turned out to be a poor shot it could if nothing else serve as a telescope if nothing else.
‘You a good shot with that?’.
A smirk flashed on her face before returning to its usual stoney façade.
‘Yeah. I’m a good shot with it’.
‘And that’s all you’re bringing? You know these gangers won’t just hand Kay over to us’.
‘I got my shotgun in the truck an’ my Aries Predator on me’.
She gestured to the gleaming pistol holstered at her belt. It was one of the most popular semi-automatic pistols in the world, in no small part due to the integrated smartgun system they all came with. It gave a user who was wirelessly connected to it (which Kenda with all her cybernetics clearly was) constant up-to-date information relevant for how to take the best shot, trajectory information, wind speed, heat build-up, material stress. There was even an integrated camera that the user could use to look and shoot around corners if they chose to. It was an extremely useful system, but one that his own weapons lacked. Useful as it was, all the information floating in front of his eyes always distracted Pedro more than it helped him.
‘How ‘bout you? You ready for goin’ up against these Nitro Mizuchi bastards?’.
Wilde opened his armoured jacket to reveal the Browning Ultra Power and the Ultimax 70 holstered within. The Browning was a powerful handgun similar to the Aries Predator but lacking the smartgun system. The Ultimax 70 was a fully automatic machine pistol that also lacked a smartgun system. Neither were top-of-the-line models like Kenda’s guns, but they were both well maintained, and he was sure of his skill with them. Or at least he was with the pistol, the Ultimax he had less experience with.
‘Though honestly, I prefer my spells to guns’. Wilde manipulated a tiny fraction of mana to form a small sphere of flame before quickly snuffing it out. ‘But it never hurts to be prepared. I’ve got my katana on my ride as well in case I need to get up-close’.
Kenda gave a dismissive snort.
‘Think I’d rather have a gun than a sword in a fight’.
‘And I’d rather have a spell, but like I said, options. And besides, the katana’s not going to run out’ve ammo’.
That statement gave Kenda pause for a moment before she turned around and started to rummage through a cupboard. She brought out a hefty metal baseball bat and gave it a few light practice swings before lodging it in her belt.
‘Alright, now I got my melee option. Let’s move’.
Pedro gave a sharp nod and left Kenda’s RV followed by the troll herself. They retraced their way through the labyrinth of the junkyard with her leading once again to ensure they didn’t get lost or separated. Wilde mused that if it had been under different circumstances then he would have actually enjoyed wandering through the place. He had no interest in scavenging from the rusting corpses of vehicles and machines so degraded that their original purpose was lost to him, but he did enjoy a puzzle. The entire place reminded him of old pictures he’d seen of elaborate garden mazes made of hedges, features of the estates of the last generations elite. The decadence was appalling, but Pedro would have been lying if he’d said he wasn’t interested in seeing what it would be like to explore such a maze himself. The junkyard struck him as very much the barrens equivalent of such a structure. At least this had some purpose beyond being a toy of the super wealthy.
Tossing the devil rat carcasses over the fencing the two leapt into the pickup and soon as Pedro was in the truck Kenda immediately sped off, an act that he had come to expect now as he swiftly shut the door and put on a seatbelt. He studied the area outlined by Chuck as being the likely spot for the Nitro Mizuchi’s base in Redmond on the map generated by his commlink. There was no such thing as an up-to-date map of the barrens, the only one his commlink could find was from more than forty years ago in the 2050’s. There was no sign of any mall being in the vicinity of 542nd avenue but that didn’t strike Pedro as odd. Even before Redmond fell fully into the urban wasteland that it now was there had been two matrix crashes that had caused worldwide disruption and loss of data. The records for the building could have been lost in a number of ways, all that mattered was finding it.
Centring himself in the truck as Kenda drove through the ruined streets of Redmond Pedro felt the faint link between himself and the spirit, he had summoned earlier to look for Kay. It hadn’t discovered her location, but he redirected its efforts towards the area Chuck had suggested. The spirit also appeared to accept this as a refinement of its original orders and so did not expend another of its limited services.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Taking a breath after having communed with his spirit Pedro considered if there was anything else that he could do to give them an edge in rescuing Kay. They needed to get there as fast as possible, but he didn’t want to reach her only to discover that they were heavily outmatched. Gangers like the Nitro Mizuchi he could deal with, especially if Kenda could give him some covering fire. But if there was a corporate security team already present then things would get very bad very quickly. While in terms of quality corporate security teams ran the gamut from glorified rent-a-cops given the cheapest equipment the corps could get away with to ultra elite one-man armies kitted out with bleeding edge technologies, the real danger was what they could bring in.
Reinforcements.
Whether it was additional forces from MCT or calling in Lone Star Security which was the corporation that was meant to enforce the law in Redmond, corporate forces would be able to bring in allies to the fight ahead. Wilde wasn’t afraid of having to fight his way through to Kay, if anything a part of him relished the thought of being able to punish the people who’d torn her shoes off, put a hood over her head and dragged her away to be forced back into a life that she didn’t want. But he wasn’t stupid enough to not recognise that in a battle of attrition, he and Kenda would eventually be defeated. Even if they rescued Kay, if there were already MCT forces present it would be vital to lose them before going to ground and hiding.
It struck Pedro that he had been so focused on rescuing Kay that he didn’t have a fixed plan for what to do afterwards. They might get Kay out of MCT’s clutches for the time being, but if they knew her general whereabouts they would undoubtably continue to harass her. Getting her out of Seattle was probably the best move to make, as would be getting her a reasonable fake SIN to elude background checks. He frowned at that as he realised, he had no knowledge of where a safe place could be outside of Seattle. He’d never left the metroplex his entire life, it was all he knew. He was willing to leave it behind for Kay, but without any understanding of the world beyond Seattle he feared that he would end up leading her into more danger.
Then there was the matter of getting a decent fake SIN for Kay. He could probably find somebody given enough time, but that was the one thing he was lacking most. It would probably take days to find someone to do the job, and even more before one would be ready for her. In that time MCT could be hunting through the whole of Redmond for her. And even then, for a rush job like what he would be asking making a fake SIN would be expensive, probably more than he could come up with in such short notice. Then there was the matter of nuyen they would need to start up a new life in another city. Wilde would happily sell everything he owned to help set himself and Kay up somewhere new and safe, but he suspected that even doing so would not give them much nuyen.
Without realising it Pedro had once again begun playing with his mother’s ring on his finger, twisting it around subconsciously. With no other options and no better time, he turned to Kenda who was focused on driving away from the junkyard.
‘Hey, you still in contact with the smugglers from the Cascade Orc tribe?’.
‘…not really no’.
There was a terseness to Kenda’s voice that Wilde chose to ignore for the time being. He was more interested in getting what help for Kay that he could than the cybered-up trolls’ feelings.
‘You’ve got to know somebody. A commlink code? An old buddy? Someone who owes you a favour? Anybody’.
‘NO! I don’t! What’re y’ getting’ obsessed with the Cascade Orcs’ for anyways?! We’re on our way ‘t get Kay remember?!’.
‘I do! That’s why I want to get in contact with somebody who can get her out’ve the metroplex. Even if MCT hasn’t grabbed her it’s not safe for her here anymore. She needs a new fake SIN, a good one. Kay’ll probably be better off leaving Seattle for a while, maybe permanently, I don’t know. What I do know is that to do that she’ll need transport out’ve the city. That’s the sort’ve thing those smugglers in the Cascade Orc tribe do? Right?’.
‘…’
‘Hello! You paying attention?! This is important!’.
‘Yeah! So’s not crashin’ into a wall!’.
He slammed into the car door as Kenda took a turn sharper than he thought was necessary.
‘Ouch! Damnit! Ugh, look I’m right though, aren’t I?! They could get her out’ve Seattle without MCT finding out, couldn’t they?’.
Kenda gave out a weary sigh that made her entire body heave.
‘They don’t do people much. Mainly freight shipments, or at least the group I was with, but yeah, they move people on the down-low too if the price is right’.
‘And? How much is it? Can you do anything to knock the price down?’.
‘Hey! Look! Moving a person aint cheap at the best’ve times an’ this’d be a rush job. They charge extra for those. I can’t do a damn thing t’ change their minds on the price. I’d be lucky if they’d even talk t’ me at all’.
‘What’d you mean?’.
‘Urgh! You need me t’ spell it out for y’?! I got blacklisted from the Cascade Orc tribe smugglers an’ kicked out’ve my home! Only reason I’m in Seattle is cause I’ve nowhere else t’ go. Chuck an’ my old man go back, so he hit me up an’ offered me a place to crash for a while… But no one from the tribe’s contacted me since I wound up here. Not even my old man… Maybe they could help Kay get out’ve the city, but I wouldn’t be any help with that. If anythin’ I’d be a problem’.
Half collapsed buildings and ruined husks of vehicles rushed past slower than they once did as Pedro noticed that Kenda had begun to drive slower than she had been. They were still making good pace and it might have just been there were more obstacles and turns to make that were causing her to slow the pickup, but Pedro doubted that.
‘Kay… She never said anything about that… Just said you used to run with the smugglers out’ve the Cascade Orc tribe out in the Salish-Shidhe Council out east and now you were here’.
‘Kay… She’s good like that. Knows I don’t like talkin’ ‘bout it. Outside’ve Chuck she’s the only person that knows why I wound up in this stinkin’ city’.
Pedro was curious as to the reasons that led Kenda to a city she didn’t seem to like, but he was hesitant to press the issue. They had bigger priorities and whatever the reason if seemed… personal. Not something Pedro wanted to intrude upon. But it was because of Kay that he felt compelled to learn the reason. He wanted to understand if there was something he should know before he went into a life-or-death situation with Kenda at his side. He’d heard about heavily cybered people experiencing violent psychotic breaks due to a dissociation with the rest of metahumanity brought on by their overly augmented forms. A normal person was never intended to mentally interact with machines, to move with superhuman speed, to see through digitised eyes. The mind wasn’t designed to cope with things like that and after a certain point they just snapped. If their bodies didn’t simply die due to rejecting the mass of machinery that they couldn’t support.
‘Why… why did you get forced out? I want to know. If I’m going to be running into a firefight with a bunch of heavily armed gangers with you, I need to know I can count on you’.
‘I’m doin’ this for Kay! Y’ can count on that! It’s not… It won’t… Sigh. Know what, fine, I’ll tell you. Not that it matters a damn thing… So, back in the Salish-Shidhe Council territory I was born int’ the Cascade Orc tribe. Grew up in a small village out in the middle of a forest. Hellva lot better than this smog filled dump. Anyway, while there were more “legal” jobs in the area most folks in the Cascade Orc tribe get involved in smugglin’ t’ some extent. We’re right next t’ Seattle which is a big hub city state in-between all these other territories. Too lucrative t’ pass up is what all the old timers say. I used t’ just work movin’ crates an’ stuff. I’m a troll, even if I wasn’t in good shape, I’d still be able ‘t move stuff easy. It was easy but paid for shit. But I wasn’t some sliver tongued devil, I’m not that good a driver an’ I aint no pilot. So, I started to look for jobs as muscle. Again, troll. I’m big enough ‘t look intimidatin’, know how ‘t hold a gun an’ I can keep my trap shut durin’ a meet’.
Kenda frowned as her face darkened as she slipped back into memory.
‘Did some jobs an’ started feelin’ pretty good ‘bout myself. That’s when this guy, Ron Lightfoot came ‘t me. His old man’s Stan Lightfoot, basically a cross between a village elder and the guy responsible for all smugglin’ that goes through our village. See Ron comes t’ me and says how he’s lookin’ t’ put together his own smugglin’ operation. Lookin’ ‘t hire on some young blood for his outfit. Like me an’ some’ve the other younger folks workin’ for the smugglers. Y’ see, most smugglers don’t like workin’ with folk they don’t know, they tend t’ work with the same teams whenever they can. Makes it harder for someone startin’ out ‘t get much decent payin’ work. Ron says we’ll all get a fair share workin’ for him, more than we’d get workin’ for the established smugglers. Says Stan’s fine with it. Ron said he’d give’m a cut’ve profits, but we’d still be walkin’ away with a bigger pay-out than we would workin’ for Stan. Sounded too good t’ be true. Shoulda known it was’.
She shook her head and swerved to avoid what was either another passed out drunk in the middle of the road or a corpse that was fresh enough to not have been scavenged by ghouls and devil rats yet.
‘Anyways, like a fool I say yes. Our first job was meant t’ be some sort’ve deal that Ron managed t’ make with the elves out in Tir Tairngire. We were meant t’ be collectin’ a big shipment’ve ammo and deliverin’ it t’ Seattle. An’ when I say big, I mean he had three big trucks ready t’ move em’. We we’re gonna be rich an’ show everyone back home that the guy’s they all looked down on an’ treated like kids managed ‘t pull off a job that they wished they coulda got’.
‘Things went down bad?’.
‘Yeah. Yeah, they did’.
The pickup rumbled over a road that was closer to gravel than asphalt, distracting Kenda for a moment as she had to focus on not getting stuck. Once they were over it though she resumed her story.
‘Should’ve known somethin’ was up when we got t’ the pick-up point. It was outside our tribe’s territory, so we didn’t know the place that good. When we got there though it was in the middle of a narrow valley with sides too steep t’ drive up. Only two ways to come an’ go from it’.
‘That’s important?’.
‘When you’re arrangin’ a meet its generally better ‘t have it someplace that’s got a lot’ve exits. Easier t’ bolt if somethin’ goes wrong. Even I knew that, but Ron said it was fine. So, we get there, but no elves. We weren’t worried ‘bout it though, Ron had us turn up early. So, we start gettin’ ourselves ready, organisin’ stuff so we can just load up an’ drive when they turn up. I was on the perimeter, keepin’ a watch goin’. Things seemed fine but hours go by an’ there’s still no elves. Ron starts lookin’ worried, keeps checkin’ out his commlink, tryin’ t’ make calls that don’t go through. But he has us stay put. Says we aint goin’ nowhere till we get our shipment. I switch with one’ve the guys guardin’ the biggest truck so he can take a piss. Couple of minutes after I do it turns into a dreckstorm’.
A still burning car blocked the road they were on forcing Kenda to turn around and find a different route, but she barely seemed to react to the obstacle. Pedro could also tell that her driving had significantly slowed down now from its previous breakneck speeds, though they continued to make good progress.
‘Never even heard the first shots fired. Just saw Jess an’ Annie collapse at the edge’ve the perimeter. Both of ‘em were barely in their fraggin’ teens… The next shots we all heard. Loud ones, the kind y’ hear from guns that’re mounted on vehicles. Then I spotted some drones in the air above us. Tried t’ take a few pot shots at ‘em. Don’t know if I hit anythin’ though. Then… everythin’ went t’ dreck. Everyone was shootin’ but I couldn’t make out who was shootin’ at us. These… things, spirits? They looked like guys made’ve fire just appeared outta nowhere throw a fireball or two then disappeared afore we could hit ‘em… whole place stank of burin’ meat quick enough… An’ this laughin’ just echoed everywhere. Couldn’t make out from where, but it was constant. This arrogant, mockin’ laugh… I hated it. Just wanted ‘t strangle whoever it was. But I couldn’t. Couldn’t do a damn thing. Don’t know exactly what happened next, there was just shootin’ an’ screamin’ an’ dyin’. But then I hear the truck next t’ me rev up an’ I dive into the back’ve it. It starts ‘t speed away, bullets punchin’ through it the whole time, but it keeps goin’. I keep shootin’ out the back, tryin’ t’ hit somethin’ an’ eventually I see one of the bastards. It was an elf decked out in milspec gear, just smirkin’ this arrogant little smile as we were speedin’ off’.
Over the trolls face a grim grin slowly formed as she clearly relived the memory.
‘So, I take my pistol, line up the shot an’ I blow that fragger’s brains out. Never been as happy t’ make a shot in my life’.
‘Wait. You’re saying that you shot some sort of elf soldier in the head from a speeding truck? How far away were you?’.
‘Only ‘bout fifteen feet ‘r so. Not sayin’ that luck didn’t play a part in it either, but it was still a damn fine shot. His buddy that went over t’ him though, he didn’t seem as impressed. Na, he just pulls up this big frag off grenade launcher, points it at me, an’ well I don’t remember anythin’ else after that other than… this intense pain an’ this… chemical smell that burned… Then just darkness’.
‘…And then what happened? You clearly didn’t die’.
‘No… No, I didn’t. I was unconscious for what happened next, but from what I was told, Ron was the one who got in the truck an’ started drivin’ it. Sped all the way back ‘t the village and runs t’ his old man in the middle’ve the place bawlin’ his eyes out. Tells him everythin’, and everyone in the village can hear cause it’s the middle’ve the day an’ everyone’s about. An’ at some point someone hears a noise from the back’ve the truck an’ finds me, or what’s left of me. They reckon I got shot with some acid grenade thing, ate away most’ve my flesh. Miracle I survived they say…’ She gave a dismissive snort. ‘Ron didn’t even know I was there, just tried t’ save his own hide an’ kept on blubberin’. But his old man Stan, he kept his head ‘bout ‘im. He realised how bad this all was for im’self. It was his son that’d caused all this. Apparently Ron’d never done a proper check into who it was he was dealin’ with, never even tried. Said they “valued their secrecy” an’ pay extra ‘t keep it. Turned out they were a bunch’ve psycho racist elf nobles who were lookin’ for a chance ‘t kill a load’ve trogs. An’ Ron just served us all up. By time the tribe’d managed t’ send up a team ‘t see if there was anyone else alive it was too late. Everyone died up there cept me an’ Ron…’.
The giant woman took a deep inhale of breath and collected herself as she continued driving down the urban battlefield that made up this part of the Redmond barrens, the sounds of gunshots audible, but never within sight.
‘Stan, he knows how bad this is. His kid just got over twenty of the villages’ kids killed, two of their biggest trucks ‘re gone an’ the third is shot ‘t pieces. Oh! An’ I forgot the best bit’ She barked out with a mirthless laugh. ‘Ron ‘parrently made a downpayment for the ammo he was meant ‘t be collectin’. So, he paid with money he “borrowed without askin’ for” from his old man. So, Stan’s paid for the privilege of havin’ a bunch of young kids killed. Tryin’ t’ save some face, he makes a big show ‘bout how he want’s t’ do right by me. Makes sure everyone knows he’s havin’ me taken ‘t Seattle ‘t have my wounds treated in a professional hospital, an’ he’s footin’ the bill for me’.
Darting across the road a devil rat appeared. Kenda swerved the pickup to drive over the creature, resulting in a sickening CRUNCH as it was crushed underneath the speeding tires.
‘He had me sent over through his contacts. I don’t go t’ an actual hospital, but one’ve the better street docs he does work with. An’ they get t’ work puttin’ me back together. Cut off most’ve the dead or damaged flesh, which was most’ve it, includin’ my eyes. They replaced it all, machine eyes, synthetic muscles, brand new cybernetic nervous system. Even slapped on a datajack in my head for good measure an’ grafted dermal platin’ ont’ my limbs an’ chest’.
Her voice, once loud and abrupt now turned to as low as a whisper barely audible over the roar of the engine and the anarchy of the barrens.
‘When I finally wake up from what happened on Ron’s damn convoy… I’m like this… I feel… different. I’m not me... Everythin’ feels new an’ strange an’ I don’t know what’s happenin’. They wound up havin’ t’ drug me just so I didn’t smash outta the buildin’.
Kenda took deep, gasping breaths now, but her eyes remained fixed on the road, and she continued driving without stop. Pedro wanted to do or say something but didn’t know what. Instead, he remained silent.
‘When I come to next, the doc explains all the cyberware in me, how it works an’ why it’s there. Then Stan Lightfoot comes in, tells me ‘bout what all went down an’ how he’s the one that paid for me t’ be treated. Then he tells me that I can’t go home again’.
‘What! Why!? That doesn’t make any sense’.
‘Did t’ him. Y’ see, what happened was a bad thing, an’ Stan wants to cover it up an’ have everyone forget about it. I reckon he’s afraid that some people might start questionin’ if he should be the one runnin’ things back home if folks don’t forget about what happened. Sent Ron off t’ Spokane or thereabouts workin’ as part of another smuggler crew. An’ I got stuck here’.
‘I don’t understand, how can he stop you from going back home though? I mean what can he do if you turn up? Pretty sure if he tried anything everyone there would just toss his hoop out’ve there, right?’.
‘Wrong. Remember Stan basically runs all smugglin’ in that area, an’ is on good terms with a lot’ve other big smugglers. He told me that he’d had me blacklisted. Nobodies gonna wanna work with me if I go home, at least if I’m doin’ smugglin’ or somethin’ related ‘t it, which back home is damn near everythin’. Sigh, so here I am…’.
‘No, but how can he blacklist you?! You weren’t the one who organised that dreckshow, it was his own son. You probably helped save that Ron guy’s life by shooting from the back’ve the truck, how’s anything your fault?’.
‘Cause Stan wants it that way, that’s why. I was on security an’ I didn’t see the damn elves surroundin’ us. Didn’t organise a proper defence for folks there. Just panicked like everyone else an’ the jumped in the back’ve the only truck that was headen’ out. I might not’ve caused it, but there’s enough blame ‘t be laid at my feet. Enough for Stan ‘t be able t’ convince other smugglers that I’m too much trouble ‘t take on. Even if I did go back home… there’s plenty’ve people who’d be askin’ why I got ‘t walk away from what went down and their friend, or brother, or sister, or kid or whatever didn’t. Its dreck, but it is what it is’.
She turned down a blown-out alleyway that had become a makeshift road to avoid a flooded sinkhole that covered half the original road down the street they were driving. Silence rang through the pickup as she performed the manoeuvre with even the ever-present sounds of violence in the barrens quieting almost in respect for her testimony of the past. Once they were thought Kenda continued speaking.
‘Anyways that’s how I wound up in Seattle, an’ that’s why I can’t go back home. Also, why if we do try t’ contact smugglers t’ get Kay outta this city I shouldn’t be involved… Happy I told y’ now?’.
‘…I’m… I’m sorry. About what happened to you. Everything… That’s… that’s a lot of dreck for a person to have to deal with…’.
He felt that there should be something more he should say to Kenda, some words to help sooth her pain. Pedro couldn’t come up with any however, he had always been more a man of action rather than of words. He just sat next to her, helpless in the face of the immutability of the past.
Wilde looked at the pale troll driving them towards the rescue of the woman of their dreams in a newfound light due to the revelations he had heard. He had always thought less of people who were heavily cybered up, seeing them as little more than desperate addicts longing for a fix of power, willing to carve out their own flesh and essence for it. The thought of it being something inflicted upon a person without their consent was something that had never occurred to him before. What’s more, Pedro hadn’t thought of how cybernetics could be necessary for a person to live. He had only ever seen it as something gangers and wageslaves chose to do to themselves to gain edge against their competition. But for someone such as Kenda, someone who would have died without lifesaving cybernetics Pedro started to realise that there was no choice for them. Only living or dying.
These were new thoughts and concepts that he was attempting to try and process, so he almost didn’t notice the small signal that ran through his brain caused by the spirit of man that he had summoned hours ago. But not quite.
‘WOW! WOW! WOW! Stop the truck! Stop it Now! Now!’.
Brakes screeched in a painful cry and tires skidded and partially tore up the crumbling asphalt that made up the road beneath them as Kenda’s head snapped back and forth, her right hand already unholstering her pistol.
‘What is it!? We been made!? Is it Nitro Mizuchi!?’.
‘No. No, it’s Kay! I’ve found her! She’s still in Redmond! She’s still alive!’.