by Skyler Grant
That would be my first choice just about never. "This isn't come and be charming in the sense you'll be selling me like a piece of meat right?"
Columbia laughed and shook her head. "Hey, you want to fuck the brains out of Uncle Sam, be my guest. But no, Liberty is all about the entertainment and we do these things every so often. Be a little bit friendly and a little bit badass."
I could do that. "It sounded like there was a second part?"
"We're doing that bank robbery. SantaFe is behind that secret facility holding your friend and I want proof. We'll be doing a little storming and pillaging, and you get to show off your vault busting skills again. Making out mid-gun battle is optional, but desired," Columbia said.
Well, nobody would fault Columbia for being shy. I kind of wanted to see what she could do in a real fight.
"You realize I still don't have any real combat skills and never will," I said.
Columbia shrugged. "I saw that you're more than capable of making do. Make do."
"Deal," I said.
Columbia beamed a smile and snapped her fingers. "I sent the details over to your Comm. It doesn't seem to be a large facility, so at least you shouldn't have a large security presence."
"If it really is off the books like you say, they'll probably be well-equipped though," I said.
"I'd say that is a safe bet," Columbia said.
"Don't suppose Liberty has a supply of high-powered gear about to fall off a truck?" I said.
Columbia shook her head. "Not going to happen. Private facility or not, this is all a hobby project for you."
That was fair. Honestly I'd gotten more than I expected.
"Anything else?" I asked.
"I'll call you for the party and the robbery," Columbia said, and booted my connection.
I was hit with a deep wave of nausea when I came back. I was going into the Network way too much without enough sleep. It just kept getting worse each time. Just a little more. Once we had Masque back I could finally get some sleep.
I headed upstairs. Giles and the others were playing poker. The cards went down as soon as I made my appearance.
"Do you have something?" Giles asked.
"Tell me those connections are good for something," Diva said.
"They are. I've got us a location. Private facility, small but likely well-armed," I said.
"I'll accompany you, of course," Giles said.
That was good. He was armored like a tank. "Don't suppose you have a house armory we can raid?"
Giles hesitated and shook his head. "I fear not, madam. Would that I did. I may have a few other stout arms that I could call who would come to the aid of a lady in distress."
I weighed that. The more that we involved Camelot, the messier that things would likely become.
"No thank you, although we will welcome your aid. Gear up, everyone. We aren't going against amateurs here, gear yourselves accordingly," I said.
For me, that meant I couldn't just get by with the antique SantaFe pistol that had become a staple on my hip. I'd hold onto it, but I'd take a cue from Columbia and go with twin holsters. The new gun would be a Deathbringer. It was still of SantaFe make, all the best pistols were, but built around a completely different design philosophy. It held only a single round at a time and they were painfully expensive, and came in a variety of types. A sapper that could bring down most standard Pharosan shields, or a heavy penetration round that could put a hole in even Giles' armor.
104
We'd done what was by now becoming habit. Set up on a nearby rooftop so we could observe the structure where Masque was being held.
There wasn't a lot to see from the outside. A featureless warehouse in better repair than most, and locked up tight.
We'd seen a single guard patrolling the outside, but he didn't look like anything special, just your standard night duty guard doing his job.
"You're sure about this?" Diva asked.
"Reassure me," I thought to Ismene.
"Power consumption and data footprint is way too high for a warehouse," Ismene thought back.
Good. I didn't think Columbia would have sent me on a wild goose chase, but I still wasn't sure what to make of her. Sometimes she seemed the overindulgent Liberty stereotype to the core, but at others seemed astonishingly competent.
"We're in the right place," I said.
"They're drawing a heck of a lot of juice for a warehouse," Sparks said. Not too much slower than Ismene. Sparks was talented.
"We got a plan then, boss? We going to be playing nice with these guys?" Diva asked.
I'd seen what they were doing to Masque, and they were likely talented and heavily armed professionals.
"If they have a weapon make sure they don't get to use it. I'll handle the guard," I said.
Despite just authorizing killing, I didn't need to do that here. The patrolling guard was mostly there for show, whatever real defenses happened to be on the inside. It was easy enough to get behind him and deliver a sharp blow that knocked him out. I bound and gagged him while Hammer set a charge on one of the doors.
We readied our weapons and when Hammer blew the door we were ready.
The security inside the complex were as well. They must have been monitoring the guard outside and when I took him out moved into position, because as soon as the door blew we were under fire. They had thrown smoke grenades and the interior was shrouded in a thick haze that could only be seen through with specialized equipment. Smoke like this was unique, with specific filters tailored for each blend so there was no universal solution.
Not unless you had an AI with direct access to their visual cortex.
The interior seemed to blur in a disorienting haze of rainbow colors as Ismene experimented, and then suddenly clarified as she hit on the right one. I raised my Deathbringer and put a round through the head of a helmeted enemy just standing out in the open spraying fire with an assault rifle through the door. His body slumped backwards. I chambered another round as I rushed forward. I kicked the smoke grenade out the door.
"Down," Diva shouted from outside and I ducked as she fired off a burner towards the ceiling. The burner was short-lived but worked to suck in oxygen, taking the smoke with it. It didn't completely clear the entry, but mostly.
The warehouse actually had a lot in common with our base, except it was nicer. There was the makeshift rack of weaponry in one corner, the heavily armored assault vehicle, bunks and a rudimentary kitchen. I didn't see any chambers that might be holding Masque and the others, but like ours base this warehouse probably had a basement.
I might have gotten one of the defenders down pretty much for free, but the others weren't going down that easily. One had already made it into the vehicle and its heavy gun turned towards us and started firing. I dove for cover below a stack of crates that quickly began to dissolve under the fire.
Giles wasn't as terrified. That crazy, brave idiot was charging it with a sword. His armor was good, but it wasn't meant to stand up to sustained fire like that. It did enough for Giles to reach the vehicle and bring his sword down on the base of the gun, cleaving through the metal and causing a spray of sparks.
Giles slumped with blood speckling his armor. I hoped he’d survived, I didn't have time to worry about it. Diva was pinned down by two mercenaries and looked to have already taken a bullet in the leg. Hammer was involved in some battle of fisticuffs with another cyborg, who looked even more heavily modified.
"I'll help Hammer. Diva needs you," Ismene said. Teamwork, I liked it.
I only had one armor penetration shell left for the Deathbringer. I chambered it and rushed towards the mercenaries, letting off a shot. To my surprise it was dodged, the masked mercenary twisting his body so it just missed him. I recognized those instincts—that was hardwired programming. Beneath that mask I was facing an Olympian.
I hadn't ever considered that I might face any of my own people in combat some day. I knew the corporation had been broken up and those once emp
loyed on Earth were scattered. This soldier would have been of some important family to have the modifications, although obviously not important enough to have made it to Olympus Station. For now, I only knew he was on the wrong side and far more dangerous for his heritage.
We traded blows. The Olympian was well-armored and skilled, but so was I. My current set of enhancements was also the very latest Olympus had ever theorized. His—or hers— were probably from at least a decade earlier. I landed a full blow with all my strength against his throat and sent him stumbling backward.
"Down," Diva said again from behind me. I dropped to one knee as a shot fired overhead. The second mercenary who'd had her pinned was mid-swing at me and the blast from her weapon wreathed him in flames. Today she'd picked a massive rifle with combustible chemical rounds. I'd had my doubts about the choice, but it seemed to be chewing through the armor pretty well given the horrified screams of the mercenary.
I got a sense of the fight again. Hammer was beating the hell out of the other cyborg, who seemed to have lost complete use of his cybernetic arm. Sparks looked to be shot, but breathing.
I hadn’t got used to how different things were in the real world. In a virtual environment these results would have been considered outstanding. Now I was worried if Sparks and Giles would pull through.
"Help Hammer," I said to Diva, and moved towards a set of stairs in a corner. I was still concerned about Masque and felt I'd better find her sooner, rather than later. If they were really up to something seriously illicit here, there might be standing orders to clean up the evidence.
It was dimly lit going down the stairs and I was about to ask Ismene if the suit could generate some light when a muzzle flash lit things up. My reflexes kicked in, but in the narrow environment of the stairs there wasn't enough room. Several rounds hit me in the chest and I was pretty sure at least one penetrated my armor.
A few broken ribs and internal injuries meant I probably didn't have long left to remain conscious.
I braced myself against the stairs and leapt towards the muzzle flash. The gunner wasn't expecting it, I was able to get close. My fingers grasped beneath their visor and tore it off to reveal their face even as my other hand pulled out the Rapidshot pistol. At close range and against an unarmored portion of the body it did the trick just fine and the mercenary’s face was reduced to pulp.
I didn't see any others. There were six tanks here filled with some sort of fluid. I counted five women and one man floating within them, and one of them was Masque.
"Control panel to the side of the tank on the left. Make physical contact and I'll do the rest. You're going to be okay, one round nicked a lung, but I'm on it," Ismene said.
That didn't sound okay.
I had to take Ismene at her word though. My friend was a good doctor and given the suit and the nanotechnology, she really did know the state of my body better than I did.
"Damned right I do. I'm analyzing their armor too, so I can give you some upgrade options on yours. Just hold it together," Ismene said.
My vision was blurry and I was coughing up blood—but sure, I could do that. I staggered forward and put my hand on the panel. A few moments later the lights overhead came on and fluid began to cycle out of the tanks.
It took about ten minutes before the room was filled with sobbing, shaking, naked people.
"Columbia just called. Party in twenty minutes," Ismene said.
"Tell her I'm shot," I thought back.
"She says if you're alive enough to make excuses, you're alive enough to show up and to remember to be charming," Ismene said.
I just wanted a nap. Masque was free though, because of her. I guided the rescued upstairs and put Diva in charge of getting them some clothes and stripping the place bare.
I had a party to attend.
105
Running across town when you’re carrying major injuries is about as much fun as it sounds. We Olympians are made of tough stuff, but there are limits. I was still figuring out who I was as Persephone, but I wanted to be someone that paid her debts. Besides, what was the worst that could happen, I died? Been there and done that.
I secured myself to the table with just a strap against my waist, being careful of my tender ribs. My armor had already mended itself, but the flesh took longer. Then I was triggering access to the Network.
We were somewhere high in the sky, it was almost like looking down from space. It was a festive party already with energetic music pumping out and a dance floor alive. A bar was going with several flocking around it. It was an eclectic group with fashions colorful and outlandish. I looked around the crowd and spotted Columbia chatting with a few others. Columbia had gone for form-fitting spandex in red white and blue with a string of stars across one thigh in a superhero look. With her was a handsome man in a red, white and blue suit and enormous top hat, and a burly looking man in predictably red white and blue plaid.
"Persephone! You made it!" Columbia said excitedly, when I wandered near. She grabbed my arm. "We Liberty agents were just having a bit of a chat. This is Uncle Sam and Paul Bunyan."
"Hi," I said, giving my most cheerful smile. It wasn't that hard. I actually was feeling pretty good. I'd felt like death warmed over back there in the real world, but now that I was in the Network all those aches and pains had gone away. It was a bit intoxicating.
"Like the Eagle?" Uncle Sam asked.
I looked around for whatever bird he was talking about. Everyone was giving me that sort of look waiting for someone to finally get a joke. I finally did, the floor had felt strangely textured beneath my bare feet and I suddenly understood it was feathers. We were on the back of some massive eagle.
"You grow them big," I said.
Columbia rolled her eyes. "Don't get him started on the dick jokes. They'll happen. I'm going to borrow Persephone a bit and go do girl-power things."
The others waved and Columbia led me off towards where two women were talking. One was naked but for a string of heads about her waist and quite literally dripping with blood, the other was tastefully dressed in a flattering blue gown.
"Though you might like to meet a few of your other Goddesses," Columbia said. "Anat and Inanna here both work with Roma."
"I thought I got a bit screwed on the dress code," I said.
"Tell me about it," Anat said with a grin, and gave me a handshake. The blood didn't transfer at least.
"I got lucky there," Inanna said, shaking my hand as well. "I saw a bit of your opening act. Good stuff."
"These two are the two big badasses on the scene right now when it comes to Goddess figures," Columbia said.
"Does that change much? I actually don't know much about the whole sponsored hero thing," I said.
"We're expensive to sponsor, so there aren't a lot of us at any point in time," Columbia said. "I'm the third Columbia. I don't think either of these two have had a previous incarnation?"
"I haven't," Anat said.
"And I've been around since the start. First for Pharosa, then Versailles, now Roma," Inanna said.
"So why Roma? Don't they have their own Goddesses?" I asked.
"Roma likes fighters. They've got plenty of their own, but we do good work," Innana said.
I could respect that.
A man in a black cowboy hat and dusters approached and tipped his hat.
"Kid," Anat said.
Columbia gave me a warning look. I got the meaning. Whoever hero this was, I could tell he probably worked for SantaFe. They might well be here to scout out what role I'd just played in their facility just lost. With Columbia still planning her robbery, it wouldn't do to give too much away.
"Hope you ladies don't mind me interrupting. I just had to come over and rest my eyes on the latest and greatest Liberty had to offer," Kid said with a boyish grin.
"Persephone, meet Billy the Kid," Columbia said.
"Don't sleep with him. The bastard will steal your horse the next morning," Inanna said.
"Well
now, that only happened the one time and it all worked out," Kid said. "So how are you getting settled in? I hope Liberty ain't taking up every moment of your time. I know how demanding they can be."
"I find plenty of time to keep busy with my own projects. What about you? I can't imagine anyone keeps Billy the Kid in a box," I said.
I didn't know quite what reaction my barb would get, but I didn't expect the look of sudden thoughtfulness. "No Ma'am. I can't say they do. Good thing too, I never much liked being boxed in."
"Or paying for things," Inanna said flatly, with her arms crossed.
"They used to have a thing," Anat said. I'd noticed.
Columbia grabbed my arm and pulled me away just as the two started to get more into it. Kid didn't follow.
It was no good time to talk, not with this entire thing being live. We all had to watch our words and what we gave away.
A legionnaire approached, a particularly majestic-looking one.
"Mars, we were just going to get a drink," Columbia said.
"Then I'll join you. I saw you talking to two of our acquisitions," Mars said, and took my other arm.
Columbia forgot her own advice to be charming for a moment, looking distinctly put out. "Fine."
"So are you here to recruit me too?" I asked.
"You're not worth my time. Roma values warriors and you're a gardener with a nice ass," Mars said. "No, I'm here to insult you and make sure you know your place."
"Insult one of ours and our party again, and your place will be learning how well you can fly when I kick your ass off this damned Eagle," Columbia said.
Mars met Columbia's gaze and with casual contempt released my arm to grope one of my breast. "This Olympian whore isn't worth your time either."
I didn't let anyone treat me with that much disrespect. I instinctively pulled away and went to force him off, but here I simply couldn't use the same unarmed skills I did in the real world. Mars backhanded me with enough force that I felt my jaw break. He was immensely strong.
Columbia didn't hesitate. In an instant her pistol holsters were materializing around her waist and she was drawing them to open fire. Mars deflected the shots with one of his bracers and drew his sword to ram it into the chest of Uncle Sam, who was just stepping into the fray.