by Skyler Grant
Those words lingered for a moment.
"I'm back," Ismene said.
"Good talk?"
"I needed it. You’re rich, by the way," Ismene said.
"Liberty can't be paying me that well," I thought back.
"They aren't. It was Billy the Kid."
"Excuse me?"
"You left the vault door open and the bank destroyed. I guess he figured his employment prospects were toast and he was leaving in style. You got a fifty percent share of the biggest bank heist in SantaFe history."
That cowboy had a lot of sides to him.
"Now to do something good with the cash," I thought.
"Trust me?"
"With my life"
"Then I'm about to do a lot in your name. For now, know that the White Rabbit Corps will be on your side for this one."
"The White Rabbit Corps will also be joining us on this one," I said.
Diva coughed. "What?"
"You heard me," I said.
"I don't know them," Masque said.
I hadn't either. This was all Ismene.
Diva said, "They're crazy. Wonderland was a R&D Corporation back in the day, extinct now. The White Rabbits were their military arm. They copy their minds from one clone to another when they get killed, but they get degraded after awhile."
I hadn't known all of that.
"Can they do the job or not?" I asked.
"They can. I'm changing my vote to yes for the team getting double our normal rate. If you can afford to hire them, you can afford to give us a bonus," Diva said.
"Done," I said.
That let a subtle bit of tension out of the room. Suddenly we were all on the same page again.
"Where are we on equipment?" I asked.
"We stripped the other warehouse bare and have been inventorying it," Diva said.
"We've got an Iron Palmino—that was their vehicle. Three times the armor plating of our old truck," Hammer said.
"Guns on it hurt too," Giles said. It earned him a few chuckles.
"We also got their gear. Most of them were wearing combat armor better than anything we had. SantaFe current generation stuff. Great against small arms and standard rounds, but the more lethal stuff will get through," Diva said.
"Combat visors. Scrambler smokers," Sparks said. "Tech side, they had the good toys. I can fiddle with the frequencies on all that since they're likely to have the same stuff."
"Lots of rifles. Good stopping power, ammunition-based, but we've got plenty of rounds," Diva said.
"I've got the Pharosan shield generators and rifles from the factory too. We don't have any energy cells though. I tried to rig something, but came up dry. If we can get them working that will be two of each," Sparks said.
Those could be useful. We knew firsthand the strength of Pharosan firepower.
I keyed my Comm and transmitted the information on the facility over to Sparks.
"All of this and we haven't even looked at the terrain. Can you send a drone? Let's look at what we're going to be facing," I said.
It took about five minutes before we had a visual. It wasn't good.
This wasn't an abandoned warehouse and it wasn't even pretending to be anything other than a well-protected facility.
It had to have been a left over from the old corporate military conquests, or even the national wars before that. The entire facility was surrounded by a wall. Anti-air weaponry tracked our drone as it drew near to the compound. There were a lot of turrets and drones buzzing in the air. What I didn't see a lot of were soldiers. Perhaps only two dozen patrolling the grounds.
A lot compared to our small group, but for a facility of that size not many. They were mostly relying on their automated defenses.
Diva was staring at all of this with a thoughtful look.
"Having second thoughts?" I asked.
"Nah. It is what it is. You know this isn't going to be easy. I'm looking at all this though and they aren't even hiding, are they?"
I shook my head. "This is big, bigger than I've let on. These people want to expand their operations.
"We deserve the whole story," Diva said.
I guess they did. I hadn't really been concealing it, it just hadn't seemed relevant for the job to be done. They were my team though and they were about to risk their lives. They deserved to know. I told them.
"You realize this isn't going to change anything. If this is like you say, that’s just one facility and they’ll have a lot more. We're going to bleed and some of us are probably going to die, and tomorrow things will just keep going along," Diva said.
I didn't have an argument for that. Really, I couldn't disagree.
The real fight was with the corporations. It was with Bell and with Liberty and with those who mattered. I didn't matter, not anymore. I was just another Independent now. I also knew that I was Persephone. What had at first been a Goddess to piss me off was becoming more than that. I took my hits and I kept standing up. I got knocked down and I just kept fighting. I don't think I knew how to do anything else.
"I have a plan. You're so damned strong and you always have been and this won't be for nothing. I promise you. I won't let it be," Ismene said.
I trusted her. It also didn't matter. I'd have gone into this fight anyways.
"You're a Liberty girl, Diva. I know you hate them now, but that doesn't mean it isn't in your blood. You know the price of freedom," I said.
"Yeah. The blood of idiots," Diva said. But she rose to fetch her gun. That would do.
113
I took the team shopping. I'd thought we'd be fine with the take from the warehouse, but based on what we had, versus what we were facing, I wasn't satisfied. We needed to pick up some energy cells for the Pharosan weapons and going up against defenses that were mostly automated, I wanted to make sure we were prepared.
Fortunately I had Columbia's contact. It took us to the Perriwinkle, a vast underground marketplace. Being underground they actually managed some air purification. Heavily armed guards holding assault rifles patrolled the market. It was a sight meant to discourage trouble.
It worked, the vendors here not afraid to show wares. Tables were filled with brightly colored clothing, nutrient paste, and bits of electronics both manufactured and scavenged.
We were after weapons. That shop was on the corner of the market built into one of the walls. A shoddy-looking assortment of guns weren't much better than what we had. However, a code Columbia provided allowed us to check out the "surplus" stocks which were hidden away behind a solid door and a winding hall.
There was no comparison to the stock outside. Racks gleamed and holographic displays touted the specifications of the gear. The price tags made Diva wince.
A man that looked to be more accountant than soldier, dressed in a tweed jacket and a thick pair of spectacles, approached and shook my hand vigorously, "Persephone. Quite the fan, you were outstanding in your debut. Do let me know if I can help you to find anything. I'm Hermonious, the owner."
"Thank you," I said, a bit uncomfortable. I hadn't been recognized up until this point. While I might have shared a face with my online doppleganger, here I was wearing clothes. It made a difference. "We're looking for Pharosan energy cells. I can get you the specs. We're also going up against some automated defenses, if you have any suggestions."
Hermonious looked over the specifications that Sparks sent over and made a face. "Not their high end. I make some supercharged cells that considerably up the stopping power, but they'd turn these older generations to slag. I have some extended life versions though that should be compatible and give you around a thirty percent longer uptime."
That sounded good. I nodded and he keyed a few commands into his wristcomm.
"As for your automated defenses, scrambler bullets are popular, but they are mostly also rubbish. For the time they take to distort a system you'd be better off hitting it with your standard armor piercers," Hermonious said.
That was disappointin
g.
Hermonious caught my expression and held up a hand. "It doesn't mean I don't have solutions that will work. He brought up a display that depicted a weapon that almost looked to be a rocket launcher.
"Unwieldy," Diva said.
"Quite. Still, it is unparalleled at what it does. It fires subversion rounds. They're quickly able to penetrate a local network and seize control of linked devices," Hermonious said.
"All of them?" Sparks asked.
"Not unless their system is really antiquated. Still, you'll get the one you hit and usually pick up one or two other attached security devices in the bargain," Hermonious said.
"I can handle it," Hammer said. "How is it controlled?"
Hermonious looked the cyborg up and down, "Collective work. Do you have a target multiplexer?"
Hammer nodded.
"You're compatible. I can provide the routines. I only have three rounds in stock, but that should assist," Hermonious said.
I agreed. "Do it."
"I've also got a gift for you," Hermonious said. "Not from me, I'm not half so bold."
Columbia then, it had to be. Hermonious led me over to a table and opened up a wooden case. Nestled within was a pistol and hilt of some kind. They were of an unfamiliar design, although the pistol seemed to have a charging chamber on it much like the rapid-fire SantaFe pistol I was fond of.
"What am I looking at?" I asked.
"The pistol is a Silversmith. They were meant to be a Liberty upgrade on a SantaFe design, but proved to be considerably more expensive to produce. Few were ever made and they have become collector’s items. Ammunition is not a factor and stopping power is adjustable. At the highest setting there is around a thirty-two second delay between shots," Hermonious said.
I did love not having to be concerned about ammunition. I picked it up and it felt comfortable in my hand.
"The other?" I asked.
Hermonious extracted the hilt from the box and brushed his finger against a strip in the hip. With a thud a spear expanded from it.
I missed fighting with a spear. After our talk Columbia must have looked up my military history. My proficiency with a spear would have been noted.
"Fiber?" I asked.
"A rather unique alloy. This was the weapon of Tiberius Calidus, a Roma general that favored the spear. It is more durable than fiber weapons although you'll find it of similar effectiveness," Hermonious explained.
"That girl really wants to crawl into your bed," Diva said.
I'd prefer to think of it as she really wanted to make sure that I stayed alive.
I secured both my prizes.
"Everyone else, get what you need. Don't skimp on the defense, I want everyone coming back from this one alive," I said.
It was like letting a group of children loose in a candy store, my team loved their weapons and this was better shopping than they usually got to do.
Diva loaded up with guns. Big guns, little guns, I don't know quite how she managed to walk under all of them by the time all was said and done. Nobody would ever be able to say that she wasn't well-armed.
Masque went for a stealth suit and a sniper rifle. I had no idea she was a good shot, I really did need some kind of proper dossier on my team.
Sparks unsurprisingly went for a set of smart armor and an array of combat drones. With them he'd be able to survey the battlefield better than anybody and be well-prepared for any technical challenges.
Hammer went full-on for being a tank. The suit of heavy armor we found for him would stop all but the strongest of fire. In addition to the subversion gun he went with a pair of fiber claws for each hand. Extended, he'd be able to quite literally rip people apart, if he got close to them.
Finally geared up we set out. Ismene had already been coordinating with the White Rabbits and we met up with them at their staging area.
They were surprisingly uniform in their gear. Not a stealth suit or heavy armor among them. Each wore a strikingly similar set of medium armor and rifle, the symbol of a white rabbit head emblazoned upon their arm.
They all looked to be about eighteen. Fresh faced young men and women. I knew that to be a lie from what Diva had said. Clone bodies with old minds. They were here to be flung against an enemy and die. They'd done it before and they'd do it again. I could relate to every part of that, it was an unsettling thought.
"Ma'am," said their commander, shaking my hand. "You can call me Hopper. I'll be coordinating with you."
"You've seen the briefing on the opposition?" I asked.
"Yes Ma'am. Heavy automated defenses. Do you have a battle plan in mind or would you care to hear our suggestions?" Hopper asked.
It was strange to remember how much I used to dread the thought of being a commander instead of a soldier. It seemed Fate had worked it out for me to be both.
"We have a few Pharosan shields and a heavily armored vehicle. Those units will do initial engagement and draw fire. Then the White Rabbits, be aggressive and clear the way. Behind you will be my team and some Knights from Camelot," I said.
Hopper listened to all of this, "Not fancy, but it doesn't have to be. At least you're not afraid to get us killed."
"It's what you're here for," I said. They'd come back.
Hopper grinned at me. "Thought you'd get it, Ma'am. We're all fans of yours. Have you been counting them?"
I stared at him blankly.
"Your deaths, Ma'am. Your fans have. One hundred and twelve from the first time at the police station until that time Columbia shot you in the head."
That many. Only one felt real somehow, and that was one not even being counted.
That was the death of Alena Polias.
"What are you at?" I asked.
"Seven hundred and five. You've got a bit of catching up to do," Hopper said.
I guess I did. I'd get there.
114
I started things off with Hammer. We each had one of the Pharosan shield devices clipped to our belts that would afford us a few minutes of near-invulnerability under ideal conditions. However, these weren't likely to be ideal conditions, energy sapping rounds could drain our shields quickly and sustained fire would do a number on them as well.
They were expecting us. It was no shock that they were, Green knew what we'd stolen and must have known we might be able to find this facility.
Hammer focused his fire upon the turrets while I took aim at the drones zipping through the sky. His were the harder targets requiring a good dozen shots before a turret would begin to spark. A single hit upon a drone would neutralize one, but they were far more agile and evading the fire.
Diva spun in with our stolen vehicle and Sparks began to unload fire from the top cannon. That was when the White Rabbits stepped in. They fought with the courage of those unafraid to die and the intelligence of those wanting to make those deaths mean something. Within a minute of their arrival most of the aerial drones had been neutralized. Guards poured out of the building and took their place behind barricades.
That was when the Knights of Camelot arrived. All told Giles had only managed to find perhaps two dozen of the young knights willing to take up this cause, but what a crew. Each was heavily armored and as bold as the White Rabbits. I'd questioned Giles' wisdom in charging a heavy gun before, but here I saw that scene play out over and over.
It was swords against guns and the battle was not nearly so one-sided as one might expect. The White Rabbits were the first to fall. They were the squishiest of the targets on the field and the enemy knew it. I watched one body after another torn apart by concentrated fire.
My shield pulsed. If I didn't want to join them that meant it was my time to get somewhere they couldn't hit me. I ran for the enemy barricades. Three were behind it when I vaulted over and I extended my spear. I ran the tip through the throat of one of the guards before tearing it free and blocking a bash from a rifle of another. The third was trying to get distance enough to open up with her rifle and I dodged to the side just as a st
ream of bullets fired past me.
Here behind their lines I didn't have to worry about the turrets, but I'd given myself a different set of problems.
I drove my spear two-handed into the belly of the second guard and released it just in time to roll away from another spray of bullets. This time one of them caught me, the round stopped by the armor on my thigh although with a force that left the leg numb. I drew my pistol as I fell and fired several shots at her midsection. One caught her rifle which sparked and tumbled away. The rounds didn't stop her, she charged forward and caught me with a shoulder that crushed me against the barricade.
It was a blow that dazed me for a moment and she brought her head down onto mine with a crushing blow. I turned at the last moment to lessen the impact and brought up my pistol, finger sliding to adjust the penetration of the rounds. My next two shots penetrated her armor, causing her to jerk against me with the force of the blows, before falling off me as she got busy with the business of dying.
I reclaimed my spear and returned it to my waist before looking around to catch up on the rest of the battle.
Our new vehicle was on fire. I hoped Diva and Sparks had made it out intact. Several of the turrets had turned to fire on the others. Hammer must have gotten off at least one round with the subversion gun.
The day seemed pretty much won for us—until the mechs arrived. I didn't know where they'd come from, we hadn't seen them in the scouting reports. They were of Pharosan design, resplendent animal heads and ornate hieroglyphics adorning their frames.
Energy shields were rippling around them as they began to demolish everything in their path with streams of energy fire. The few White Rabbits left on the field died quickly.
We hadn't brought any energy sappers, it didn't seem like we'd need them.
I trigged my Comms. "Can you get off a shot on one of them, Hammer?"
"I've got a round left, but I don't know if it will do anything with those shields up," Hammer said.
"I've got a sapper gun," Diva said.
I took a moment to be thankful for Diva deciding to go so absurdly well-armed.