The Way of Death

by James Von Ohlen

  “Just radioed back to command. They’ve been advised.”

  “The constables will be ready to take us over there soon. Shouldn’t be more than a minute or two. Did the jammer work?”

  Reiji turned his head away from the men as he drew near. As the group of people he was using for cover passed in front of the soldiers, he changed direction and angled straight for the APC.

  “Cent-Sec property, asshole,” one of the soldiers said, directed at him. “Stay away.” He waved his hand, motioning for Reiji to go somewhere else.

  “Sure thing,” Reiji responded as he raised his hand and placed it on the biometric scanner near the door to the pilot’s compartment. It popped open with a hiss and men began shouting as he leapt in and closed the door behind him.

  The soldiers screamed orders at each other and they spread out around the APC, twenty or so in total, with weapons drawn. A few more filtered out through the large doors to the Mayor’s Palace. One carried a large data slate in one hand that he held aloft and pointed to as he smiled.

  Reiji found the pilot’s seat and linked to the APC through the neural interface. The engine’s growled to life and the chassis began to vibrate and hum beneath him at the barely contained power. He wouldn’t even have to get out to deal with these guys. He would just run them over and grind them into the dust beneath his steel treads.

  He smiled as he gunned the engine, aimed directly for the man holding the data slate high. If that wasn’t some indication of rank, then nothing was. And the best way to confuse men who followed orders was to kill the man giving those orders. If that meant driving the armored vehicle through the front of the Mayor’s Palace, then so be it. Reiji had made it thirty-five years without setting foot in Milton and he was willing to bet he could make it the rest of his life without doing so again.

  The APC lurched forward for an instant and then stopped, gears whining in protest. Angry red letters flashed across his vision.

  EXTERNAL ACTION-LOCK APPLIED

  “What the mother fuck?” Reiji’s voice filled the pilot’s cabin in protest.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” the man holding the data slate aloft smirked as he spoke. “This right here means you’re fucked.” He pointed to the data slate again and waved it slightly. “You can come out, or you can sit in there until you starve or we get a reset key to open the door. Your choice asshole. But the longer we have to wait, the worse it’s going to be for you and your friend.” He lowered the data slate and poked at it with a single finger.

  “We’ve got a truck loaded with soldiers pulling up in front of,” the man paused to read his data slate and tried unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh. “Pleasures of Meat? The place is actually called Pleasures of Meat,” he concluded through a fit of laughter. After a few seconds he managed to regain his composure. “Your friend will be in our custody shortly. For your sake and his, I suggest you surrender.”

  “Fuck,” Reiji’s response escaped his lips of its own accord as his mind raced. His hand brushed against the hilt of the broadsword secured next to the pilot’s seat. Things were about to get messy.

  Several more men exited the Mayor’s Palace. Five total and a mix of constables and soldiers. They approached the man holding the data slate and spoke to him in voices too low for Reiji to hear, but the Cent-Sec man nodded a few times and they ran off.

  “You’re running out of time, friend,” the officer spoke again as Reiji looked about the cabin. One sword wasn’t going to cut it. His eyes blurred as he sought out the boy’s sword. The oddly shaped one that the retard had thought looked cool, so he’d taken it to use. “From the aft,” the officer spoke again, this time to someone other than Reiji.

  Still plugged into his neural interface, the APC warned him of the approach of several men from behind, before it superimposed an image of them on his normal vision. His head swam with the sensory input and he felt like he was going to vomit until he pushed the input away. But the APC had warned him that five more men were slowly approaching the rear of the vehicle, carrying something that onboard systems identified as a plasma cutting torch.

  They intended to storm the APC after cutting their way in. Or worse yet, they’d just cut a hole in the side and throw some explosives in. And then scrape what was left of him out before salvaging the APC. More and more it began to look like this would be his tomb. Reiji looked into the back as something hit the outside of the rear door. He could swear he heard a pilot light, even though a plasma torch wouldn’t use such a thing.

  Reiji pushed himself from the pilot’s chair, unplugging the neural interface as he did so. He squeezed through the opening into the rear compartment and began rifling through the stack of med kits. He’d wanted to save them in case of emergencies, but if this didn’t qualify, then nothing ever would.

  The third kit he picked up turned out to be the one he was looking for. Grasping a syringe, he plunged it into his thigh and growled in pain as he did so. Warmth increasing to something like fire ran through his thigh and then spread through his body. For a moment he feared he would lose consciousness or cry out in pain. Both equally disgraceful to his mind.

  As the desired effect began to take hold Reiji looked down to double check that it had been the correct syringe. He smiled as he read it. Even drunk, he’d still been able to find it. Alcohol metabolism. In about five seconds the nanobots would be done burning off the alcohol in his system. He would be sober, but just moments away from the mother of all hangovers.

  Right on cue the headache set in. So suddenly that it forced him back on his haunches where he lost his balance and fell backwards, hitting his head on something. Something large and powerful and imposing. He looked up at the monstrous figure and began to smile.

  With eyes full of anger, Onryo did not smile back.

  MEN scattered before him like leaves driven by a hurricane. Onryo roared and the world trembled in fear.

  The five soldiers trying to cut open the rear door of the APC were flattened by the doors bursting open from the inside. One died instantly as the door slammed into his head and crushed it utterly, turning it to bloody pulp. The others tried to scramble out of the way, but only one made it.

  Reiji’s link to Onryo was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. The exoskeleton was an extension of his body. A missing limb that he hadn’t been aware was gone until it was put back in place. Every tiny sensation that it felt, variations in temperature and light, the passive scanning of the APC, the data streams moving in and out of the nearby Cent-Sec data slate, and the tiniest vibrations in the ground and the air all filtered into Reiji’s mind. And they all made perfect sense. As if the exoskeleton was another sensory organ that he’d had all along but had only just started using.

  His eyes picked out the tiniest details in everything around him. Alloy fists clenched the hilt of the Claymore and the sensation of absolute strength fed back into Reiji’s mind. He was acutely aware of his own body as well. Heart rate and O2 consumption was not something he had ever thought about before, but the data was there in the back of his mind if he wanted it. This was something he could get used to.

  In Reiji’s vision, data scrolled by on everything around him. Potential threats were outlined in red, so there would be no missing them. Attack options flowed by, each indicating that weapons systems had been disabled or lacked ammunition and power. A general warning that munitions levels were completely depleted flashed through Reiji’s mind in the blink of an eye and was gone as soon as it registered.

  Of course Cent-Sec wouldn’t be foolish enough to deploy one of their precious combat exoskeletons with a full load of weapons and ammo. Despite being expensive, it would be utterly stupid. Even with the proper training, it would be just too tempting to cut loose with lasers and armor-piercing rounds in the middle of a fight. After the first shot it fired, the exoskeleton would be obliterated by Overlord. And then Cent-Sec would be out a valuable suit and a trained operator.

  But none of those things were important.
What was important was that Onryo held the immense Claymore in his steel fists. And it was strong and sharp.

  The armored form of Onryo descended upon the screaming mass of Cent-Sec soldiers, massive blade swinging once it was clear of the rear compartment of the APC. The claymore smashed through the blade of one soldier, held up in a defensive posture as he tried frantically to regain his feet, and cut the top third of his body away from the rest of his torso.

  The swing continued in a wide arc, Reiji gripping the blade with both hands, and slammed into two men rushing to the aid of the fallen. They died badly.

  The assembled soldiers seemed frozen in terror, unable to move. They had been expecting to wash what was left of Reiji out of the back of the APC. Now they faced a combat exoskeleton in full assault mode. Reiji didn’t hesitate to set upon them. If their positions were reversed, he had no doubt they would have cut him down just as quickly.

  Another four men died as Reiji leapt at them, kicking one in the chest and sending him sprawling in the dirt with blood pouring from his ears, eyes, and nose, and bringing the great claymore around in another sweeping strike that cut down three men crowded together. Reiji laughed and his voice was cast outwards by speakers in Onryo’s mechanical jaw, giving his voice an even more ominous tone. He liked it.

  Men began to scream and flee, while one voice attempted to rise above them. The man holding the data slate. The officer. “Hold your ground,” he bellowed to no effect. “Form ranks and attack in formation! Hold, you cowards! Hold!” He screamed for all he was worth, being completely ignored by all except Reiji, who turned towards him. Onryo’s bulk lumbered towards the man, deliberately taking each step slowly. Reiji couldn’t see himself from outside, but he liked to think that the moonlight danced off of each razor edged facet of the exoskeleton. The way that men shrank away from him, that was a distinct possibility.

  Not every soldier was a coward though. Some were just plain stupid. A handful ran to the officer’s aid, crowding around him in a defensive pattern with swords held high. Swords that might as well have been toothpicks. Reiji surged forward and Onryo slapped them aside with an open hand, scattering them into a bloody mess and sending one through a nearby window.

  The man with the data slate was launched back and into the wall near the door of the Mayor’s Palace. The doors burst open yet again and a dozen or so constables stepped through, covered in fine looking chain mail and bearing quality steel blades. They took one look at the Cent-Sec officer on the ground and then one look at Reiji. All stopped where they stood, faces taut and eyes wide. One of them spoke to the others in a low voice, but Reiji could still hear him with the aid of Onryo.

  “Fuck this Cent-Sec cunt. Let the monster take him.” There were nods of agreement, and the men slowly backed into the Mayor’s Palace, pulling the doors closed behind them. The officer pushed himself up to a sitting position, leaning against the wall.

  “You fucking cowards!” There was real venom in his voice. “I’ll have you all hung for this.” Something about the way he said the words made it sound as if he actually believed it. That he was somehow going to survive this fight and bring swift justice to these men of the constabulary. Reiji laughed, and the officer turned back to him.

  “I’ll be taking that,” he opened one massive hand and held it in front of the officer while nodding to the data slate.

  “No you fucking won’t!” The Cent-Sec officer spit and leapt at Reiji with a knife in his hand. The exoskeleton instantly outlined it in red, indicating a high level threat. Reiji reflected on the fact that he had actually used the neural mapping abilities of the neural interface implant in his head to learn how to pilot the exoskeleton. At a time like this, it had turned out to be very fortuitous.

  Had he not done so, the suit would be difficult if not impossible to control. But his hand reacted with the speed of thought, shooting up and grabbing the officer’s wrist before crushing it to dust.

  The man screamed and the object fell from his hand and landed at Reiji’s feet. He ignored it for the moment and lifted the officer high off of the ground by the man’s mangled wrist. He looked the Cent-Sec man over and found what he sought. The data slate, still secure in his chest rigging. Undamaged thankfully.

  With great care, Onryo dexterously plucked the data slate from its spot in the combat webbing. Once it was secure in Reiji’s grip, he turned and hurled the man as far as he could. Which turned out to be a very long distance. Some fifty meters or so down the street the man returned to the dust covered street with a thud and lay unmoving.

  Screams began to sound from all around. People on the streets called for the constables and drew their own blades, prepared to defend themselves if need be.

  “Why the fuck are you still here?” Reiji shouted at them in general and then ignored them to see what the man had held in his hand that had been identified as such a threat. He plucked the weapon from the ground and the exoskeleton identified it as a projected force field knife. Reiji whistled as he looked at it. He’d never seen such a weapon in person before. Its potential for lethality was as far beyond his nanoforged blades as theirs was beyond a shiv carved out of wood.

  To say it was priceless was an understatement. The officer must have been a member of one of the ruling families playing at soldier to be able to carry such a thing around. Reiji tucked it into a compartment on Onryo’s waist.

  He turned back to the data slate and began playing with it. It took a few moments, but he was sure that he had unlocked the APC.

  Unfortunately, it still responded to the last command he had given it. The engines roared to life and the armored vehicle smashed through the front of the Mayor’s Palace and came to a stop completely within the entry chamber. From what Reiji could see, what looked to be the remains of at least one constable were ground into the treads. The floorboards groaned in protest under the weight of the vehicle before they broke and it plunged through and down to the foundation, taking most of the floor in the entry room with it.

  Reiji looked at the vehicle. It’s not going anywhere, he thought. Plus it would take too long to remove Onryo and be able to drive the APC. I’ll have to go get the boy like this, and bring him back here. A small compartment opened in Onryo’s chest and Reiji tucked the data slate there for safe keeping.

  Much further down the street, a group of Cent-Sec soldiers and constables were assembled, shouting unintelligibly at each other. Likely trying to decide who had command. As long as they didn’t get in his way, Reiji didn’t give a shit what they did.

  He began to run and overshot his turn in the street, not realizing how fast the massive exoskeleton could move. He tried to stop in time, but couldn’t, and he slammed into the side of a two story building, shattering the exterior and plunging inside.

  Drunk men scrambled and screamed, shocked at what they were seeing. Somehow oblivious to the carnage that had just taken place outside. A deep silence fell over the place and no one else dared move as Reiji regained his feet. Onryo’s face of divine anger passed over the crowd and as one they shrank back.

  “What the fuck are you cunts looking at?” Reiji said, the speakers in Onryo’s jaw put an even harder edge on it. Hard enough to send the clientele of the bar running. A notation in his field of vision from Onryo identified something hanging above the spot that the barkeep had just abandoned. He moved to get a closer look and it was identified in his vision as a classic-design revolver.

  Curiosity got the best of him and he reached up, taking the pistol from its perch. It was unloaded, but functional. A single caseless round stood next to the space where the weapon had been. He took both and placed them in a small compartment on Onryo’s waist.

  Someone walked into the almost empty bar and shouted a greeting, then froze when he saw Reiji. The man turned and bolted back out of the door, nearly tripping over himself as he did so. Reiji shook his head and turned back into the street, highlighting what he remembered as the location of the whorehouse with the ridiculous name in his
sight. His vision zoomed in on the building. Sure enough, there it was.

  Pleasures of Meat.

  And in front of it there was a Cent-Sec truck. The same type as the trucks in front of the Mayor’s Palace. The kind used to move soldiers and equipment. The boy was still there, likely facing them alone. If they had hurt him…

  Reiji paused at the thought. So what if they had hurt the boy? It would save Reiji the trouble of having to put him down later. But he couldn’t just stand idly by and let them hurt the retard. Reiji owed him far too much for that.

  He broke into a sprint again, covering the distance in a matter of seconds. This time he didn’t even try to stop. Reiji aimed squarely for the Cent-Sec truck, lowered his massive armored shoulders, and sent it flying with a broadside impact. The truck rolled sideways down the dirt street several times before coming to a halt. No one tried to crawl out of the wreckage, and what few people were still on the street saw the spectacle and ran.

  Reiji turned to the door leading into Pleasures of Meat. A sign, proudly proclaiming the name of the establishment, hung above the double doors. He laughed again as he saw it. What the fuck had they been thinking when they picked that name?

  He didn’t want to destroy the front of the building, out of respect for the service he had been given within. But right then, he wasn’t about to dismount from Onryo and walk in on foot and unarmed. The exoskeleton walked up the stairs to the double doors and they groaned in protest under its weight, threatening to give way but holding nonetheless.

  The doors were slightly ajar and the edge of one was broken, as though it had been kicked in. The bouncers that had greeted Reiji, Tod, and the constables upon their earlier arrival were nowhere to be seen. Onryo reached out and grabbed both doors, ripping them from the hinges in one smooth motion and ducking to pass through the frame.

  The reception area was smashed and the body of one of the bouncers lay in a pool of blood. Reiji ducked to pass through the curtains into the main room, coming up on the other side in a fighting stance. Ready to do battle. But it was unnecessary.