Many, many thanks go to Slacker for helping me refine this fic.
All chapters are availible on my page: http://templar.anifics.com/
Disclaimer: The characters in this work of fan fiction belong to their
original creators, and are not used for the purpose of monetary gain.
Saber's Destiny
By Andrew Wilson
Chapter 4: Shutdown
Morgan Koga stared at the monolithic Genom tower. For the past few
months, watching the building's steady glow of light had been her only
true hobby. It was a cold and windy December night, but her black and
purple hardsuit protected her from the elements.
It hadn't always been that way. Morgan had been born Kathryn Madigan,
and less than a year before had called the kilometer high, truncated
cone her home. Now, she was living in a small apartment in the city and
fighting against the company she had once served. The irony off the
situation still brought the occasional bitter chuckle.
The slight hiss of plasma jets brought her attention back to the here
and now.
"Aren't you supposed to be on patrol?" Sylia asked.
Morgan jerked one armored thumb toward the large humanoid shape deeper
in the roof's shadows. "Ahead of schedule. I figured I could stop for a
few minutes."
Sylia shook her head. "I wish you wouldn't be so casual about using your
motoroid. You shouldn't rely on its power."
"I don't," Morgan replied. "But since this suit has the mobility of a
beached whale, especially compared to yours, I need something with a
little more speed."
Sylia gave a resigned sigh as she joined Morgan in learning against the
support beam for an aerial bridge connecting a pair of skyscrapers
"Why here?"
Morgan shrugged (a difficult motion due to the hardsuit's design). "To
remember who I really am, and why I can't be her."
"I've finished compiling the latest simulator results," Sylia said,
getting down to business.
"Oh joy," Morgan said dryly, "more numbers saying I can't compete with
you."
"You passed level seven in the simulators," Sylia replied, "and your
marksmanship is better than mine."
"Yes, but you're able to beat level eight in the sim, and Linna breezed
by level nine."
Sylia chuckled. "Remember, Nene can't even pass level five, and Priss
barely passed level six on a good day."
Morgan shook her head. A day didn't go by, it seemed, when she wasn't
compared to the Knight Saber's lost member. It got annoying rather
quickly. A retort died on her lips when every light on the Genom tower
went dark.
"What the hell just happened?"
Sylia glanced at the darkened monolith. "This does not bode well."
"You have a real talent for understatement, you know that?"
"No time to argue," Sylia stated. "Let's go."
Morgan didn't waste any time as Sylia's flight pack propelled her into
the sky. Instead, she rushed to the Volcano and closed the cockpit
around herself. In moments, she was following Sylia through the night.
*******
Mackie Stingray was franticly typing away at a terminal when Sylia and
Morgan returned to the Silky Doll building. The two women rushed into
the lab, not bothering to remove their softsuits.
"Mackie-" Sylia began.
"I know," the boy interrupted. "The Genom tower dropped off of every map
half an hour ago. Everything is down! Power, phones, satellite
connections, even water and sewage. Nothing is going in or out."
"How long can they stay that way?" Sylia asked Morgan.
"It's self-contained," Morgan explained. "A pair of nuclear reactors no
one knows about in the sub-basements, environmental systems like they
use on the space colonies, and hydroponic gardens."
Sylia continued the line of thought. "As well as automated defenses, an
army of boomers, and corridors large enough to drive buses through."
"Of course," Morgan replied. "Nothing but the best security, and you
expect those lazy bastards they call executives to walk though that
place?"
"Police?" Sylia asked next.
Mackie shook his head. "Regular and Advanced Division units are
mobilizing, but I don't think they know anything more about the
situation than we do. The units on scene have reported that all
entrances and exits have been sealed off with blast plating. They're
also using the Highway Patrol for manpower."
A beeping from the secured line (one that went though several
substations, a couple of radio transmitters, and a satellite relay to
disguise its designation) caused all three in the room to jump. Sylia
walked over and picked up the handset, making sure to engage the vocal
scrambler first.
"Yes?"
"I assume you know about Genom," Leon McNichol stated, "so I'll cut to
the chase."
"Please do," Sylia replied.
"Shortly after arriving at Tower, I was approached by a trio of Genom
executives, apparently the only ones outside when this happened. They
want to hire you."
"Why did they ask you?"
Leon's voice held a touch of wry ammusement that was noticable even
through the scramblers. "Apparently, that little incident about a month
ago has then thinking that there's a connection between the AD Police
and you."
Thousands of possibilities flickered though Sylia's mind. "Where?"
Leon gave an address. "One hour, and they said only one member of the
team."
"Understood," Sylia said before setting the phone back in its cradle.
"You're going," Morgan stated.
"Of course," Sylia replied. "To see what they are up to if nothing
else."
"I've called Nene and Linna," Mackie said. "They should be here in
plenty of time to go with you."
"No," Sylia said, "I'll go alone, like they asked."
"You actually trust those bastards?" Morgan asked incredulously.
"Of course not," Sylia said with a smile.
*******
There were three of them. Plus a security boomer in a camouflage shell
stationed at each corner of the room. Sylia watched the three
executives huddle in the middle of the warehouse. Even through the
skylight, she could tell the men were under a great deal of stress.
They were using some kind of audio jammer, so most forms of
eavesdropping were rendered useless. After a few minutes, Sylia decided
that she had seen enough of their agitated gestures. She set her
thrusters to slow her fall and jumped through the skylight.
Of course, the instinctive need for a dramatic entrance met the
unyielding armored glass that Genom was marketing as the perfect
solution for security. Sylia almost lost her balance as her heals
impacted the two inch thick plate instead of breaking through. Both
boomers and executives immediately looked up, the latter moving back
several steps. Without missing a beat, Sylia set her left cannon to
short range discharge and punched the skylight below her feet. The
charge was released in a flash, and the plate shattered beneath Sylia's
feet.
"Was that really necessary?" one of the executives asked when she
landed. He was the youngest of the three, with long brown hair tied
back in a ponytail.
"You requested this meeting," Sylia replied in a cool tone, "get to the
point."
The second man picked a briefcase off the ground. He could have been
the first man's twin, except for his short, graying blond hair. "It's
very simple," he explained as he unlocked the case, "we wish to hire
you."
The case popped open, revealing a dozen small cards set in foam lining.
"These will allow you to access up to fifty million American dollars
from several Swiss banks," Blond continued. "However, they are
timestamped. You can't use them for another week. If you do not
initiate operations within forty-eight hours, the access number on these
cards will be nullified."
"What's the job, exactly?" Sylia asked, all the while drawing up plans
for the money, beginning with Fargo's bookkeeping and Nene's computer
hacking being used to erase all traces of the transfers.
The third executive finally spoke. He was a giant, with a clean-shaven
head and a rumbling bass voice. "We wish for you to extract the Chairman
from the building, investigate what happened, and evacuate as many
employees as possible, in that order."
"What's to stop me from killing Quincy myself?" Sylia asked.
Bald smiled. "Because you are a businessman, or woman as the case may
be. Also, given the lack of incidents involving the Knight Sabers since
the attack on ADP headquarters, we're guessing that you are short of
funds."
Sylia considered the problem, and added a few extra variables into the
equation. "Very well."
*******
"So," Morgan said an hour later, "we're working for Genom now?"
"Hey," Linna objected, "we're talking fifty million here. Think about
it."
"Actually," Sylia said, "we could possibly be talking about a great deal
more than fifty. But I can't be sure at the moment. What I can say is
that the man was right, we can't afford not to take the job."
"So where're the cards?" Nene asked.
"I dropped them off with Fargo," Sylia replied. "He'll be checking the
case and cards for homing devices. Then, after we are able to access
the money, he'll be handling the transactions, as usual."
"So when do we go in?" Morgan grumbled.
"Late tomorrow," Sylia replied. "That should give us time to gather some
more intelligence on the matter, as well as a few other resources."
"How are we going in?" Linna asked. "Just us, or-"
"That's why we need the intel," Sylia interrupted. "It's been four hours
since the shutdown, and all that seems to be happening is that there are
an unusual number of combat boomers patrolling the outer walls. They
might be hostile, or it might just be some new test. I'd rather not
take any chances."
"I'll start checking the security files," Nene said. "The computer core
at Genom had two backup facilities on the outskirts of the city, near
the mini-towers. One of them was destroyed during the Largo incident,
but the other is still functioning."
"Very well," Sylia said. "Try to find out what happened the instant the
tower was cut off. Mackie and Morgan will help you with the passwords."
*******
An hour later, Morgan found Sylia in her office, staring hard at the
phone screen.
"No, of course I'd never ask that," she said. The audio projectors were
calibrated so that only the person sitting at the desk could hear the
conversation, so Morgan missed the other person's reply.
"What I'm offering," Sylia continued, "is a chance to field test your
new product, as well as a public relations boon." Sylia finally noticed
Morgan standing by the door, and waved her forward. "Hold on a moment."
Sylia hit the mute button on the phone and blanked the screen before
regarding Morgan. "Yes?"
Morgan walked forward and handed Sylia a data disk. "It's bad," she
stated.
Sylia scowled. "Summarize, I don't have time to look at this now."
Morgan shrugged. "Every cyberdroid within the tower, including the
special projects sealed in the sub-basements, ceased internal control
and immediately began synchronization with the OMS."
"OMS?" Sylia asked.
Morgan hid her shock at there being something Sylia did not know about.
"Overmind System. A project for using a central location to control
boomers within a particular area. Military and security models were
thought to be the best application for these, because of the
organization needed for large-scale tactics. When Largo came to the
tower, he was looking for it. I guess it was one more step towards
godhood for him."
Sylia nodded. "What did they do?"
Morgan slid the data disk into the second terminal on the desk, and
called up a series of images. "After the synchronization, there was a
pause of less than a second before a complete lockdown. This was
followed by a shutdown of all external connections two seconds later,
but not before this image was captured and sent to the backup server by
the security cameras."
The image was a roomful of techs being slaughtered by a pair of BU-12B
combat boomers. The resolution was good enough that one could actually
see through the wounds and the bullet-riddled wall beyond.
Sylia turned back to the phone, and waved Morgan back. When the screen
returned, she didn't wait before speaking. "Our Timeline has just been
accelerated, so I need an answer. Very well." With a nod, Sylia cut the
transmission.
Morgan waited in silence for Sylia to speak.
"Prep everything," she finally ordered. "Hardsuits, Mackie's support
unit, the tractor rig, motoroids, everything."
Morgan raised an eyebrow. "And what was that call about?"
Sylia smirked. "You'll see. First, we need to prepare for the worst."
"The worst," Morgan said, "is if the dozen Dobermans and three monsters
that were in storage get loose."
Sylia nodded. "Load extra ammunition into the trailer. We'll need it."
*******
Linna checked her watch for the fifth time in as many minutes. *She said
she'd be here at six.*
Searching the sky didn't help. Low clouds, still pink from the recent
sunset, prevented any prior warning of approaching aircraft to the human
eye. The whine from hundreds of other aircraft drowned out any audio
warning as well. There was nothing more to do than wait.
*At least no one came with me,* Linna mused. Sylia and the others were
all busy with preparation for the invasion of Genom, which was just as
well. Aside from Nene, who acted like a complete ditz far too often,
Linna didn't feel comfortable being around her teammates outside of
work. Sylia was too cold, Mackie was too young, and Morgan just gave
her the creeps. Priss had been a good friend, but that ended eight
months before, though Linna regurarly visited her gravesite (little more
than a plaque set in a wall, but it still counted). To Linna, it seemed
a disturbing streak. First Irene, then Priss. Who would be the next
friend to die?
A plane burst out of the clouds, heading directly for the runway Linna
was waiting at. It was a remote runway, barely even in service, which
meant that the flight was the one she had been waiting for. The plane
was larger than most business jets, though too small to be any sort of
serious transport. Perfect.
The plane landed, and quickly taxied. The forward hatch opened once the
jet had completely stopped. Two figures exited the plane. First was a
tall, muscular man whos appearance screamed 'bodyguard.' After he had
scanned the area, a woman of medium height and an athletic build
followed him down. Like her companion, she was dressed in a business
suit, and wore dark sunglasses. Even so, Linna had no trouble
recognizing the face.
"I didn't expect you to be here," Reika Chang commented as she walked
over.
Linna shrugged. "The others are busy with preparations. And Sylia
didn't think I'd attract as much attention as the others would."
"Of course," Reika said with a smirk. "You're just an office lady
escorting an important customer. Nice car, by the way."
"I guess," Linna grumbled. "It's Sylia's. She has a collection of
classic cars. And she said that my car wouldn't provide the proper
image."
Reika chuckled at that comment. "Lead on, then. After all, a mere
office lady isn't supposed to socialize with customers when there is
work to be done."
Linna grumbled again as she started the car. She and Reika had
developed an odd friendship the last time the singer had been in Tokyo,
and still exchanged correspondence every now and then. That was the
other reason Sylia had chosen her for the job.
*******
"Did you bring it?" Sylia didn't even bother with pleasantries when
Linna and Reika entered the lab.
A startled look passed over Reika's face for an instant before she
composed herself. "Yes," she replied in a cool voice. "Now could you
tell me why you think I'd help."
Sylia raised an eyebrow. "Help?"
"Help Genom."
Sylia nodded. "An honest question, and one that has been asked by
everyone else in this room." All the Knight Sabers were gathered.
Sylia, Nene, and Morgan were in softsuits, and Mackie was working at a
terminal in the corner with his back turned.
Linna debated whether or not to change. While they were obviously
getting ready to move out, she didn't want to miss anything approaching
an explanation from Sylia.
The older woman noticed this, and nodded to the changing room. "If you
can wait a moment while Linna changes, I'll explain everything."
"That'll be a first," Morgan muttered.
Urged on the comments, Linna put on the spandex-like suit in record
time. When she emerged, Reika and Sylia were still engaged in a staring
match.
"Now," Sylia finally stated, "all of you know what happened twenty hours
ago, so I won't bother repeating it. The Knight Sabers have been hired
to investigate the situation and attempt to rescue any tower residents
still alive."
"Still alive?" Reika asked.
Sylia nodded, then explained the security logs Nene had recovered. "I
doubt that there will be many left. We will, however, do what is
possible for those who might be trapped."
"Including Quincy," Reika spat.
Sylia nodded. "Think of the public relations opportunities, Ms. Chang.
'Long Time Competitor Risks Life to Save Genom Chairman.' The press
would make you a saint, while allowing you to field test your new mech."
"I still don't know how you found out about that, we just finished
working the bugs out last week."
Sylia simply smiled. "I can't give away all my secrets."
"You never answered why," Morgan stated.
"Why?" Sylia asked. "Why I accepted the job? We needed the money,
remember?"
"That can't be," Nene exclaimed, "I've seen the accounting records and
there's no indication that..." The redhead trailed off as all eyes
turned to her. "I mean, I might have accidentally accessed the
accounting records when I was...I mean-"
"Enough," Sylia interrupted. "I will admit, the money is largely a
cover. However, the mission is not. I will not see fifty thousand
people die when I can do something to save them, even just a few. What
about you?"
Reika's face adopted a feral look. "I'm sure Quincy would be grateful
for what we're going to do, right before we hand his ass over to the
police for those illegal boomers that just broke loose. *If* he
survives the extraction."
*******
Even in her position as leader and coordinator, Sylia marveled at how
the operation came together. Exactly twenty-four hours after she and
Morgan witnessed the Shutdown (as the police and media were calling it),
the Knight Sabers were just minutes away, about to move in.
And they were ready for a rough ride. Mackie had switched trucks for
the mobile base, this one had the windshield and roof cut away, and the
cab itself modified so that he could control it while wearing his
support suit. All Knight Sabers had their motoroids, Linna and Nene in
recently received Typhoon-1 upgrades, Morgan in the Volcano, and Sylia
riding the Typhoon-2. They were outside the trailer, since the
available hanger space was filled with extra equipment and ammunition.
Topping it all off was Reika's GD-43. Like its predecessor, the GD-42
(which was now in full production for the American military), the mech
resembled a metallic spider. This model was half again as large as
Reika's old mech, and had six legs, as opposed to the previous four.
The final segment of the legs contained several drive axles, which could
either power a set of wheels for better street speed, or a diamond-edged
chainsaw for close combat. The wheels slid along groves on the legs and
were stored near the main body until needed, and the saw blades were
recessed unless activated. At the moment, the mech was in street mode,
and gave the impression of kneeling due to the segments folding down and
locking together, forming a ski-like row on each side of the body. It
may have looked comical to some, but one look at the twin 50mm gatling
guns mounted on the body would silence any laughs.
"Nice," Morgan commented as she admired the mech.
Reika smirked as she donned her helmet. She and her assistant, Kou,
were dressed in one-piece coveralls reminiscent of flight suits.
"Coming from the only person to engage the '42 model in combat and
survive, I'll take that as a complement."
"Knight Sabers," Sylia called over the tac net, "it's show time."
While that phrase was often used as Sylia's version of a battle cry
(which sounded much nicer than other possible lines, like "kill 'em all
and let God sort them out" or "it is a good day to die" or "may we drink
from the skulls of our foes tonight"), tonight it was the mobilization
signal. Everything was checked out, all preparations were made.
Morgan half walked, half jumped to Volcano and activated the motoroid.
Around her, the other three Knight Sabers were doing the same, while
Reika and Kou sealed the GD-43's hatch and Mackie settled into the
driver's seat of the tractor rig.
Morgan ran an eye along the path they were taking. Three kilometers
away, the dark silhouette of the Genom building loomed. The highway
they had gathered on was a straight run up to the loading dock, which
was the chosen insertion point. Tasked with blowing the doors, Morgan
was first to peel off down the street. The others followed a hundred
meters behind, first Reika, flanked by Linna and Nene, then Sylia, and
finally Mackie.
Morgan accelerated, careful not to outpace the rest of the convoy. The
entire strategy struck her as being a little perverse. The Knight
Sabers were structured as a low-profile special operations group.
Security, covert operations, surgical strikes, escorts, and similar
tasks were well within their ability. Now they were charging into
battle like the samurai of old, instead of slinking around like the
ninja's they really were.
A subtle HUD on her faceplate told Morgan that she was driving over
twice the posted limit as the police barricade came into sight. Set up
three blocks from the Genom gates, the perimeter was set up to keep
observers out as well as to keep anything dangerous in. This particular
section was being run by a pair of ADP units which were relatively
friendly to the Knight Sabers. Morgan thought she saw Daley Wong in one
of the command trucks as a pair of K-12s moved the roadblock out of the
way.
A four-rocket launch rack rose from either side of the Volcano's
cockpit. In the center of each square formation was a small laser
targeting system. Morgan aimed each set at the center of the loading
dock doors, and the made a few adjustments to the rocket's themselves.
Satisfied with her work, she lightly depressed the thumb triggers on the
control yoke.
Eight self-propelled rockets shot from the car, followed by a second
volley after a second. The first volley detonated against the corners
of the door, and spots halfway between the corners. The second set of
explosives impacted the center of the door, blowing a hole in it and
ripping it from its weakened frame.
Morgan barely noticed the bumps as she drove over the scorched sheet of
metal. She plowed through the assorted debris scattered about and
continued into the darkness. As her lights illuminated the surrounding
area, she briefly wondered how long it would be before they encountered
opposition. They certainly weren't being subtle in their approach, and
were almost daring whatever was behind the troubles to show itself.
"Morgan," Sylia said over the tac net, "make a right at the next
intersection. We're setting up a command post in-"
"One of the factories," Morgan finished. "Got it."
The 'intersection' wasn't one in the normal sense. Instead, it was a
large open area, used as a transfer point between intersecting
corridors, a garage for the transport vehicles, and as a loading dock
for the finished products from the Genom factories. Morgan knew the
factory Sylia had in mind. It was mainly used to produce light labor
boomers, and was most likely shut down.
Even so, there was no point in taking chances. Since the need for speed
had diminished, Morgan quickly shifted modes. The Volcano took a few
seconds to reconfigure before she was once again tearing up the
corridor, this time at a run with weapons ready.
A few seconds later, her caution paid off. The factory was still
operational.
"Just great," Morgan muttered as the other Knight Sabers halted behind
her.
"We don't have time for this," Sylia said, "we have to seize that area."
"Right," Reika said. An adjustment was made to the mech's legs, and she
quickly walked over the assembled hardsuits and into the factory. The
gatling guns began spinning and twin streams of bullets, looking like
lasers because of the tracers, turned every machine in the room into
scrap metal.
Nene whistled. "I can see why you wanted her along."
"Wow," Morgan commented.
Sylia had already moved into the room. After she had parked the
Typhoon-2, she bent down to examine one of the more intact boomer
wrecks.
"Odd," she said after a moment. "This wasn't supposed to be anything
more than a cannon with legs. Why would they build something so
limited?"
A bulb-tipped tentacle emerged from a pair of leg joints on the
spider-mech to point at another shell. "Same reason for those. Cheap,
disposable infantry and artillery."
Mackie chose that moment to drive the mobile base into the room, which
disrupted further conversation. He positioned the trailer in the center
of the room, crushing several boomer shells while he was at it.
"Let's get down to business," Sylia said. "Nene, you and Mackie start
gathering information from their computer system. Try to find records
of what's happened since the Shutdown. Linna, you and Morgan get the
defenses into place."
"What about me?" Reika asked over the radio as the black and green suits
began pulling a series of small disks from the trailer. Nene had
already plugged into a nearby terminal, and Mackie was lumbering over to
aid her.
"Stay alert," Sylia cautioned. "I want those shock-mines active before
we move to the next stage of the operation."
"Sylia?" Nene's voice sounded extremely nervous. "I think you'd better
take a look at this."
Sylia was less than three meters from the wall terminal when Nene began
to scream. Her scream was quickly drowned out by loud crackling as arcs
of electricity emerged from the terminal and moved over the red
hardsuit. Mackie swung his fist and batted Nene away from ther
terminal, which cut off the shocks but also ripped the interface probe
from her gauntlet. Linna and Morgan rushed over to their fallen
comrade.
"Get her inside," Sylia ordered, "quickly."
Mackie gently picked up the twitching hardsuit and rushed for the
trailer. Sylia was about to follow when a mocking laugh boomed out of
the factory loudspeakers.
"Ah, the Knight Sabers. Just who I was hoping to see."
"I know that voice," Sylia mused.
"Not him," Morgan's voice was almost pleaded. "Oh shit, not him."
One of the more intact boomers immediately came back to life. Ignoring
the fact that it didn't have a body below the shoulders, the machine
heaved itself upright and leveled a gaze at Sylia. The eyes flared to
life, projecting an image into the space in front of it.
The image was of a face. The face, with its silver hair and mismatched
eyes, was one Sylia had hoped and prayed never to see again.
"Largo," she whispered in disbelief.
End chapter 4
You know, I was planning on ending this story with chapter 3, and even
had the series ending written out (you'll see it at the end of chapter
5). However, a friend read through (pointing out grammar mistakes as he
went) this and told me that it seemed rushed, and incomplete. I was
banging my head against the wall trying to think of a way to extend the
story, but couldn't think of anything. Then I picked up a Shadowrun
adventure called "Renraku Acrology: Shutdown" and noticed that the
pictures and description of the Acrology reminded me a lot of the Genom
tower. And the rest, is history.
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