Raid (Animus Book 9)

by Joshua Anderle

  “I've learned I'm never that lucky.” Magellan huffed under his breath and willed his hand to move from his gun to his own cigarette case. “I'll give you all the time you need. I mean that. Please, take at least until the sun sets.”

  “That's not for another two hours.”

  “I'm aware.” He lit his cigarette and relaxed into his chair before he took a moment to study the aristocrat in front of him. Oliver might be insufferable as a person but he played the high-society role well. He was aided in this by long blond hair, light to the point of being white, a tall brow, sunken cheeks, and plucked, narrow eyebrows atop deep-green eyes. The eyes had rather obviously had work done on them. They had a low-light glow and the shade of color would slowly lighten to a pleasant green that reminded him of the plains of the planet Panrama. In the next moment, they would darken to a shadowy jungle-green. The bounty hunter’s best guess was that he used these for seduction and he wondered if he should ask if they worked at all. It might be handy in his own job.

  His potential client was dressed in a buttoned, long jacket decorated like his cigar box—red body with golden trim and buttons. His slacks and heeled boots were both a solid black. He couldn't make out the material in the dim light but considering the near-perfect fit and personal attention to the stitching, they must have cost more than some of the guns Magellan owned.

  “Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I seem to have miraculously composed myself.”

  “Wonderful,” he muttered and took a quick drag. “So, what is the story?” The businessman sipped from his glass and moved his hair from his face so he could stare demurely at the bounty hunter.

  “What I am after is not a device,” he began and straightened his posture. “It would seem that some of my...associates have skulked about my various companies. In particular, my main building outside of town. Some of my personal guard and my more astute personnel have begun to notice new hires who were somehow brought on board without the knowledge of myself or any of my management. Furthermore, some of my handlers in more…shall we say private divisions have noticed an increase in visitors to the city that can be traced back to more nefarious yet profitable professions.”

  Magellan allowed himself a smirk. “You mean people like me?”

  “I did not wish to come right out and say it, but I assumed you would grasp my meaning.” He gave a wry smile before he swallowed the last of his drink. “Normally, I would simply allow my peons to erase the correct documents and my network to go out and deal with the interlopers as they saw fit—you know, typical business. However, we have discovered that these shady individuals may, in fact, be after material that is not so easily recoverable.” He reached out once again to grab the bottle of wine, but his host shot him a glare. A scowl formed on Oliver’s face but he withdrew his hand.

  “So, some of your competitors are looking to steal from you and may have potentially hired less than upstanding lackeys to do the deed. Even if we factor in that some of your associates may have been involved, I don’t see how this leads you—a wealthy and…upstanding man—to decide that it's a good idea to come to me personally. After all, you must have more than enough resources to deal with the scum without having to resort to my measures?” He took the bottle and a small glass from his desk. Once he’d poured a little, he left about a quarter and passed it to the other man. He took it—albeit with a cautious hand—and emptied what remained into his glass.

  “Mr. Magellan, I'm beginning to think you believe I lack foresight or, at the very least, think me an idiot.”

  He simply narrowed his eyes until the CEO took the hint. “I am a gentleman. I will not lie, so yes.” He finished his drink in one swallow. “Although I'm cynical enough to realize that running an empire must take more than charisma and expensive taste alone. So now that I know the story, tell me… What’s my part?”

  Something occurred, then, that briefly knocked him out of his scornful attitude. Oliver’s demeanor changed, although it would not have been obvious to most. A small smile formed on his lips and his body language revealed virtually nothing, but the haughty air of the snob seemed to vanish. His pose turned cold, and his shifting eyes seem to, on instinct, change to their darker shade.

  “Because there are only two ways for me to get what I want. Either I can have someone fetch the information and items I need and return them to me. Or I need the problem erased.” His nonchalant tone disappeared to be replaced by a frosty edge. He spoke in a way that made every word sound like liquid pouring from his mouth. “I need someone who cannot be traced back to me, someone who already has a reputation for dealing with the shady areas of life and for doing deeds most dirty for anyone with the right credits.”

  He finished his drink and set the empty glass down before he placed his elbows on the desk, intertwined his fingers, and rested his chin upon them. “You are right that I heard of you through gossip. But you also know gossip has a nasty habit of fabrication and mucking up the truth. I need someone who can get in and retrieve something quite valuable to me at great risk to themselves, and from what I heard, you would be an excellent choice. If those rumors were untrue, the fault is on me—although it would be such a pity to think that a man like you could not back them up.”

  The light from the office's window dimmed as the sun sank slowly from the sky and cast a dusky light on the two men. Magellan began to feel uneasy. Something told him this man was a danger. From his appearance, he shouldn’t be able to generate such a feeling of dread. He didn’t like this—neither the job nor the man.

  “Do you use it well?” the CEO asked with a smirk and gestured at one of the rifles on the wall.

  The bounty hunter glanced at the weapon while he eased his other hand to the pistol. “I can give you a demonstration if you like.”

  “I’d rather you put it into action,” He chuckled, leaned forward, and rested his chin on the back of his hands. “If you accept this, I shall leave you with a location where you can place my little trinket that I will be sure to reward you most handsomely for—three million credits upon completion and another two million should you return undetected.” Oliver leaned back into his chair while Magellan considered that figure. “If you fail, I can use you as an excuse to have my guard professionally move my belongings under the disguise of a break-in and place the blame on you—or, rather, your corpse.” The grin widened, giving the man’s once well-composed face the look of madness. “I shall even promise you a beautiful funeral.”

  “What a kind gesture—” His eyes narrowed in confrontation. He knew he should back out, but even if the man only spoke partial truths, he wanted to know what was happening behind the scenes. When shady businesses dealt in the dark, it could cause problems for more than only them. If nothing else, he might find a reason to pursue the bastard himself. “Consider this my acceptance, Mr. Solos.”

  Oliver smiled and raised his hands. He clapped three times and a gray-haired, white-suited servant—or perhaps a bodyguard, given his size—entered the office. He walked to Oliver's side and produced a small book—a journal it seemed—and handed it to the bounty hunter, who began to flip through the archaic ledger.

  “Feel free to read that whenever you please. It contains a few notes, pictures, and the like. I prefer to keep all the necessary and important information on paper. It’s less likely to be stolen. As I insinuated, I don’t have an issue with you taking whatever action necessary, but if you could do me a favor…” He looked up from the book and raised an eyebrow. “Do try to reduce the bloodshed, at least in the building. It is such a beautiful, storied place and blood is tricky to clean. I would hate to have it sullied.”

  “You mean more than you already have?” The words left his mouth before he could filter them. The assistant stiffened and the man’s jaw clenched in anger.

  “I do not corrupt, I cultivate.” The count stood, and a servant placed a crimson jacket on him that he had folded across his arm. “My best wishes to you, Magellan. The location for the meeting i
s in the back of the book. I look forward to your return, in person.” He moved to leave the office but paused at the doorway and leaned a hand on the frame. “Unfortunately, my final word is a warning. Should that devious little head of yours contemplate the idea of making off with my files, I can promise you that I will not extend any patience to you. I will retrieve what is mine and enjoy the hunt as well.” With that and a final dark look from the guard, they left. The bounty hunter sat in silence until the creeping moonlight illuminated his office.

  Magellan was snapped out of his memories by another message. This one, much more happily, was from Sasha. He opened and read it, and his eyes widened. Kaiden was going after an army? That had to be an exaggeration. He looked at the Normandy building in the distance, then back to the message. He remembered his promise and he would make good. Oliver could wait for now, and the idea of making him throw a fit was rather amusing, actually.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Genos and Kaiden made their way cautiously to the main gate. The large cannons above the doors had apparently come online while they were dealing with their previous attackers. The weapons glowed with a blue light visible from the opening and an audible electrical crackle indicated that they were probably modified Tesla cannons. Kaiden took a couple of steps back and realized they would probably have to find another entrance. He doubted that either he or Genos could hack the door while worrying about getting fried in a single shot.

  The mechanist, however, continued to advance while he removed a grenade from his belt. He pressed the activation switch, holstered his cannon on his back, and drew a launcher. The cannons continued to charge as he slid the grenade into the launcher and fired calmly. When the device detonated, it burst apart and some kind of grey smoke appeared in one instant and vanished in the next. The Tsuna smiled and took a few steps forward.

  The large weapons, now close to their peak, suddenly shifted and spun to face the city they were meant to protect.

  “Nano grenades?” the ace asked, bemused.

  “Of course.” His teammate nodded, stowed the launcher, and folded his hands behind his back. “They are quite useful. Those cannons aren’t particularly advanced and seem to be created from scavenged parts like most of the other contraptions we’ve come across. That makes them very easy to manipulate with nanos.”

  Kaiden flipped his rifle and rested it on his shoulder. “Out of curiosity, what if they were too advanced for the nanos to control? Did you have another plan?”

  The mechanist nodded. “I’m sure it was the same as yours—running.”

  He chuckled. “Should we fire a few warning shots?”

  “That doesn’t seem very diplomatic.” Genos shrugged. “I’ll have Viola keep them ready, but unless our hosts try something, I’ll simply keep them in position.”

  “Attention hostiles!” a voice cried from a speaker system along the walls.

  “I think they’re trying something.” Kaiden grinned while his teammate folded his arms patiently.

  “We respect how far you’ve come, but know that we will not let you in. You have forced us to use our last line of defense. We are currently preparing our satellite cannon to fire upon you. The explosion radiates for up to five miles.”

  “I assume this is a bluff?” Genos asked and glanced at his friend.

  “Oh, yeah, a big one,” he confirmed. “No one is allowed to have sat-cannons anymore. That’s been a rule ever since the WC was officially recognized. I doubt they could actually make one and even if they did, the military would have scorched this place long before we got here.”

  “If you do not turn back now, we will fire the cannon and vaporize you where you—”

  “Excuse me!” Genos shouted and waved.

  “Uh, what?” the voice demanded.

  “If you did fire this cannon and the radius of the explosion was as vast as you said, wouldn’t you also catch your own base in the blast?” he reasoned.

  “Um, may— No? No! We’ll fire the blast behind you so you’ll be caught in the wave with no chance to escape.”

  “Uh-huh.” Kaiden rolled his eyes. He motioned for Genos to follow as they both made their way closer to the gate.

  “What are you doing?” the voice asked.

  “Look, either fire the cannon or open the gate,” he demanded when they stood directly in front of the door and leaned against it. “We’re not here to pillage or kill anyone if that’s the concern. We want to talk.”

  “Really? You could have been a little more civil then.”

  “You fired on us,” the Tsuna pointed out.

  “You didn’t send any messages that you were approaching!”

  “Because you fired on us,” Kaiden retorted and shook his head. “Let me extend a branch here. I don’t think I know their names but check if anyone remembers an incident with a droid that annihilated a good chunk of your forces and was destroyed by a merc.”

  “Wait, huh? What are you… Hold on… Fritz? Stole Kit’s jet-bike?”

  “Oh, good, they do remember me.”

  “Is that a good or bad thing?” his friend asked.

  “A little of both, really,” Chief interjected and appeared in both their HUDs. “They might open the gate simply for a chance to kill him.”

  “That still seems mostly bad,” Genos reasoned.

  “Okay, the leaders remember you all right.” The voice grunted in what might have been disapproval. “You don’t have to worry about the cannon. But they are quite curious about why you’re back, and they seem— Oh, too much?”

  “Good Lord, who’s on this shift?” Kaiden muttered.

  “Opening the gate!”

  He pushed off the door as it began to rumble and it sank below ground to reveal the junk town within, along with another group of droids. His brow furrowed as he prepared Sire and Genos drew his cannon. Fortunately, the mechanicals began to retreat, then turned to either side of the street with their heads down. The mechanist glanced quickly at him and he shrugged in response but didn’t holster his weapon. He took a few tentative steps and the droids didn’t react, but at the end of the street, a manhole cover was pushed aside and a man in his early twenties with a blue ponytail and armor crawled out. He stood, brushed himself off, and waved for them to approach. “Hey there. Name’s Falco.”

  “Howdy.” Kaiden recognized the voice. “You were the one on the speakers?”

  “Yeah. I’m not supposed to be but you guys appeared between shifts and I happened to be in the room while everyone else was scrambling.”

  “Well, I promise that you were really convincing.” He chuckled. “Are your bosses ready to see me?”

  “Yeah, I’m to lead you to them.” Falco scratched the back of his head. “Listen, there’s a couple of things I wanted to say before you meet, though.”

  “Such as?” Genos inquired.

  “Well, they do remember you. I was only brought in about six months ago—long after all that stuff with the killer droid happened—so I’m not really up to speed. But I should mention that they seem to be…uh, rather pissed with you.”

  The ace frowned. “I didn’t exactly think things would be rosy, but I did spare them and save their HQ from their own fuck up, didn’t I?”

  “You also electrocuted them, I think?” Falco reminded him carefully.

  He thought back and nodded quickly. “That too.”

  “They seem mostly angry about that—along with stealing Kit’s bike and not leaving anything salvageable from the droid.”

  “I dropped a building on it,” he retorted. “The only thing left was the head, and I had to take it in to show that I actually destroyed it.”

  “Do you recall what company made that droid?” Genos asked.

  “Not off the top of my head,” he replied with a quick look at his teammate. “Why?”

  “I’m curious. It’s something to look into later.”

  “Either way, I wanted to make sure you guys really aren’t here to simply ransack the place,” Falco expl
ained.

  Kaiden almost burst out laughing. “I’ve seen and tried many different tactics. Polite requests is still a new one for me.”

  “We have no ill intentions,” the Tsuna promised.

  “If you need proof, well…” The ace shrugged and gestured at the weapons that still aimed at the deserted city. “It seems all you guys have left is a few droids, and we have access to the cannons. If we wanted to cause trouble, we could do that rather easily.”

  “It’s kind of an asshole way to put it, but you are right,” the man admitted. “Look, most of us here are new recruits. The Azure Halos have been rebuilding, but the newer members are more into engineering and mechanics than hacking.”

  He frowned. “Damn, we’re actually here looking for hackers.”

  “We still have a couple of dozen, maybe a little more, and some of the guys are multi-talented, but all the same—” He scratched the back of his head again sheepishly. “What I’m trying to say is that if you’re here because of some hacking trouble or an old grudge, we’d really like to not be caught in the crossfire.”

  Kaiden shook his head. “Again, that’s not the issue here. If anyone shoots first, it’ll be your bosses.”

  “You could try your best to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Genos suggested. “You know how your…discussions can get.”

  “I’ll try my best to keep it civil,” he promised. “We need their help, after all.”

  “I guess that’s the best I can hope for.” Falco shrugged and gestured vaguely toward the gate. “One more thing before we go. About the cannons…”

  “Hmm? Oh, yes.” The mechanist nodded and looked back for a moment. The cannons spun so they no longer faced toward the city and powered down. “For safety, I’ll continue to control them as long as we’re here unless the meeting takes longer than my nanos can sustain.”