Chiyo brought the map up on her tablet, turning off her visor momentarily. “Up to the top of the ladder…that’ll bring us to the tenth floor and seventy yards from the security room. You go first and scout for guards.”
“Gotcha.” Kaiden nodded, hoisted himself up, and ascended quickly, Chiyo following closely behind. “How should we get into the security room?”
“We can use a guard’s access badge when you knock one out. If none are available, then I’ll try to open it quickly or we may have to create a distraction to lure one out of the room, allowing me to sneak in.”
“By yourself? I would guess there are at least a few guards in there. You don’t want me to head in first?” Kaiden reached the top and a small ledge providing access to another shaft to crawl through. He leaned forward and began to move toward their destination.
“I’ll be fine against a small number of guards. I’m equipped with a heavy pistol, enough to put down a few guards in quick succession.”
“You have a heavy pistol? And you had me go full zap on this mission,” Kaiden grumbled as he scurried along the vents. Chiyo reached the top of the ladder and followed him inside.
“I will only need to deal with a small number of guards. Hopefully, you won’t have to deal with too many, but you will certainly have to deal with more than I will. It would be best to not have to deal with a whole building’s worth of guards at once.”
“I could make a game out of it. See how many I can take down every minute or so. Speaking of that, I wonder if I’ll get enough SXP to level again. Got a couple of talents I’ve been eyeing.”
Chiyo lowered herself down, slowing her crawl to reduce the potential bumps and clangs that could alert the guards to their presence. “I didn’t mention it before, but I’m glad you’ve finally started activating your talents. I told you they would be quite useful,” she whispered.
“They are definitely helpful in the right situations—like facing down a Sauren war chief,” Kaiden admitted.
“Wait, what was that?” Chiyo asked curiously.
“I’ll tell you later,” he promised. “We’re almost at the end. Let’s go silent for a moment.” They crept up to the vent opening, a simple grate instead of an emergency hatch. He reached back, and Chiyo handed him a small curved prong. After he’d peered through to make sure no one was coming, he slid the prong through the openings of the grate and unlatched the locks. He checked the hall one more time, looking left and right as he opened the barrier slowly and climbed out, unfolding his rifle quickly to have it at the ready. Satisfied that the coast was still clear, he kneeled and helped pull Chiyo out of the vent, closed the grate, and put the latches back in place.
She handed Kaiden her tablet. “I now have access to personnel trackers,” she stated in a hushed tone as she turned her visor back on. “Down the hall and to the left, you’ll find a high-ranking guard. Take him out and get his access card. It will either be on his armor or around his neck. I’ll head over to the security room door and take out any patrolling guards.”
“They wouldn’t have access to the room?” Kaiden asked as he looked his gauntlet over.
“According to my readings, they would only have low-level clearance and would need a voice or identification check,” she explained as she drew a stun baton. “The other guard’s card will open the door automatically.”
“I follow. I’m on it. See you in a bit,” he acknowledged and handed her tablet back.
She reattached the small device to her gauntlet. “Return to this spot when you’re done. The security room is at the end of this hall and to the right. Don’t forget to hide the body.” Chiyo snuck off while Kaiden went to find the other guard. He followed her directions and peeked around the corner to see the guard looking out a large window in the lobby with his helmet off while he talked on a phone.
Kaiden sighed as he looked down at the shock gauntlet again. “Guess I’ll have to use you later,” he mumbled, “This guy is damn near gift wrapping this for me.” He raised his rifle and aimed at the guard’s neck, waiting for him to finish his conversation.
“I’ll see you then…all right, later.” He finished, and Kaiden fired as soon the phone moved from his ear. The dart landed in the back of his neck. The man didn’t seem to feel anything as he placed the phone in his pants pocket and reached for his helmet on the ground. As he picked it up, he stumbled slightly. He shook his head in confusion as he pulled the helmet on. His movements slow, he picked up his rifle that leaned against the wall and took a few steps before collapsing.
Kaiden folded his rifle and placed it on his back, moved quickly to the guard, and searched for the card. He noticed a pistol holstered on the man’s waist. Swiftly, he checked for any DNA locks before opening the holster.
“What are you doing?” Chief asked, appearing over Kaiden’s shoulder.
“Seeing if this pistol is locked in any way,” Kaiden said, giving it another once-over before opening a compartment on his thigh and sliding the pistol into it.
“So much for stealth,” the EI snorted.
“I feel better knowing I got something with a little punch if things get hot,” Kaiden said defensively. “Besides, if she gets a heavy pistol, then I get one too.”
“Oh, that is the most childish playground bullshit that I’ve ever heard. What, is a pistol your teddy bear that you can’t have sweet dreams unless you’re tucked into bed with it?”
“I’m being thorough,” he protested. “I don’t plan on using it. And besides—”
“Frank? Is that you? You done with that call yet?” another guard asked, close enough to round the corner in a second or two.
“Dammit,” Kaiden grunted. “Chief, activate the gauntlet.”
“It’s on,” Chief confirmed. Kaiden saw small pins rise on the top of the glove and heard a low hum. The knuckles and back of his hand grew a little hot. “Knock his ass out.”
He dashed forward. The guard turned casually into the lobby, and Kaiden slammed his fist into the front of the man’s helmet. He grabbed him as he tumbled to the ground. It sounded like he tried to yell, but his words were mumbled from the shock, and the helmet’s mic no longer functioned. Kaiden punched him two more times and felt the guard go limp.
“Man, this thing is nice.” Kaiden admired the gauntlet for a moment as electricity sparked between the pins. “Gotta remember to use this more often.” He clenched his fist three times and the gauntlet shut off.
Carefully, taking care to make as little sound as possible, he placed the guard on the floor. After a moment’s thought, he used his rifle to put a dart into his exposed neck.
“Nice double tap,” Chief chirped.
“A beatdown like that would only keep him cold for a few minutes. Best to make sure he stays down,” Kaiden reasoned. He went back to the other guard and saw a lanyard falling halfway out of a pouch on his belt. Quickly, he opened it and fished out the card he needed. “Got it,” he said triumphantly as he stood and looked at the two unconscious guards.
“Need to hide them,” Chief warned. “Where’s a good spot?”
Kaiden looked around, noticing bathrooms behind him. “That’ll probably work. Put them in the stalls.”
“You really don’t think other guards will come by for a whiz and not notice them? Or that they’ve been indisposed for an hour or more?”
“Wasn’t going to stick them in the men’s bathroom,” Kaiden retorted.
“Ah… Well, I haven’t seen too many female guards around, so there’s certainly less foot traffic. Go for it, man.”
After hiding the guards, Kaiden doubled back to the vent and headed toward the security room, his rifle in hand. He made sure to check each hall he passed in case Chiyo had missed anyone but saw no one along the way. He certainly remembered seeing at least a few in this direction when he’d looked at the map.
“Probably dumped them all in different rooms,” he reasoned. “She works quick, and she is certainly efficient with that baton.”
&nbs
p; “No doubt, infiltrators work best as hackers, but they are also field agents. She’s definitely got a few tricks up her sleeve.”
“You said she got here as a merit-based special case, right?” Kaiden whispered as he continued to creep through the hall.
“Yeah, that’s what that golden triangle on her jacket means,” Chief confirmed.
“So that means she was already going to be an infiltrator the minute she set foot in the Academy?”
“That’s usually how it goes. She could have probably chosen from a couple of different classes, but when the board admits you like that, they have a certain class in mind.”
“I wonder what she was doing before she got in here.” Kaiden peeked around the final corner at the door to the security room. “Wonder what kind of life she was living that she was ready out of the box like this.”
“You came to the academy nice and trigger-happy. There are a handful of cases like that,” Chief reminded him.
“Yeah, but I spent most of my childhood and teenage years in a gang. That merely makes me good at shooting and staying alive, and better at one than the other.” Kaiden folded his rifle and hooked it to his back. “The whole hacker-and-spy combo is a bit different.” He walked down the hall, pressing up against the wall on the side of the door and near the panel. “Chief, open comms.”
“Comm open.”
“Chiyo, I’m here. Where’d you go?”
“Opening the door twenty feet down the hall. Don’t shoot,” she responded.
Kaiden saw the door open and Chiyo roll out. “Was that for flourish?” He chuckled under his breath.
“It was a supply closet. I was waiting in there with an unconscious guard. It was rather cramped.” She moved over to them. “You have the card?” she asked, her hand outstretched.
Kaiden nodded, took it from his belt, and handed it to her. She pointed at the opposite side of the wall, motioning for him to move to that side. He complied as she took his previous position.
“When I open the door, you take out the guards inside.”
“Not a problem. This gun should make that pretty easy.” Kaiden held up the arc pistol.
“That could potentially strike the equipment. If the computers get fried, we would have to find another place to access the systems, and we would probably trigger an alert,” Chiyo warned.
“I thought the point of this thing was to fry devices.” Kaiden huffed as he put the pistol away.
“Feel free to use it in any other area, but for now, please stick with the rifle.”
He removed the cartridge. “I got three shots left in this. Works out perfect.”
“Shouldn’t you reload?” she asked.
“I got three shots, and there are three guards. No worries.”
“Are you sure you can hit all three of them quickly? You don’t have much room for error as their armor doesn’t have many exposed points,” she pressed, clearly uncomfortable with his decision.
“Is that a challenge?” he asked, stroking his chin as he raised his rifle.
“I only wanted to confirm that you can do what you’re saying,” she responded, her tone clipped and defensive.
“How about this…” He took the cartridge out and slotted in a fresh one. “If I hit all three guards with only three darts, we do the rest of the mission loud. My way.”
“How does that…” Chiyo began, only for Kaiden to place a finger against his mask where his mouth was.
“We’ve done what is essentially half this mission your way. Once we get inside and you get all up in their systems and have yourself a little hacking party, we’re pretty golden, right? I’ve seen your way and it works pretty well, but if you want the real Kaiden Jericho experience, it involves blood, bullets, and explosions.”
Chiyo was silent for a moment. She pressed her hand against the side of her visor. Something popped up onscreen, but Kaiden couldn’t make it out. “There are one hundred and five security guards in this facility, along with thirty Guardian drones, six dozen Scarabs, and twenty prowlers. They would all be coming for you.”
“There are technically one hundred guards. I’ve knocked out five so far.”
“You knocked out three on the way in and the one with the card,” she said, holding up a finger for each guard she counted.
“Another guard came around the corner while I was searching for the card.” He held up the gauntlet. “By the way, this thing is fantastic.”
Chiyo looked at the gauntlet for a moment and then back at Kaiden. “You don’t have your usual weapons.”
“I’ll consider it a handicap.” He shrugged.
“And if we fail because of this?” she asked.
“Then I’ll follow your lead the next time we practice, and for the test, it’ll be done however you want it and I’ll oblige,” he promised, placing his free hand against his heart.
Chiyo raised the card in the air. “You have three shots.”
He smirked and lowered his rifle, holding it in both hands, and moved from the wall to the door. “Plenty.”
Chiyo ran the card down the scanner, opening the doors to the security room. Kaiden stood and looked down his sights. He identified one guard standing in the corner, not even paying attention, and put a shot in his neck. He shot the second guard sitting at a desk in the top of the arm in an unarmored section between the shoulder and forearm. Another guard sat at the controls and did not look over. Kaiden snapped the rifle over to him quickly, aimed, and fired. As the guard stood in surprise, the dart lodged into his neck.
He smiled. That was enough to win the bet. Time to do what he planned to do. He activated his gauntlet and rushed the guard at the controls, getting one good hit across the face. In a swift, smooth movement, he leaped over the desk behind him and kicked the second guard to the floor before driving the pins in the gauntlet into his neck and shocking him. As he scrambled up to attack the final guard, the man was already staggering due to the effects of the tranquilizer. Kaiden walked up to him, grabbed the front of his helmet, and shoved him into the wall. The guard sagged, and he released him. There was a soft thump as the man slid into an ignominious heap on the floor.
Kaiden looked back to see Chiyo in the doorway, surprise evident on her face. “You know, I did hit each of them with a dart, but either way…” He took a seat and placed his legs on the desk the second guard had sat at previously, linking his hands behind his head. “I did only take three shots.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kaiden looked at the two weapons he’d found on the guards. The third one in the corner only had a pistol on him. He ran his hands over each gun, inspecting them while Chiyo hacked into the building’s systems. “Chief, scan these things and give me the low-down, would you?”
“Let’s see what we got.” A white line ran back and forth along the weapons. “Descriptions onscreen.”
Tera Sovereign Packleader Shotgun:
Description: A weighty but powerful plasma shotgun. Medium range and slow fire rate, but it can tear through even heavy armor in one hit at the right distance. Modern upgrades increase the natural distribution in energies so that the user can fire up to twelve shots before venting.
Havoc Munitions Dust Devil Machine Gun:
Description: The favored machine gun of the Gallows Dancers Mercenary company. Fires in a three-round burst. This laser machine gun can deal multiple enemies or a single, heavily armored target with ease. Requires venting after every forty-five shots.
“Man, they sure got chirpy interns to make those descriptions,” Chief muttered.
“Neither of them is a bad choice, really. Maybe I should duel-wield?” Kaiden pondered the pros and cons, unable to make his mind up.
“You’re going to want your second arm for that shotgun. One blast will knock your shoulder out of joint if you’re not careful,” Chief warned.
“Guess I’ll go with the machine gun.” Kaiden pulled his tranquilizer rifle off his back and laid it on the table. He gave it an affectionate pat, th
en picked up the Dust Devil and put it on his back. “It was fun putting people to sleep, but now it’s time to make sure they are wide-awake. You know, before I kill them.”
“That sound more badass in your head?”
“Actually quite a bit, yeah.” Kaiden sighed.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Chiyo asked as she continued typing into the console and activating commands in her visor. “We can still finish this relatively easily.”
Kaiden walked over to her, turned around, and leaned against the console top. “Hey, no going back on the deal now. I won the bet, even if I was going to totally bullshit my way into winning otherwise.”
“I just wanted to be sure. I’ll keep my word.” She opened the door to the security room. “Once you leave, I’ll lock the door behind you. I’m sure they’ll realize something is wrong once they activate the alarm and the lockdown doesn’t begin.”
“I’ll keep them busy…and you know what? I am going to take this with me,” Kaiden declared as he scooped the shotgun up. “Variety is the spice of death, after all. Oof… Man, this bastard is heavy.”
“Variety is the spice of life, is how the saying goes,” Chiyo corrected.
“Not in my hands.” Kaiden smiled. “Now, before I set off, where exactly am I setting off to?”
Chiyo brought the building map up on the big screen of the console. “The room with the device is in the center of floor fifteen. Once you have it, you’ll need to make your way to where we started. That’s the extraction point.”
“We going to meet up before jetting off?” he inquired.
“I’ll make my own way back as I need to stay in the system as long as I can. Once I leave this console, my power will be much more limited. But my commands should remain unless someone shuts them down or takes control back, but even if they try to after I leave, it should give us enough time to escape.”
“When will you get out?” he asked as he primed the shotgun.
She looked at him, her visor constantly showing different commands and code running across the screen, appearing and disappearing. “I’ll try to stay as long as I can, but between the lockdown override and me taking control of their robotic units, they’ll know something is up soon enough. Most likely, they’ll try to kick me out from another console or send a team to eliminate me. Hopefully, by the time you retrieve the device and exit the fifteenth floor, I will have departed.”
Animus Boxed Set 1 (Books 1-4): Initiate, Co-Op, Death Match, Advance Page 49
