Revenant

by Michael Anderle

  “Different strokes and all that,” Kaiden retorted. “I’ll agree that our missions and scenarios will be more than simply straight-shooting galleries with objectives but look at the situation.”

  “I’m well aware of what’s going on,” she muttered.

  “Hands up,” the guard captain ordered. “Are you listening? I’m sure my men are more than willing to show you that we will go through with our threats if you do not comply.”

  “They are corrupt or paid off,” Kaiden decided and continued to ignore the man. “There’s no need for such a display in a place like this. They would put their own people in danger, especially if we were hostile.”

  “Perhaps, but look at it this way…they could take us to their hideout or command center. There, we could get more information on their employers or what has happened at this colony to make them so aggressive.”

  “I guess the term ‘Occam’s razor’ is new to you?” he asked, which caught her attention. She glared at him beneath her visor, the expression clear in the light of the planet’s sun.

  “Men, take aim and fire,” the captain ordered. Kaiden sighed and reached for Debonair but Chiyo stopped him.

  “I already took care of it,” she said. The guards fired—or, at least, tried to fire. They pulled their triggers fruitlessly and a couple of them stopped to examine their weapons, confused and frustrated.

  “Sabotage? Did you shut the systems down or something?”

  “No, they aren’t using very advanced weapons. I simply overheated them,” she explained. “It won’t last much longer, but it gives us a little more time.”

  “Well, look at you—discuss peace but make sure it can be enforced. Here I was, worried that all my teachings had gone over your head.”

  “I’m glad that I could make you so proud.” She sighed but it dripped with sarcasm. “I’m still of the mind that we should let them take us in. We could gather important information any way this turns out.”

  Kaiden glanced at the guards, who had figured out the problem with their guns and now vented them. “That’s one way. I say we take them out now and sort it out after. And before you say anything—” He flicked his hand and pointed at her before she could interrupt him. “I’m not only saying that because my trigger finger is itchy. Taking out a group of these guys is one thing, but we don’t know where they will take us and how many others might be there. I doubt they will let us keep our gear.”

  “True, but there is one thing they don’t know about and even if they did, they can’t take it.”

  “And what would that be?”

  “Me, dumbass,” Chief muttered. Kaiden glanced at the corner of his HUD and the EI glared at him. “Forgetting my birthday is one thing, but I’m right here.”

  He placed his hands on his hips. “If you will recall, I was in the middle of a gig on your ‘birthday,’ which you seem to think is different from the day on which you were activated.”

  “That’s our ‘anniversary,’ sweetie,” Chief retorted with mock sincerity. “I was technically born a few months prior to that.”

  “Technically, you weren’t born at all,” he countered with a sigh. “All right, I see what you mean, Chi. But if this bites us, you will take responsibility.”

  “I believe that falls onto the ace,” she said and looked up as Kaiden shook his head. “Pay attention. He’s coming.”

  “Who is?” Kaiden asked and scowled when something pressed against his head. “Well, hello there.”

  “I should simply make a nice hole in your head,” the captain barked and tapped the barrel of his pistol against Kaiden’s helmet. “For not only trespassing on World Council property but resisting arrest and tampering with our weapons.”

  “Three things,” Kaiden said and held up three fingers to count them off. “One, this is a Human and Tsuna colony, so it’s not only under the WC’s control. Two, you’re merely security forces. Resisting arrest would mean you’re cops, and trust me, I know the distinction. And finally…” He pointed at Chiyo. “She was the one who tampered with your weapons, not me.”

  “Thanks for that,” she huffed.

  “Quiet!” the captain yelled and raised his weapon to pistol-whip Kaiden, who simply caught the man’s hand as it was about to smash into his visor.

  “Calm the hell down,” he ordered as the captain struggled to escape his grasp. “We’ll go with you. I imagine you have questions or something if you haven’t already tried to blast us to bits.”

  He released the man’s arm. The captain rubbed his wrist and scrutinized them carefully. “You’d be partially right,” he acknowledged belligerently. “I couldn’t care less who you are, but our superiors are extremely interested.”

  “Well, whoever wants to chat, let’s go and have that chat,” Kaiden said and began to walk away. “If they take requests, I’ll have beer when we get there. I prefer whiskey but you don’t wanna get too drunk when… What now?” He balked when he felt the captain’s hand on his shoulder.

  “Do you think we’re idiots?” the man demanded. Kaiden was about to retort when he saw Chiyo shake her head. “You’re not going anywhere with all that gear on. Strip!”

  Kaiden turned to face him. “That’ll cost you quite a few creds, buddy. I’m high-class goods.” The unmistakable sound of guns priming confirmed that the other guards behind him had their weapons functioning again. He was quiet for a moment before he placed his hands on his helmet to remove it. “But I suppose I like to work it for the crowd. Do any of you have music?”

  They were led to a carrier, their hands in cuffs, dressed in nothing but their underlays. One of the guards slid the cases of their confiscated equipment in a compartment on the underside of the vehicle. Chiyo stepped onto the platform at the back of the carrier and was led into the carriage.

  Kaiden studied it for a moment before he turned to one of the guards. “Hey, my credit chip is in the compartment of my left armor leg. Charge whatever when we make it wherever we’re going in one piece.”

  The guard shoved him onto the platform. Kaiden shrugged and went in. The doors closed behind him as he took a seat on a bench across from Chiyo. The interior was rather dark with only one light that worked above them. Two others seemed to be broken. They heard two thumps on the side of the carrier and it began to move. Kaiden crossed his legs and leaned back.

  “Do y’all need some light?” Chief asked and appeared between them in a dimmed state.

  Kaiden shook his head. “We should be good for now. I don’t want to let them know about our little stowaway.” He nodded at Chiyo. “Unless the infiltrator is scared of the dark for some reason.”

  “I’m fine,” she answered and Chief bobbed up and down before he disappeared again. “Chief should remain hidden until we’re actually at the base or headquarters. Then we can see how best he can be used.”

  “Were you able to sneak Kaitō in?” Kaiden inquired.

  She nodded and her eyes flickered with an unnatural light in the darkness, Kaiden could see the faint outline of the EI’s frame in her eyes. “They aren’t very thorough. I expected to have to hide him within the drive on the back of my underlay.” She tapped the back of her neck for emphasis. “But this will work much better.”

  “I hope this will work, plain and simple,” he pointed out. “We’ve only got till the end of the month to finish this, right? I seriously don’t wanna spend a couple of days in the pound burning time.”

  “I doubt we’ll be there very long. My guess is that you are right about them being on someone’s payroll. I would guess it’s the pirates we are supposed to eliminate.”

  “Do you hoping to find the location of their ship?”

  “It’s a station,” she corrected. “But yes, it would make it much easier to have a proper location than have to trace it through other means. If all goes well, we’ll complete this in a few days rather than a few weeks.”

  “It’s good to see you’re looking ahead,” Kaiden said enthusiastically. “Still, we could
have taken them at the outpost and interrogated the captain.”

  “They could have called in reinforcements or warned the others about our approach,” she countered.

  “Maybe, but that’s why I keep you around,” he said with a smile.

  “To clean up your messes?”

  “Your skills allow me to make a mess,” he responded, his tone conciliatory. “They keep me from falling too hard, like that old parable in that story from the twentieth century, Catcher in the Rye.”

  “I’m not that familiar with it,” she admitted. “But it sounds like a compliment.”

  “Maybe in a roundabout way,” Kaiden said with a shrug. “I certainly intended it that way, but sometimes, the outcome is more important than the intention.”

  “A wise deduction,” she said and a faint smile formed at the corners of her mouth. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll have an opportunity for your preferred way to solve things.”

  “I ain’t worried about all that,” he stated. “I have a gig tomorrow. I’ll have my fill.”

  “A gig?” Chiyo asked and flashed him a quick glance. “What kind?”

  “A dead or alive retrieval mission in Illinois.” Kaiden studied his cuffs and wondered if he could or should break them. “I suppose it’s more like a ‘retrieve or destroy’ mission. Some sort of defense droid was stolen by a gang in the area, the Azure Halo. The dumbasses stole an experimental droid before it was finished and it’s missing important things like a proper threat detection system. If they are able to get the thing activated, it’s likely to simply kill anything in the immediate vicinity. Obviously, no one wants that to get too far.”

  “There’s something like that out in the civilian world?” Chiyo asked, flabbergasted. “And they will leave that up to you?”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he snarked. “I’m simply the next in line. They’ve thrown mercs and guards at them, but they are stationed in a junker town. The gang owns the place and it’s turned out to be more difficult than they thought it would be. I think I’m the last one they will try before they request the WCM to go in there and take it. My guess is that they think a small group or single person can get in and out easier. They hope to keep it as quiet as possible, although I’m sure a hacker gang like the Azure have already posted their catch onto the gray net.”

  “I’ll have to check once we get out,” she said before she lowered her head in consideration. “Kaiden…it seems rather soon.”

  “Soon for what?” he asked, his attention diverted from his cuffs.

  “It’s only been a couple months since you were… When you fought that killer.”

  “You mean Gin?” he asked and she nodded. Kaiden was quiet for a moment and rolled his tongue in his mouth as he thought. “Sure, but I can’t think that I’ll run into a universal threat every time I step out of the city. I took a couple gigs in Tacoma already—simple ones to get back into the groove. Besides, taking droids out has become something of a specialty of mine.”

  “You shouldn’t treat this as something that isn’t any different from the Animus,” she stated.

  He held his hands up. “I get it, Chiyo, I do. But remember where I come from and what I did before I came here. Stuff like this has basically been my job since I was a preteen. I’m smart enough to know that I’ll simply go in there and destroy the thing if it has so much as a flicker in its eye.” He lowered his hands and brushed them along the underlay on his legs. “Besides, what good is staying at Nexus if I’m suddenly gonna crumble to bits every time I do a real mission? I would be useless. I can’t say I have many skills that don’t involve guns and armor anyway.”

  “You could start training to be a gunsmith,” she suggested.

  Kaiden looked at her quizzically for a moment before he chuckled., “I suppose that’s a potential fallback option, along with the piloting. But come on. Do you honestly think I’m gonna be any good at the customer support part of that?”

  She looked at him with real worry but her demeanor changed slightly when her smile returned. “Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t be able to stick with that for very long.”

  “I’m as likely to be shot doing that as anything else.” He laughed. “I appreciate the concern, Chi, but you have to realize as much as anyone that all of us in our group will live lives where the potential for death is high. In a way, maybe it was somewhat fortuitous that my run-in with Gin happened because it really drove the point home.” He leaned back and puckered his lips. “Fortuitous? I’m beginning to sound like Genos.”

  Chiyo’s smile widened. “I’m not sure I would describe it that way, but it also showed that even with our dangerous lives, there is a chance we can make it home despite the dire circumstances.”

  “That’s a good way to look at it.”

  She glanced up for a moment and the artificial lights in her eyes dimmed. “Do you think there is a way I could help you at all?”

  Kaiden eyebrows raised in surprise and he raised his cuffed hands to stroke his chin. “Well, I…not really. I don’t think, with how good you are, that you’ll run shady gigs like I do—okay, maybe shady, but not dirty. Besides, I wouldn’t want you to run with me anyway.” His gaze darted to her and she stared quizzically at him. “You know I don’t mean that negatively,” he said before she could retort. “I simply mean that—you know, I’m doing this to potentially buy myself out of my contract with the Academy by the time I graduate. There’s no guarantee that I’ll even make enough by that time, especially with all the repairs, ammo, and medical expenses I have. I wouldn’t want you to be in harm’s way when the payoff might not even happen. Besides, even if you convinced me to come along, there’s a process you gotta go through to get your mercenary license. You certainly won’t get it in fourteen hours.”

  “Maybe not by traditional means,” she hinted.

  Kaiden frowned at her suggestion. “This is not exactly the group of people you want to give the runaround to.”

  “Do you think they have the ability to catch me?” she asked in a challenging tone. She glared at him before she sighed and leaned back. “It’s all right. I won’t burden you if you are that unsure, but I think there is another way to help you before you set out.”

  “And how’s that?” he asked before he lost his balance and toppled with the sudden stop of the carrier.

  “We’re here!” one of the guards alerted them through the speakers. “Hands up and prepare to disembark.”

  Chapter Four

  When Kaiden was led out of the carrier, he immediately saw that they were back in the jungle and probably fairly deep considering the drive. They had arrived at a nondescript building a few stories tall and maybe several hundred yards wide with a faded grey exterior and a few token windows to break the monotone walls.

  “I guess they make sure you guys live easy out here, huh?” Kaiden snarked to the guard who led him to the building. “It’s not exactly a pleasure palace but I’m sure it has enough closets and rec rooms for you guys to take some time out and get to know each other, right?”

  “Keep quiet,” the man ordered brusquely.

  “I’ll try—not hard, though. The ride was rough and I’m curmudgeonly.” Kaiden glanced over his shoulder as Chiyo stepped out of the carrier. The captain of the guard gave orders to the others, and two men returned to the carrier to retrieve the cases with their gear while the other one flanked Chiyo and led her forward to Kaiden.

  Once she beside him, the guard told her to wait as he filled the other man in. The captain walked past and barely acknowledged them.

  “So, how do you think your plan is shaping up so far?” he asked, mostly with sarcasm, but if she had something up her sleeve, he was more than willing to learn.

  “I’ll let you know more when we actually get inside,” she answered and pushed some of her hair out of her eyes.

  “I have a feeling that it’ll be a little harder to talk when they interrogate us,” he pointed out. “I know it hasn’t really come up, but I’m s
hit at charades.”

  “And on top of that, they will probably separate us.” She glanced quickly at him. “I’ll be out within half an hour once we get inside. I assume you’ll be able to find your own way out with Chief’s help but if not, hold out until I can reach you.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll save the damsel thing for a night when I feel like roleplaying,” Kaiden joked.

  “Do you want me to bring up a catalogue? I found a dress in white I think you would look divine in.”

  “This is not the time for you, Chief,” Kaiden muttered in a low tone. “Besides, good luck finding something to fit over my hips.”

  “All right, you two,” one of the guards huffed as he walked up to them. “You’ll go through a checkpoint before we deal with you. If you have any other contraband on you that you wanna give up right now, I recommend it. We would feel rather disappointed if you kept anything from us.”

  Kaiden held his cuffed hands up. “I’m clean, unless you wanna take the underlay. But I should warn you that my personal weapon is quite dangerous in the open.”

  “Then to be safe, maybe we should cut it off.”

  “I’m sure that would make a great trophy for the office,” he retorted with a smirk.

  The guard made an exasperated grunt before he turned to Chiyo. “You?”

  “You didn’t take my optics,” she stated as she raised her hands to her eyes and carefully removed them. “I assumed you didn’t so that I could see, but I don’t want to risk potential issues arising from a bad assumption.”

  “You need these to see?” the guard asked as she handed him the lenses. “You haven’t gotten them fixed? What about trading them out for digital eyes?”

  “I have a condition called Biological Xenoaphoba. My body rejects augmentations,” she explained. “As for Lasik or visual correction scans, I’ve read reports that they can go rather poorly. I’ve been too frightened to try since I was a child.”