“You could always go quiet for a time, wait things out. They’re not going to stick around for long,” Nate suggested.
“I’m not going to just roll over for them, Nate. You know I can’t do that. Even if there’s no hope, I will fight them. Otherwise what am I? A nobody.”
Nate looked down at the ground. “I knew you’d say that, man. And I admire you for it. Even if it is utterly stupid.” He looked back up at Nero and grinned. “So I take it you have a plan in progress, then?”
“Yeah, well, I’m not sure it can really be called a plan, but yeah. Remember those new weapon emplacements we got?” Nate nodded, having obtained them himself a couple of months back. “I think we might be able to put them to good use.”
Nate didn’t get the chance to reply, however, since both he and Nero spotted the flames licking up in the distance. “Oh shit...” Nero said. They were still a few streets away from whatever was on fire, but Nero had a feeling he knew what it was already.
He ran forward, accelerating away from Nate, and emerged into the street to see a large building engulfed in flames. All three stories of the place were glowing orange, and a pillar of smoke was snaking its way up and away into the sky.
Nate caught up with Nero a minute or so later, and stood next to him as they watched the furnace. They were the only ones around.
“Isn’t that...?”
“The bar. The one we often meet our distributors in. Yep.”
“Is there anywhere left they haven’t got to?” Nate asked.
“I--” Nero started to respond, but then a thought struck him. He hadn’t been to see Ami since the whole mess had started. If Aegis was so well-informed, was there a chance...?
“I’ve got to go, Nate,” Nero said, and not waiting for an answer, he turned around and ran. He stretched his augmented legs as fast as they would go, buildings rushing by him in a blur, passing street after street in virtually no time, finally arriving back at the warehouse barely out of breath. He headed straight for his shuttle once inside.
****
The door slid open without warning, and Ami jumped up from her seat, her book forgotten on the table. Standing in the doorway, a relieved expression on his face, was Nero.
“Where have you been?” she asked, once she’d recovered from the shock of him bursting into her apartment. “We were meant to meet last night.” The dark look in her eyes gave Nero pause for thought.
“What?” he said, taking a moment to switch context. “Oh, I’m sorry Ami. Something important came up. I had to leave for a short time.”
That wasn’t a satisfactory answer. “Of course you did, Nero. You’re always having to leave, or forgetting me altogether. I’ve had enough of it. I can’t take it anymore.” She turned her back on him, and walked over to the window, visibly calming herself down. “I hardly ever see you anymore, Nero. You’re always running your ‘business’, spending the night at the office, or wherever. I haven’t a clue. Do you remember the last time you spent the night here?”
“Look Ami,” Nero said. “I’m sorry you feel that way. But things are pretty fucked up at the moment. I’m in huge trouble and I’ve lost loads of people in the past couple of days. So I can appreciate how you feel, but this is the least of my problems at the moment. Okay?”
Ami sighed. “What trouble, Nero?” she asked in a deadpan voice.
“It’s not im--”
She cut him off. “What trouble are you in, Nero? And I do not want to hear that it’s best I don’t know. Tell me.”
He stayed silent for a moment, considering what to tell her. He walked over to the window to stand next to her. “You were right about the cruiser,” he finally began. “It was me. Though it was actually an accident. We didn’t mean to crash it, just to take some items from the cargo hold, but things sort of went sour.” Ami turned to look at Nero, who remained looking out of the window. “I also run a few other enterprises, that I guess most would frown upon. The qiameth, for instance. I import that stuff. Or at least, I did,” he said.
“You did?” Ami asked.
“Yeah, see, I think that cruiser crash may have annoyed the CSG. We stopped receiving the qiameth shipments a few days ago, so I went to the planet we get the stuff from. The whole place was deserted, with just dead bodies left. Strange, you know...?” Ami waited for him to continue. “Anyway, when I got back, I found one of my storage areas destroyed, and now all of my distributors are missing. And I’ve seen Aegis agents around.”
Ami turned fully to face him now, and reluctantly he did the same. “Aegis?” she said sharply. “Aegis agents are out here? On Dimora?”
“Yeah,” Nero replied.
“Oh shit, Nero. That’s bad. That’s so bad.” She brushed her hands through her hair, and walked back into the centre of the room. “Why did you have to make such a mess of things, Nero? What are you going to do now?”
“I haven’t decided yet, Ami. But I think you should move somewhere else, just to be safe. I don’t think anyone knows about us, but maybe you should go to your father. Just until things quieten down a bit, you know?”
“My father?” she asked. Perhaps that had been a poor suggestion. “You’re saying I should run back to my father? That’s not going to happen, Nero. And how can you think you have the right to tell me what to do, anyway? This is my life. I’m not going to run just because I didn’t ask the right questions when we met.”
Nero smiled faintly, attracted to her resilience in spite of himself. “Alright, Ami. In the meantime, I’m going to have to go. There are things that need to be sorted, okay?”
“Very well Nero,” Ami said “But I want to see you back here, soon.” He gave her a kiss, and headed towards the door. Before he could open it, however, Ami stopped him.
“Wait. Do you know what happened to my last boyfriend, Nero?”
He didn’t like to think about previous boyfriends. “No, I don’t,” he said, confused at the randomness of the question.
“He died,” she said, abruptly. “It was a stupid way to go. We’d had a bit much to drink at a club, and he decided he wanted some fresh air. So we went to the top of the Scraper, to the roof. And it was a beautiful night. There was a clear sky, and you could see the entire streak of stars across it. But then we went to the edge of the Scraper, and he climbed over the barrier. I think he was trying to impress me. Anyway, I let him. I’d had a few drinks as well, and he was being pretty funny. But then the wind kicked up, and I tried to persuade him to climb back over. And he did, but he stumbled part way over the barrier, and he went backwards. I watched his eyes go wide as the ground disappeared from under his feet, and he went over the edge. I heard him scream as he plunged downwards, into the darkness.” She paused, and gave Nero a piercing look. “I already lost one boyfriend, Nero. I don’t want to lose another.”
He didn’t know what to say in response. He just nodded, and silently left Ami’s apartment.
****
Talyah watched as Nate set up the last of the turrets. They were big, brutal looking machines, each with a laser mounted on a base that could spin around, and track targets. The laser itself could emit a continuous beam of energy for up to five seconds at a time, before requiring a moment to cool down. They looked like they would be able to repel a significant opposing force. Talyah hoped that they would be effective against Aegis.
She walked over to stand next to Nate, who looked up when she approached. “Tal, you good?”
“Everything is fine, Nate. This is the last turret, correct?”
“Yep,” Nate said, turning back to manipulating the controls on the holodisplay. “Five outside, and five inside. Let me just...” he finished setting up the turret, and stood up. “There. They’re set up to fire at anything moving, within their cones of vision, once we hit the activate button. Here,” he said, handing over a small control pad, with a holodisplay showing a pulsing red button. “Just hit that and these things activate.”
“Thank you, Nate,” Talyah said, pocketin
g the device. “I’ll try to make sure you’re behind them when I press it.”
“I would be grateful if you did. I quite like living.” Talyah gave him a small smile as she turned to head back to the main meeting room. Nate fell in beside her. “Do you know where Nero rushed off to?” he said, changing the subject.
“No, Nate. He didn’t elaborate on that point.” Talyah did have her suspicions about where Nero disappeared to on occasion, not that she’d ever let on to anyone. “I suspect he’ll be back soon.”
Indeed, not five minutes later, the warehouse doors opened to reveal Nero’s shuttle swooping in, which landed next to the other shuttles. Talyah went out to meet him, and on an impulse, once he had descended the boarding ramp, she reached out and gave him a brief hug.
“Tal! You worried?” Nero asked, putting an arm around her back and squeezing.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Nero,” was her response. She let go, and they headed to the meeting room.
“Do I ever really know what I’m doing Tal?” he replied.
Talyah let out a short laugh, again, surprising Nero. “No, no you do not, Nero.”
He smiled. “Well, I’m glad you stayed with me for so long, then. Even if I don’t know why.”
“Don’t you, Nero?” Talyah turned and gave him a short, penetrating glance. “Never mind,” she said, before he could come up with an answer.
Before Nero could figure out what Talyah had meant, they entered the meeting room. Arrayed on the tables was an impressive selection of weapons, from large laser rifles and electrical whips, down to single-handed pistols and blades. They also had grenades, both chemical and regular, as well as a few flashbangs.
Sat on the various chairs dotted about the room were the remaining members of Nero’s group. They included Nate, Onon and Koegan, but the number had reduced significantly in the past couple of days. Besides losing some of them, a surprising number had simply left, not wanting to get involved in any particularly risky fights. Talyah couldn’t blame them.
Some were gambling, some were arguing, some were sleeping, whilst others just sat quietly, trying not to think about what might be about to happen. They were all ready, though, for whatever might happen. Whenever it might happen.
“Where’s Sevi?” Nero asked, once he’d greeted those in the room.
Onon answered, pausing in the game she had started playing with Nate. “Don’t know, Nero. We’ve been trying to find her, but either she’s not about, or she doesn’t want to be found.” She shrugged, and went back to the game. “You lose, Nate,” she added with relish, as she took the small pile of bonds that was sat on the table. Nate grimaced.
Talyah shrugged as well, when Nero turned to look at her. They all knew that Sevi was probably hidden somewhere, not wanting to be sent away from the action. And there was pretty much nothing they could do about it. Knowing that searching for her would be a futile effort, Nero instead went to sit down next to one of the men, a quieter man who was sat on his own, staring off into space. He put a hand on the man’s shoulder, and then sat in silence.
****
Hours later, it was the middle of the night. It was pitch black outside, and normally, people would be asleep. Or at least they’d be in a bed. But not this night. Nero sat awake, surrounded by others who couldn’t find sleep, and who were just as bleary-eyed as him. They had very quickly become bored of gambling, and thoughts kept returning to the unknown.
Nero knew they should get some sleep. He knew there was no suggestion that Aegis agents were about to break in. But they were all nervy, and very much on edge. None of them could sleep with the thought of armoured men breaking in whilst they slumbered. Hence, only a few particularly relaxed people managed to get any sleep at all. Nero was not one of them.
Finally, he stood up, and decided to go and stretch his legs. Onon decided to accompany him.
“Talyah,” he whispered. “Give me the turret control, would you?” She looked up at Nero, eyes red with lack of sleep.
“Sure,” she replied, taking it out of a pocket and giving it to Nero. He pocketed it, and then quietly left the room with Onon, stepping out into the main area of the warehouse.
The shuttles were parked next to the opposite wall, looking like great slumbering beasts in the dim lighting, and everything else looked as it always did. The workbenches were still set up in the middle of the warehouse, ready to receive a non-existent shipment of qiameth, and the pile of empty containers was still stacked up near to the main office area. Not wanting to walk too far, Nero and Onon stayed inside the warehouse, and simply walked around the perimeter.
“When do you think they’ll come?” Onon asked after a time. Nero glanced at her before answering.
“I don't know, Onon. We don’t even know if they plan to attack here. But they’ve been working pretty quickly, so...” He tailed off and shrugged. “Best not to think on it much.”
Onon smiled half-heartedly, and they carried on their stroll around the warehouse, finding nothing of interest until they came near full-circle and neared where the shuttles were parked. Onon froze when they were close, and Nero knew why she’d stopped. He had heard it too, a faint noise coming from just outside the warehouse. They stood there, listening intently, and then, moments later, they heard another slight sound. Almost as if something was touching the wall.
Exchanging a glance with Onon, Nero walked up to the wall and placed his head next to it. He could hear the sounds more clearly now, but they didn’t sound like footsteps outside the building. Instead, it sounded as if there was something inside the wall. Taking a good look at the wall, he spotted a disguised maintenance hatch a few metres away.
Taking care not to make a sound, he made his way over to the hatch, gesturing for Onon to follow. She already had her laser pistol out and aimed at the hatch. Nero popped the recessed handles out, wincing at the slight sound that made, and then quickly pulled the hatch away from the wall.
Initially all he could see were the pipes and wires running along the inside of the wall, but then, once his eyes had adjusted a bit, he saw a shape move no less than a metre away, heading away from the open hatch. He reached into the hole, and managed to grab hold of a handful of what felt like hair. He pulled, and a high-pitched yell made its way out of the wall.
With a bit of resistance, Nero managed to drag a thoroughly bedraggled-looking Sevi out of the small cavity between the walls. “Oww!” she exclaimed, once she had tumbled out of the hole. “That hurt, Nero.”
“It’s the least you deserve, Sevi,” Onon said to her. “What were you even doing in there?”
“You’re lucky we didn’t just shoot the source of those sounds,” Nero added.
Sevi looked at the ground, refusing to meet either of their eyes. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to wait around, and I knew you’d send me away if you found me.”
Nero rolled his eyes, and exchanged an amused glance with Onon whilst Sevi was still looking away. “Well, you’re right on that front, Sevi. You are going to have to leave. This place could get very dangerous, very quickly.” He started leading her back towards the main office.
“You have some impressive talents, Sevi. Maybe you should consider using them for good, though. And not just hiding from--”
A brilliant flash and an incredibly loud bang cut Nero off mid-sentence, knocking him, Sevi and Onon forcibly to the ground. Nero lost his grip on Sevi, and he raised his hands to his ears in an effort to stop the ringing that filled his head. It was a few seconds before he could begin to hear again, and before his vision started to return.
What he saw sent a chill through his spine. Maybe twenty metres away, smoke was hanging around a newly-formed hole in the ground, and lumps of concrete were now scattered across the ground. Nero leapt up, dragged Onon and Sevi to their feet, and then ran to the living area. As he reached the room, he pushed Onon and Sevi through the doorway, and then spun around to face the hole just in time to see a dark grey figure leap upwards and land, crouched
, on the concrete floor.
Another four armoured figures followed it out, moving to stand next to the first one, and then other figures began to climb more slowly out of the gaping hole. Nero squinted, trying to see through the dust and smoke that still lingered. They looked, to his eyes, like vacsos. Why would Aegis have recruited help? Unless, and the thought annoyed him more than anything, the Nostra were still around and helping.
Not giving the idea any more thought, he pulled the turret activator out of his pocket. The Aegis agents had begun to slowly walk forward, and Nero gave them a smile. There were five turrets surrounding the living area, and these invaders were right in front of two of them. Nero pressed the glowing red ‘activate’ button.
Nothing happened. He glanced down, and pressed it again. It was definitely activated, but the turrets weren’t firing. They weren't doing anything, not even tracking the invaders. “Shit,” Nero whispered. He retreated back into the meeting room, tossing the controller down on a chair.
“This piece of crap isn’t working,” he informed the others, the peril of their situation now hitting him fully as he grabbed the largest weapon they had. The others looked as surprised as he felt. “And we’ve got multiple targets out there.”
He went over to the nearest window that looked out into the warehouse, and aimed his weapon at the approaching Aegis agents. The others followed his lead, and soon there was a bristling array of high-powered laser rifles aimed at the enemy.
On seeing this, the intruders stopped walking, though they kept their weapons aimed at Nero and the others. One of the armoured Aegis agents took another couple of steps forward, and lowered his weapon. He looked at the turrets in front of him, before speaking. “Turrets not working, Nero? Shame.” His voice came rasping out of the helmet’s voice unit, sending chills down Nero’s spine and making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
On Galaxy's Edge: Ascendance Page 22
