“But--” Onon said, but Nero ignored her.
“You’re telling me you can forgive Nate, for what he’s done?” Onon looked down, shaking her head. “I trusted him. We all trusted him, and he betrayed each and every one of us. He may have been betraying us for years.” He shrugged.
“And this thing you plan on doing, that will sort everything out?” Onon asked.
Nero looked away. “You have to experience the bottom, to know how low it is, Onon. I know those depths, and I will not go back there. I will fight, even if it there’s just a slim hope of success.”
Onon sighed, and looked away herself, at the beautiful cityscape before them. “I understand, Nero. I may not agree, but I understand. Let’s go,” she said, walking forwards and rejoining the rest of the group. Nero followed.
They were approaching the city’s Scrapers, walking along one of the more major streets that led straight into the heart of the great city. At this hour, not many other people were out, though they did pass a few stumbling drug addicts, and down some of the alleys they glimpsed the odd group of people huddled around a fire.
As they walked, Nero’s thoughts drifted back to the events of the previous night, and he wondered whether he was being too rash. But then, after what seemed like no time at all, they had arrived, the Scraper that Talyah’s contact had told them about looming thousands of metres above their heads. Nero craned his head upwards, looking for the room on the tenth floor that was their destination, any doubts immediately forgotten.
“Are you all sure you want to do this?” he asked, turning to face everyone in turn. “This is going to be dangerous, and there’s no reason any of you should feel compelled to do this with me. No one will blame you if you choose to walk away now. I’d admire you, if anything.” There was a few seconds of silence, before Nero spoke again. “As stupid as you lot are,” he said with a smile, “I do appreciate you sticking with me. Alright then, Talyah, if you would do the honours?”
“Certainly, Nero,” she replied, pulling out the same orange putty material she had used on the cruiser, what felt like a lifetime ago. She stepped up to the vast glass wall of the Scraper, and then proceeded to apply a large ring of the putty to the heavily-reinforced, and darkened, glass. Once done, Talyah inserted a chip into the material, and stepped back. She then activated the orange putty, and after a moment, the material began to hiss and smoke, as it ate its way through the thick glass skin of the building.
Nero glanced around, not seeing any other observers, and watched as the large circle of ten-centimetre thick glass slowly began to topple outwards from the building. He reached forward and caught the glass, amazed at the weight of the thing, and placed it down on the ground, careful not to make much noise.
He stepped through the hole, and emerged into a dark room. Turning on the vertical light strips in his jacket, he could see that the room appeared to be abandoned. There was nothing around, except for a door on the opposite side. “I guess they don’t like to live down near the ground,” he said, turning to Talyah who had just stepped through after him.
The door itself wasn’t difficult to get through, and simply required a laser beam through the locking mechanism to slide open. This led them into a large, gleaming white corridor, stretching off to the left and right. Nero turned left, and walked down the polished floor of the corridor.
“The lifts should be this way,” he said, remembering the layouts of other Scrapers he had been in. Though they weren’t identical in design, they generally followed a pretty tight set of guidelines, and it looked like this Scraper conformed to them. Sure enough, Nero turned the corner at the end of the corridor, and midway down this corridor, there was a long bank of lifts recessed in the wall.
“Tenth floor, was it?” Koegan asked as they neared them.
“Yeah,” Nero replied, as they waited for the lift doors to open. “Apparently they have the apartment at the front of the building, looking over the street, so we should be safe using these lifts.”
Koegan grunted. “And it’s not like they’re expecting us, anyway,” he said.
It was a very brief ride in the high-speed lift to ascend the ten floors, and they emerged into an identical corridor to the one below, but with a giant ‘290’ written on the wall in front of them.
“Two-ninety?” Onon asked, turning to look at Talyah.
“The first floor is at the very top of the Scraper,” Talyah absently replied as they walked along, passing anonymous door after anonymous door. The only identifiers were small numbers above each, which illuminated as they walked past. “It’s room one we’re looking for,” she added.
They didn’t meet anyone else in the corridor, for which Nero was grateful, and room one itself didn’t even have any guards outside. He lowered his rifle when it became obvious that they were well and truly alone, and slowly, silently, they approached the door to room one.
Before they breached it, Nero paused to slide his laser rifle into its holster, and to retrieve two different weapons. The first was a huge rifle slung across his back, and the second was what looked like a modified pistol, with an abnormally large barrel. Talyah also pulled out one of the modded pistols, but Nero was the only one with the large rifle. It was the same type as could be found on the turrets, and was far too heavy and unwieldy for the others to use.
“Ready?” he whispered. The others nodded in agreement, and Talyah moved up to stand next to Nero. Without waiting any longer, before he changed his mind, he kicked the door hard, as hard as he could. The door went flying inwards, the lock shattering and the metal door bending under the force. He and Talyah burst into the room.
It was empty. Nero looked around, noting that the room was just as abandoned as the room they’d entered the building through. There was no furniture, no lighting, no signs that anyone had been in here in a long time. He looked at Talyah. “Your contact definitely said this room...?”
“Yes, Nero. He was quite clear.” Onon and the others had entered the room now, and were looking equally bemused.
“You don’t think--”
Onon was cut off as the sound of a disembodied voice came from somewhere in the room. “Nero,” came the rasping voice. He looked towards the source of the sound, and saw a speaker mounted in the ceiling. “You came after me... I admire your courage.”
“At least I wasn’t afraid to meet you face to face, Ras. Where are you?”
The lieutenant’s laugh came through the speaker. “Where am I? I’m in my ship, flying over the city.” There was a pause. “Or perhaps I’m with the Governatore’s daughter.” Nero’s heart stopped, and time seemed to slow. How could he know? He hadn’t told anyone, not even Nate. Maybe he didn’t know, maybe... But before he could think on it anymore, the voice continued. “Or perhaps, Nero, I’m right behind you.” For the last part, the voice stopped coming from the speaker, and instead came from just outside the apartment.
Nero spun around to face the door, but too late, the five Aegis agents stepped into the room, weapons raised and pointed at Nero’s small team. Before they could react, the lieutenant’s men opened fire, the bursts of intense energy from their weapons ripping their way through Koegan and another couple of Nero’s team, leaving just Onon, Talyah and Nero still standing. He looked down, to see the life leave Koegan’s eyes. Not again, he thought.
The lieutenant held his hand up, stopping his men from firing any more. “Is this all that’s left?” he asked, gesturing at Onon and Talyah. “You and two women. Well, one woman, and I don’t know what you are.” He looked in Talyah’s direction. “Some sort of human-alien hybrid, are you?” Talyah stood still and didn’t say anything, though Nero could see the anger on her face.
“You haven’t beaten me yet, Ras,” Nero said, playing for time. He was slowly reaching for the modded pistol that he’d holstered in his belt.
“Have I not, Nero? I think you are in denial. Perhaps you are scared.”
“Am I?” Nero asked, his hand nearing the weapon.
Nero’s hand was on the small pistol’s grip now. “You’re right about one thing there, Ras. You did give my world a shake, and I don’t appreciate that. In fact I downright resent that.” In one smooth, quick motion, he drew the weapon and fired it at the lieutenant's head, at the same time pushing Onon and Talyah away. A lump of white putty left the barrel of the weapon and hit the lieutenant directly on his rebreather. The putty spread out on impact, and completely smothered the breathing apparatus. The lieutenant’s hands went up to his helmet in an attempt to pull the material off, but it was stuck fast. Struggling to draw breath through the thick material, he eventually pulled his entire helmet off, revealing a remarkably normal human head underneath it.
Meanwhile, Nero had moved away from Onon and Talyah, and had fired at another of the Aegis agents, hitting this one square on the rebreather too. His hands also went up to his helmet, as the other three agents began firing at Nero. But he was too fast and managed to evade their fire, whilst hitting a third agent. Almost at the same time, the fourth was hit by Talyah, who had pulled her putty pistol out. That left just one, and Nero fired again, his aim true, and covered the rebreather of the final agent.
This all happened in just a couple of seconds, but it was long enough for the lieutenant to reach for his weapon after pulling his own helmet off. As Nero tossed away the putty gun, the lieutenant aimed at Nero and fired. Nero saw him aim, and dived out the way, but he wasn’t quite fast enough. He felt a sensation of extreme heat in his side, and looked down to see the laser shot had grazed the side of his chest, burning away a couple of centimetres of flesh. He was knocked to the ground.
“Nero!” Talyah yelled from the other side of the room. He looked over in time to see the lieutenant fire directly at her. He watched as the flash of light passed through Talyah’s chest, dead centre, and he saw her large, golden eyes open wide with shock. Then the life left them, and she fell over backwards, hitting the ground with a thud.
Nero yelled, and jumped back up, but he wasn’t fast enough. His augs weren’t fast enough. Before Talyah’s body had even hit the floor, the lieutenant had aimed again, this time at Onon, who had pulled out her own laser rifle. She didn’t draw fast enough, and before she got a shot off, the Aegis agent had fired again. The top of Onon’s head was blown away by the laser bolt, and her body slumped backwards, next to Talyah’s.
The other Aegis agents had removed their helmets by now, and were aiming their weapons at Nero. He sprinted forwards, and before the nearest agent could fire, he punched with all his might, his metal fist connecting with the man’s head. There was a shower of blood, bone and brain as his fist passed through the man’s head, and he ducked and leapt at the next agent. He extended a carbon blade, and used his momentum to drive the blade up into the man’s mouth, through the roof, and into his brain.
He pulled the blade back out, in a spray of blood, and jumped towards the remaining agents. He had paused a moment too long, however, and one of the agents managed to score another hit on Nero. This one only hit his metal thigh, and didn’t injure him, but the energy discharge in his leg made him misjudge his next leap forwards. Instead of coming down on top of the agent who had fired, he went sideways, and landed sprawled on the floor.
Knowing that was a fatal mistake, he stayed on the floor and saw the lieutenant stand over him, a rifle pointed directly at his chest. Nero shut his eyes, and accepted what was about to happen. He felt strangely relaxed, as if he knew he’d done his best, and now just wanted it all to end. He thought briefly of Talyah, and of Onon, and a sad smile came to his lips. And then he thought of Nate, and Ras, and how it didn’t really matter whether they were dead or not, now. Now that he had lost everyone. But then Ami entered his mind, and he remembered what the lieutenant had said. His eyes flicked back open.
The lieutenant hadn’t fired, though he was still stood over Nero, the rifle still pointing at him. Finally, the lieutenant spoke. “I must say, I am impressed, Nero. The putty... a brilliant idea. I shall have to have a new helmet designed, when I get back.” He paused, and waited for a response from Nero. None came. “You managed to kill two of my men, Nero. That’s a first, but you know you could never win?”
The lieutenant turned slightly to face the doorway, and said “Enter.” He turned back to face Nero, and for the first time Nero saw the smile that spread across the man’s face, now that it wasn’t hidden by a helmet. Then he looked to the doorway, and saw four robots marching into the room. Humanoid in shape, they were all as black as midnight in the desert, and combined with the skeletal appearance and gleaming red lights in the head, they looked even more sinister than the Aegis agents.
“Even had you got through me, Nero,” the lieutenant continued, “you would have stood no chance against these machines. No necks to cut, I’m afraid. This whole thing was futile.” Nero lay there and watched the robots, which were now absolutely stationary, lined up just inside the room. He shivered, not wanting to think about how deadly they would be.
“So now we come to this, Nero. Tell me, what do you know about your parents?”
That was an unexpected question. Nero looked into the man’s eyes, and saw no emotion there. Just an intensely probing look. The lieutenant continued. “I did a little digging, once I became interested in you. I believe you lived with your mother?”
Nero just continued staring into the man’s eyes. He smiled at Nero’s reticence, though no humour reached his eyes. “But you never knew your father, I presume?” Again, no response from Nero, though he was intensely curious. “Well, I shan’t say any more. But knowing who he was does explain a number of things about you.” The lieutenant smiled, and Nero looked away, willing this to be over.
Apparently, the lieutenant had decided the same thing. “This will be an honourable death, Nero. You were one of the more entertaining people I’ve had to deal with. I will almost miss you.” The man’s finger began to squeeze the trigger, but then he paused, and looked towards the door. Standing there, behind the robots, was Nate, beaten and bloody, but with a smile on his face.
“Hello Nero,” he said, looking down at Nero lying on the ground. He stumbled slightly, and stepped forward.
“What are you doing here?” the lieutenant demanded.
“I think I made a mistake, Nero,” Nate continued, his tone subdued. “They promised me a lot, but I think they’re just going to kill me.” He looked down at the wounds that had been inflicted since Nero last saw him.
“You think?” Nero asked, vehemence in his voice. Nate hung his head.
“I’m sorry, Nero,” he said. He looked back up, and pulled a rifle out from behind his back. He aimed and fired at the lieutenant’s head, but faster than seemed possible, one of the robots moved to intercept the shot. The laser bolt harmlessly impacted on the robot’s head, and it stepped forward to meet Nate.
Nero glanced up at the lieutenant, who was watching the robot. Seeing an opportunity, Nero rolled and jumped up, and taking the lieutenant by surprise, he knocked the man’s legs out from under him. Though he dearly would have loved to kill the lieutenant, another of the robots had already started to move towards Nero. Having seen how fast they could move, he instead turned and sprinted to the window.
With one last glance at Nate, briefly exchanging a look with him before the robot blocked his view, Nero punched the toughened glass. The shock went right through his arm and into his shoulder, but nevertheless the glass shattered, falling away into the darkness outside. With the robot just behind him, Nero jumped, propelling
himself outwards into the night sky.
He fell freely for a few metres, the wind rushing through his hair, before the stabilization augmentation kicked in, and he slowed down, gliding to the roof of an adjacent building. He landed lightly, and turned to look back up at the Scraper he had just jumped from. There, standing in the shattered window, was the robot, red eyes glowing in the darkness.
“Afraid of heights?” Nero said, mainly to himself. Perhaps the robot heard, or perhaps it just wanted to see what Nero did, but suddenly it jumped from the window, arms stretched out in front of it, and it dived downwards. Nero was too shocked to move for a moment, but then he turned tail and ran.
An immensely loud bang came from behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to see the robot slowly standing up from where it had landed on the roof. It was surrounded by a cloud of dust from the impact. Nero looked forward again and ran, as fast as he could, across the rooftop. He could sense the robot behind him, and a glance back ascertained that he wasn’t making any headway on the machine, despite running at full pelt.
He jumped to the next building and continued sprinting, his legs a blur as they propelled him over the ground. He tried to go faster, and his legs began to glow in places, the friction heating up the metal. He heard vents open in an effort to cool the appendages down.
Seeing an alley to the right, he decided to change tack and leapt off of the roof, landing heavily on the ground. He heard a muffled thud behind him as the robot followed. Taking a left turning, and then another left, he tried to lose the robot in the maze of alleyways. Up ahead a door was slightly ajar, and Nero smashed through it, emerging in what seemed like someone’s home. He didn’t pause to look, though, instead jumping out of a window on the opposite side. The robot followed not far behind.
“Fucking robot,” he swore under his breath. He was starting to feel drained of energy, and knew he wouldn’t be able to keep running at this pace for much longer. The heat exchangers on his legs were glowing bright orange now.
On Galaxy's Edge: Ascendance Page 24
