An Inquisitor rounded the corner that the pair had passed mere moments ago, and Stan shot it through the head, sending it to the ground as a heap of scrap.
He growled in the dark confines of the Mine, “Val, we need to hurry. There are more from where that one came from, I know it. Just run; I will cover us. Go!” Val bolted and Stan wasn't too far behind. Within a few more moments they found themselves outside, welcomed by the open arms of a war zone.
...
“You have got to be shitting me,” Jack whispered to himself, “Another drone? How many could they possibly have after me?” He was currently creeping along a wall somewhere between his old apartment and the Inner City, and he could hear the roar of gunfire coming from the direction of the mine, “And please don’t tell me that is a war at the mine that I’m hearing. This day can only get worse.”
He glanced up at the drone hovering above him, thankful that it was currently oblivious of him. I would just sneak past, buuuut… If I kill this one, that’s one less drone that I have to worry about, and it just might distract the Inquisition long enough that they’ll send a team here from the mine. If that’s the mine. If that’s the Inquisition. Oh well.
Jack pulled his gun out of his pack and aimed at the drone. Without a moment's hesitation, he fired, and the big revolver thundered in his hands. The shot ripped through the drone like butter and it immediately fell to the ground, destroyed.
Jack carried on creeping along the streets of New Columbia. He found himself contemplating his situation: I am trying to rally enough support for the rebellion so that I can assault a space gulag and hopefully rescue Culloch’s wife and child -as well as any other prisoners there- so that Culloch'll help the rebellion expose Aerotec’s dirty laundry. Madness, utter and complete madness...
He talked to himself as he walked, suddenly driven mad by the absurdity of it all, “Oh but it only starts there, doesn’t it? We’re all gonna die. I just know it. But at least I can take as many of you bastards with me when I do…”
...
Stan and Val ran out into a firefight between the guard force and what was left of the resistance. Besides this, the guard force was fighting alongside two squads of Inquisitors and -to make matters even worse- Stan and Val were on the opposite side of the battlefield from their allies with an unknown number of Inquisitors coming from behind them.
“Out of the frying pan and into the fire, eh?” Val joked grimly before she and Stan dashed behind one of the many large machines that were usually parked outside the mine.
Stan shouted over the din of battle, “Alright, so here is what we can do: we hop from vehicle to vehicle until we make it to friendlies, then we call for a fighting retreat. Got it, Val?”
“Uh, yeah sure, let’s do it,” Val spoke haltingly, unsure of what to do in the chaos.
Stan popped up from behind the machine and fired at the Inquisitors, his old combat training kicking in while Val dashed across to an adjacent bulldozer. A bullet whizzed close enough by her head for her to hear its supersonic scream. Stan popped down to reload and the rebels renewed their attacks, invigorated by the sight of their leaders.
Val emerged from behind the machine to cover Stan while he ran over to her. Once they were united, they began the arduous process of leapfrogging towards an alleyway while most of the rebels fired blindly from behind cover.
...
Jack was running towards the gunfire now, and he was already formulating a plan within his head. He recognized that he was close enough to the mine that if he climbed up the building nearest him he’d be able to see the entire front of the mine from the top.
Thank god for oxygen distribution towers.
He started climbing, his hands finding purchase in the craggy and dilapidated metal of the tower, and he only stopped once he found a flat enough surface to lay on. He pulled out the flag deployment control for the bars he had planted on the apartments and activated them.
On the distant sides of the glittering apartments, massive red banners began unfurling. Soon, four entire apartment buildings were draped in massive flags featuring a nordic cross and circle with the words: “WE WILL NOT FALL. THE RESISTANCE LIVES ON," emblazoned above it.
Of course, the only ones who could read the flags were those who were nearby, but the Inquisitors were somehow able to, and it terrified them.
The resistance was everywhere, even the Inner City… Then they started dropping like flies, holes gouged into their heads and chests.
Jack fired his gun, now set to its sniper configuration, and soon the Inquisitors went scrambling for cover.
...
Stan and Val made it to an alleyway after Jack opened fire, the brief respite of the chaos it wreaked giving them more than enough time to do so. Stan motioned for Val to speak to the troops while the loyalists scrambled for cover. All was quiet except for Jack's steady sniper fire and dying loyalist screams. She stood up and straightened her back, now confident rather than confused. She began an impromptu speech instead of retreating, and Stan quietly organized the troops.
“You may not be able to see it, but those banners have a message. We will not fall! The Resistance is alive and well, and we are here to stay! We will not stop until Aerotec is gone, we will not stop until every Martian is free! Join us or not, we will fight for you! Have hope, and we will last through the night together. No cyborg automaton will stop us. Fight back against Aerotec!” The final inquisitor dropped dead as if it was accentuating her final word, and the Resistance made its retreat into the aether of the slums, shooting down any drones that dared follow them.
Chapter 19
Inside the warehouse, everyone was gathered around the sort of podium that was set up for meetings while Jack, Stan, and Val stood around it. It had only been a few hours since the firefight at the mine, and somehow the banners hadn’t been taken down yet. This meeting was going to be part funeral and part planning since Alrik Johnson, one of Val’s crew, had been killed today and the resistance needed a short-term goal to rally behind. They needed action.
Jack started the gathering off officially, “Alright everyone, we are gathered here for a twofold purpose: to mourn the loss of one of our own and to plan for the immediate future. Alrik Johnson had a stout heart and died bravely. He made the sacrifice that we are all willing to make, and now we must move on. His family will be provided for, and his body cremated at the earliest possible opportunity,” Jack continued with his eulogy of sorts for a few minutes, though it felt dispassionate and, frankly, fake. He hadn't delivered a eulogy before, and he hadn't known Mr. Johnson particularly well. It made him sad, but somehow he was the one delivering the speech.
When he finished with that, he shifted to other matters. The resistance wasn’t saddened by this death, if anything, it angered them. Jack just needed to direct that anger.
His voice boomed in the mostly empty warehouse, “We all know who killed Alrik: Aerotec. It’s been the same way for much of our lives, if not the entirety of our lives. But I have discovered many things recently, and I now believe that we have a course of action to take. As we all now know, Sergeant Andrews, the former captain of the Aerotec guard force at the mine, was the local ringleader of a criminal empire, and in all practicality was the kingpin of this organization. The only reason I say 'in practicality' is that he reported to none other than Aerotec, and he is just the first rung on a ladder of corruption that reaches to the heavens. Documents and information gathered from his office point to Aerotec directly funding nefarious activities such as but not limited to: human trafficking, drug trafficking, murder, and kidnapping,” Jack paused a little between each word, sure to emphasize Aerotec’s deeds.
“We have reason to believe that he was also partially involved with a secret prison of sorts that Aerotec is running. We fully plan to liberate that prison, but first, we need to focus on local problems. We have to face the facts: we are low on resources and especially low on personnel. Even if we wanted to liberate this secret prison, we
simply don’t have the means or the people to do it. All we have on that front is motive.
So we have to get resources, preferably while also crippling Aerotec. I have a list of everyone involved in Andrews’ little empire, or at least those who were below him anyway. We need to start by taking these people out even if they don’t seem important. Before he died, Andrews told me an awful lot. Names, locations, routes... You name it, he probably said it. If we pursue what’s left of his organization, we can easily gain enough people and resources to take the prison," the crowd was excited now and would cling onto Jack’s every word. They were loyal to the resistance, and they couldn’t go back now even if they wanted to.
Jack finished up, “So we are going to go after them, we are going to purge their filth from New Columbia, and we are going to save New Columbia. We are not going to leave this place as a miserable hellhole for our children and their children in the hopes that they’ll be able to overcome it. No, we are going to pave the way for them, so that they will have a brighter future. To every man a castle, and every woman a palace. That is what we are fighting for people, don’t forget it.”
Everyone cheered, and Jack made way for Stan to take the stage. The Russian's voice was like a roll of thunder in the warehouse, "Listen up! We are down to nine operational soldiers, and three leaders. Luckily, this makes dividing everyone into groups easier. We have two large targets now, and both of them are associated with this drug operation. We will all divide into teams of three, one with Jack, one with Val, and one with me. Jack’s team is tasked with hunting down a certain individual named Conrad Rhoades. The rest of us will be going after someone named Alfred Mana, the logistics coordinator of this prison and Andrews' drug empire. Your leaders will brief you as teams. We execute tomorrow, at 22:00. Dismissed.” With that, the meeting ended, and the teams were assigned.
...
Jack gathered his team in one of the newly built rooms in the warehouse and had everyone sit around a table with a crude hologram projector on it. Jack pressed a button and a rough hologram of a middle-aged man sprang to life.
He spoke, “Alright, so most of you probably don’t know who Conrad Rhoades is, or why he’s so important so I’ll tell you why: Those Inquisitors are not fully human, they aren’t even mostly human. We need someone who can break into their cybernetics and tell us what’s inside, and that’s where Rhoades comes in. Most people haven’t heard a peep out of him since he went into hiding several years ago, but I knew a bit about him before he fled. This man was the most technically capable person I’d ever known, especially when it came to advanced systems and AIs, but he was hated by Aerotec because he wouldn’t take any of their contracts. From what I understand he hasn’t left his house at the edge of town in years, and he may very well be dead, but we have to find out one way or another. So that’s what we’re going to do. We’ll enter his house, eliminate any threats, and hopefully find him alive or find his corpse, god forbid we find neither," Jack paused to give his soldiers time to think about the information he'd just given them before he continued.
"After we capture him, or at least convince him to work with us, it will be as simple as extricating back to here, where we’ll then move on the next available target, if possible.” Jack continued explaining the plan to his men, while Val and Stan were doing the same.
...
Val stood in front of her and Stan’s guys with her hands on her hips, “Alright, so Mr. Mana is a logistics director for the mine. He works from home, living in a small apartment above the main Aerotec distribution center for the Outer City. We are fully aware that we barely made it out of the mine earlier, but we can and will do better this time, got it? Our goal is to capture or kill Mr. Mana, raid his house for information, and get out quickly. Stan, tell ‘em how we’ll do it.”
Stan spoke calmly and clearly, “So the way we are going to do this is quite simple. We will enter the building through a rear loading bay, and from there we will make our way to the small apartment above the complex, on the second floor. Val’s team will lead the way, with my team covering them. We will not fire at anyone unless we are fired upon. Val’s team will capture or kill Mana, and proceed to raid his apartment for valuable information. My team will begin the process of planting explosives wherever possible to cripple logistics for the mine. Are there any questions?”
No one asked a single question, and soon all three teams were fully briefed. Tomorrow they would train, and tomorrow night they would attack.
Chapter 20
The rebellion had been training for much of the day by running laps and practicing on their aim, as well as running through a false building they had constructed sometime in the past few weeks.
Now, at 21:30, Jack had his men gathered around him, “Alright everyone, I’ve drilled the plan into your heads enough already today, so I’ll cut to the chase. Let’s get moving, and let’s try not to die. Let’s go find Conrad. Are we ready?” His team shouted an affirmation, and within a few more minutes they were slinking off into the night and the cold night enveloped them.
They weren’t located all that far from Rhoades’ fortress, so it didn’t take too long for them to reach it on foot. But things were immediately complicated when gunfire roared from the direction of the mansion and what sounded like a war began on the grounds of Rhoades' den.
Jack grumbled to himself, “The hell… Since when did Rhoades have a private army to fight off another private army?” Since when did so many people have private armies?
Jack turned to instruct his men, “Alright, new plan. We go in, we kill whoever is trying to kill Rhoades, and we try not to die in the process, got it?”
“Jack, it sounds like World War Three over there,” one of his men said before grabbing his gun with a confident smile, “Let’s do it.”
The squad rallied quietly before continuing towards the house. They took off their masks to reveal their faces just in case they were mistaken for Inquisitors. They ran low beside the walls of the more sturdy buildings in this part of town and came out into the street surrounding the Rhoades Fortress, a lawn of asphalt marking the dividing line.
As the man had said, it seemed like World War Three had broken loose: teams of Inquisitors were attempting to break into the large building, but they were being cut down by hidden weapons in the cracks of the walls. There were already several large piles of dead Inquisitors scattered across the property, and yet more and more Inquisitors kept throwing themselves at it.
A new team of Inquisitors began their assault and Jack took his chance, “Move! Take out those Inquisitors and don't stop until you reach the building!” He opened fire with an assault rifle and the rest of the team followed suit, and now they found themselves caught in a three-way battle between Inquisitors, Paupers, and a Hermit.
Jack’s team advanced against the Aerotec horde with their weapons high and firing in controlled bursts. The Inquisition force was completely blindsided by the resistance attack, and the latest robotic squad to arrive was wiped out.
Jack looked across the concrete battlefield, in awe of the piles of carapaces that were already strewn about the grounds, massive in comparison to the ones his men had created. What could be so important to Aerotec that they keep sending wave after wave to try to capture it? Before Jack could finish his line of thought, an electronic voice boomed out from somewhere in the general direction of the building: “Resistance eh? What in heaven’s name do you want?” While electronic, it had a British air to it, maybe even an overtly caricatured accent. That must be Rhoades.
Jack responded as soon as he figured out who he was speaking with, “Mr. Rhoades, we want nothing more than your expertise and assistance. We need to know more about our-”
He was interrupted by the hidden speaker, “Stop, that’s enough for prying ears to hear. You may enter.” A door slid open to their right, embedded in the wall of the surreal edifice. The resistance quickly dashed inside, thankful to get out of the open. For a moment they were surrounded by t
he sounds of machinery clicking, buzzing, and humming as if a massive vault was unlocking and locking again. After a moment, all went quiet. Another door opened in front of them to reveal a man in his middle forties standing in front of them, wearing garb not too dissimilar from a steampunk mad scientist.
“Tylar Conrad Rhoades, pleased to meet your acquaintance,” Rhoades said as he outstretched his hand to Jack.
Jack took his hand and engaged with the formalities, “John Cabe, it’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Rhoade-”
Rhoades interrupted Jack once again, “Please, call me TC, or Conrad, or Tylar. I can’t stand pure formality you know. Dreadfully boring, that.”
Jack was already severely off-put by Rhoades’ eccentricity but went along with it, "Alright then TC, I'll get to to the point. We need to talk. I’ll have my guys wait here unless you want them somewhere else.”
“Oh jolly good, uh, have them wait here in the living room, they can sit or whatever. You and I can head up to my office if it’s business you want to discuss. Come along!” TC piped out cheerily.
Jack motioned for his men to stay alert before he followed TC up some stairs. They emerged into a quaint victorian office with an attached laboratory of sorts. The asymmetry of the place was astonishing, considering the office’s ancient and plush styling and the lab’s sterile and bland character. So strange.
“So, you’re obviously part of the Resistance John, and that means you probably want me to join you. Sadly, I can’t join anyone, because I absolutely hate bowing to authority of any kind,” TC explained in short order, barely stopping for breath, “But I am willing to help you in your crusade against the Aerotec bastards. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' and all that. So if you need any tech out of me, I can supply you with small amounts of it, maybe a few droids, some better weapons technology, maybe even just some environmental suits. Whatever you need, I probably have it,” TC went silent after his lightning-quick tirade, and waited for Jack to respond.
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