On Galaxy's Edge: Ascendance (24 page)

“What are you doing Nate?” Nero whispered to himself. Once he had emerged from the room, Nate went over to stand by the Aegis lieutenant, and spoke to him in whispered words.

The lieutenant then looked directly up at Nero, in the upper floor window. “I told you your weapons wouldn’t be much good, Nero. Perhaps I failed to mention that your men couldn’t all be relied upon, either.” The lieutenant paused. “Would you mind joining us down here?”

There didn’t seem to be much choice in the matter, Nero realised, and he turned and walked slowly down the stairs. Talyah and Onon followed at a slight distance.

When he left the room, and stepped out onto the main floor of the warehouse, the lieutenant was holding onto Sevi by her neck, and Nate was stood next to him, looking somewhat uncomfortable. Treacherous bastard, Nero thought as he locked eyes with the man. Nate looked away quickly, and Nero turned back to the lieutenant, a dark look in his eyes.

“Let her go, Ras,” he said. “She has nothing to do with this.”

“She has everything to do with this, Nero. She’s with you, and that makes her fair game.”

“Fair game? She’s twelve, for fuck’s sake!”

“So?” the lieutenant asked. “What difference does age make? At what age does someone become fair game? Fifteen? Twenty? Eighty? No, it is actions that make someone fair game, not an arbitrary thing like age.”

Nero cast about the place for something that would stop the lieutenant, but he couldn’t find anything. Their weapons didn’t work, and he knew his blades wouldn’t do anything. He looked at the lieutenant’s helmet again, wondering what was going through the man’s mind.

“Let this serve as a lesson to that effect,” the lieutenant continued. He brought up a laser pistol to Sevi’s head, and held it there. Nero could see her trembling in the lieutenant’s grip, but she didn’t make a sound. She just stood there, accepting whatever was going to happen to her. Nero was aware of Onon next to him, shouting at the lieutenant. But he knew that wouldn’t do anything. There was nothing any of them could do.

And then there was a brilliant flash of light, that looked like it came from within Sevi’s skull. Her eye sockets glowed bright red, and her nose and mouth lit up too. Then a beam of white light burst from the side of her head, opposite the pistol, and she went dark. The lieutenant let go of her, and her small, scruffy body crumpled, hitting the floor with almost no sound. Nero just stood there, looking at her for a time.

One of the other Aegis agents began to approach Nero, and he was pulled from his reverie. “You will regret that, Ras. She was innocent,” he said, malevolence filling his voice, the anger making him shake slightly as he stood facing the agents.

“I appreciate your resolve, Nero, misplaced as it may be.”

The other Aegis agents were all walking forward now, leaving Nate standing on his own next to the lieutenant. An idea struck Nero as they approached, and he waited until the nearest one was a couple of metres away, and raising its weapon. Then, with a final hate-filled glance at Nate, he raised his hands in front of him. Planting his legs firmly on the floor, he activated the stabilization augmentation, built into his hands.

A brilliant flash was emitted from the blue repulsors in his hands, disorienting those in front just as effectively as a flashbang grenade, and with his legs anchoring him to the spot, the propulsive forces were all directed forwards, at the Aegis agents lined up in front of him. He saw them, through the blue light, thrown backwards, knocked off their feet.

Nero turned and yelled at Talyah and the others to run, and then himself sprinted forward to the lieutenant, who was still standing, having been far enough away from Nero’s blast. Before the man had the chance to raise his weapon, Nero leapt forward, his augmented legs propelling him at a great speed into the armoured man. The lieutenant was knocked over backwards, and Nero laid into him, punching his helmet repeatedly. He felt whatever material the helmet was made of begin to crack slightly, but then the lieutenant managed to throw Nero off of him.

Nero got back onto his feet, as did the lieutenant. “Impressive,” the Aegis agent said. Nero took the chance to glance behind him, and saw Onon, Talyah and the others disappearing through a side door from the warehouse. He looked back at the lieutenant, and at the other four now back on their feet, and closing fast. If the helmet had withstood the full force of Nero’s punches, he reasoned, there was no way he could defeat all of these opponents at once.

With a last glance at the lieutenant, and at Nate getting up from the ground, Nero used the full power of his legs and sprinted towards the door, seeing a couple of laser shots hit the wall next to the door as he shot through it. He continued running until he caught up with the others, not far beyond the door, and then slowed down to match their speed, checking behind him as he did.

“Faster,” he urged, knowing full well they couldn’t. They ran down the street, and up the nearest alley, hearing the sound of running feet behind them. Part way down the alley, with Nero in the lead, they turned left, and then took the next right. They followed that street for a short while before making another left. All the time Nero felt like their pursuers would catch up at any moment.

But after an inordinate amount of time, taking turn after turn in an effort to throw off the pursuit, Nero slowed, and finally stopped. The others collapsed on the ground, breathing in huge breaths and trying to recover themselves. “Wait here,” Nero said, and ran back the way they had come, for a short distance. He paused to listen, but it seemed like they had lost their pursuers. For now. He returned to the others.

They were still sitting on the ground, taking in deep lungfuls of air, and Nero was once again thankful for the endurance his augmentations afforded him. He waited patiently for them to recover themselves enough to stand back up.

“I think we’ve lost them,” he reported.

Talyah looked up at Nero. “Where,” she managed to say between breaths, “will we go, Nero?”

“I’ve got a small hideout, Tal,” Nero replied, “maybe a half hour walk from here. We should be safe there for a time. Nobody else knows about it.” His thoughts briefly flickered to Nate.

When they had got their breath back, they set off at a more leisurely pace, though still very aware of their surroundings. They passed through deserted alleyways, along deserted streets, and also along streets with some wary-looking people milling around. None, thankfully, wore grey armour, however.

Finally, they walked up to a building not far from the Scrapers. It was on a reasonably well-populated street, and on the ground floor of the building there was a pawn shop, with a sign advertising immediate bonds for any type of item. Talyah glanced at Nero, slightly mystified at his choice of hideout.

“It’s in here, in the basement. There’s access from the rear of the place,” Nero informed them. He led them up the small alleyway, and brought them to the dank rear of the building. There was a metal hatch in the ground next to the building, secured with a large padlock. Nero bent down and pressed his finger to the scanner, which flashed green and opened once it had detected the chip in his forefinger.

He pulled the padlock off, and yanked the hatchway open. Lights turned on automatically in the basement, and light spilled upwards to illuminate the step ladder leading down. Nero gestured for Talyah to go first, and he followed the others in once they were inside. But before he pulled the hatch down, he glanced up into the sky, and chanced to see a very sinister, very advanced shuttle fly overhead, heading towards the city. He pulled the hatch closed.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

VICTUS

He managed a few fitful hours of sleep, after a long time spent staring at ceiling. The others didn’t seem to fare much better, based on the amount of tossing and turning that was going on throughout the night, and it was a relief to finally get up in the morning.

When Nero did finally get up, his vision was swimming and his head felt strange, like he had a particularly nasty hangover. He sat on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands, waiting for the sensation to go. It didn’t disappear entirely, but it did lessen, and once he took his hands away, he saw Talyah on the other side of the room, watching him.

“Morning Tal,” he said, in a dejected tone. He stood up, and went over to retrieve his shirt from the floor.

“Nero,” she replied. “Are you okay?”

He picked up the shirt and began to put it on. “Yeah, fine Tal. Just feeling a bit funny. Haven’t had any of the pills in a while now.”

“The qiameth?” Talyah asked, coming over to stand closer to Nero. “How many of those have you been taking?”

“Oh, I don’t know Tal. A few a day.”

“A few a day?”

“Maybe more,” Nero admitted. “I get a bit down if I don’t have them for a long time, you know?”

Talyah looked concerned as she studied Nero’s face. “You do look a bit odd, Nero. Perhaps it’s for the best that you’re off the pills for a while.”

“Huh, not really my choice though, is it?”

Talyah smiled. “No, it’s not, Nero.”

At that moment Koegan walked up to them, apparently having woken up as well. He yawned, stretched, and sat down at a nearby chair. “Speaking of which,” he said, “what are we going to do about this situation? I’m not inclined to just leave these guys alone, you know?”

“Nor am I, Koegan,” Nero replied, rubbing his forehead.

“I think we shouldn’t do anything hasty, Nero,” Talyah said, the ever-present voice of reason. “You saw how tough these agents are. We don’t even know if it’s possible to kill them in that armour.”

Nero looked up at her sharply, a flash of inspiration in his eyes. “Hey, you might have hit on something Tal.”

“Taking things slowly?” she asked.

“No,” Nero said, missing the sarcasm in her tone. “The armour. If we’re to stand a chance of defeating them, of making them pay, we have to neutralise that armour.”

Koegan, sat at the table, looked at Nero quizzically, but let Talyah get the details out of him. “That may be, Nero, but how do you propose we achieve that?”

“I’m working on it,” he replied, thoughtful. Talyah and Koegan exchanged glances, and Koegan went to get some food rations out of a storage chest in the room. He handed Talyah a protein bar, and sat down to chew on his own as they waited for Nero.

By the time Nero had come up with what he thought might be a workable plan, Onon and the other few survivors had woken up, and were gathered around with their own breakfasts.

“Okay,” Nero said. “So we can’t penetrate their armour. Or at least, not with our usual weapons. Maybe some high-powered rifles would, but we can’t rely on that. So we have to assume that nothing will penetrate. That means we have to separate the men from their armour.” He paused to look at the others, who just nodded vaguely, waiting for him to continue; they were too exhausted to offer any ideas of their own. “The only way I can see us managing that is by forcing them to take their helmets off, of their own accord. And the only way I can see that working is by stopping their rebreathers from working. That way, they have to take their helmets off to take a breath, yes?”

Talyah and the others waited for a moment, but he didn’t elaborate any further. “And you have a plan to accomplish that, Nero?” she asked.

“I believe I do,” he said, a faint smile on his lips. “But first, do you still have that contact in the Governatore’s circle?” Talyah nodded. “Good, because I need him to tell me where these Aegis bastards are based.”

****

As they walked along the street in the darkness, night having fallen a few hours ago, Onon walked up to Nero, and pulled him aside from the rest of the group. He looked at her curiously, but let her lead him a few paces away.

“What is it, Onon?” he asked quietly, as they continued walking slowly.

“I just wanted to check that you’re sure about this, Nero.”

“Sure?” he asked. “Of course I am, Onon. It has to be done. I have to do it. But there’s no shame in leaving, Onon. I know this is risky, and no one would blame--”

Onon cut him off. “You know I loved Sevi, Nero. You know I’d do anything to get her back.” He nodded. “But she’s gone, and nothing we do will bring her back. This seems so risky, and if your reason for doing it is vengeance for Sevi, or for the others, then I have to ask, is it worth it? What will it actually achieve?” Nero looked away from the piercing stare Onon gave him.

“We cannot let them get away with what they've done, Onon,” he said, turning back to her. “They killed Sevi. They killed Jerad, and they killed so many others. And they’ve destroyed what I’ve worked so many years to achieve. I have to try to get that back, Onon. And they have to pay for what they’ve done.”

“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.

The lieutenant was silent for a moment, his face hidden behind his helmet, but presumably watching intently. “I took your little world, Nero,” he said after a moment, “the one you think you run, and I gave it a little shake. And look what happened. You don’t have as much control as you thought you did. You’re no better than all the others living on the street down there, failing to understand what your position in life is. I’m here to put you back in your place, Nero, and that scares you.”

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.