ICC- Kilrick Salvage Chapter 2- On the Road to NYC

Status
Not open for further replies.
Logan slowly regained consciousness and stretched. As usual he felt fit, as if he was walking on air. He felt free. And in some weird sense, he was. Stowe patiently waited for him to wake up and then approached him with a scanner. Readout was minimal. Although there were still some transmissions, the signal was so weak that nothing would be able to receive them without interference.

For the moment Logan was in the clear, he would be allowed to tag along, as he still could be of value to the group. Obviously, Deeds wouldn't like it, but he'd have to deal with it. At this point in time it really didn't matter to Logan. He had reached NY, or at least he was close enough to taste it. Although he didn't know what he would do there or what would happen, he knew that the final chapter of this ordeal would end there. He would leave this wretched place with Sarah, or he would die trying to free her.

"Ok people, suit up. We're moving out in 5. Travel light, but make sure you pick the right weapons..." Jake said as he walked past. He eyed Logan somewhat suspiciously, but Stowe gestured that he was clean.

Logan gave a quick nod and secured his gear. He firmly strapped in his laptop and his rifle parts. Grabbed some extra energy packs and some EMP grenades. Double checked his gauss pistol and his scorpio, that was fitted with a 30 round clip with both hollow point and armor piercing bullets. Although the scorpio would be fairly useless against an armored bot, it was very probable they'd run into gangs of human scavs or mutants.

As he stood waiting near Kilrick until the others were ready to move out, he quickly made sure there were no loose items that could make any noise. He strongly doubted that the team would come out of this shitstorm alive, but he was planning to come out on top. The salvage team just might give him the extra edge he needed.

"Remember I'm in this for my own ends. I will help you as far as I can and then I'll pursue my own interests." Logan asked Kilrick. "That might be better for you guys anyway. If I start emitting codes and polluting the airwaves again..."
 
Logan was acting tough, and despite all the heavy weapons he was carrying, he was still a thief and a computer geek.

"No," I said. "You owe me. We've saved your ass more than a few times, and you've been riding for free. More, you've brought company that I didn't need. So you owe. And it's time to pay up. I will use you as I need you. And if you try to burn us for your own ends, you'll be deader faster than you can blink. WHen I get what I want and we're out of here, than you do what you want. Whether you stick around to collect or stay in NY, that's your business."

"But." Started Logan.

"No but. That's the game or you stop here and I let you figure this out for your own."
 
Rama heeded the words of his commander like any good soldier. Whistling to Wolf, Reik and Edden he called them over to the rig. It was time to rearm.

"Whats the sitch?" Edden said, between a mouthful of fruit.

"We got orders to rearm. Upgrade as Kilrick had put it." Rama said, baring in mind that Kilrick's observation was correct. Over the years the bots had evolved over time. The .12 ga rounds and conventional 7.62mm and 5.56mm rounds would just make nice dents in their armor.

Popping the small locker, A cache of Wattz 2000 Laser rifles, Wattz Model 1600 laser pistols and Winchester P94 plasma rifles. The Laser rifles were chipped along with the pistols which had their magnetic rings tightened to create a hotter blast of laser. Good against anything but modified T54b Power Armor or reflective armor such as tesla, but good luck finding that at your local trading post.

The Laser rifle was Rama's choice. The HK-47 Sentry Floating bots were designed to withstand convential ballistics, though energy weapons didn't roll into modern use by the closing of the war. But time would show the AI system upgraded itself exponentially to withstand outside threats such as looters, Salvagers like Kilrick and Spengler and of course, the French marines. The defence system had grown emmencily over the period of five years, constantly factoring things and even churning out new machinations of destruction.

The laser rifle had better fuel concsumption and better barrel cooling, meaning a hotter beam over a longer distance. The bots would be burnt down before they knew what hit them. And no one with a brain in their head would try close combat with the floating tin cans. Distance was better and crippling them was even better.

Grabbing a rifle and packing two Micro fusion cells, Rama took some plasma grenade along as well in case things got out of hand. His Desert Eagle wouldn't leave his side nor would his combat knife nor Combat shotgun to keep the locals at bay.

The Looters or biker gangs were always pests. And not even to talk about the mutations breeding below the streets. He had lost a cadet to some tentacle that popped the lid of a sewer and dragged the kid to his death.

He had lost his brother to the confusion of the defence grid going homicidal on him and the locals. Rama couldn't even recover the body for proper burial.

Edden grabbed her shotgun, taking some grenades and two laser pistols. She enjoyed close ups, talk about a woman begging to die. It would have been nice to have some of his surviving crew here, at least they'd all die or at least make their peace. The Rangers didn't deserve to go out like that. They tried to make a difference and instead were served to New York by the Greys and the Greens. A major reason he had no love for either side. They were all self serving, they had no honor.

Reik and Wolf grabbed the plasma and laser rifle. The Plasma was awesome, especially as a support weapon, sending plasma bolts to dissolve through any any armor, though power armor could slow it down, didn't mean the glop didn't burn through.

Rama turned to look into the locker and found something was wrong.

The Grenade launcher was missing.

Seeing Edden walk out of the room, I guessed she took it. Probably wanting to blow a few things up. Then again, she’d go into a gun fight with a knife and still win.

Stepping outside of the rig, Stryfe walked to Kilrick.

"Armed and ready. I suppose the HK-47's will be scouring the area for us soon. We can at least get a move on or split between points. If need be, I can see if I can call in a favor or two." Rama added.

He felt that maybe a few of his old comrades were around, perhaps looking at the city but having no cause to enter it. Like looking at your irradiated village: looking so peaciful, so silent. But you can't enter it, or your hair would fall out and your skin would begin to fall off in shreds and chances are you'd die and glow like a night light or you live and become a ghoul. Perhaps that is how Reno and Dawn felt.
 
OOC: Sorry the beacon was all I could think of at the moment. I figured that was the same way the Greys could continue to tail Kilrick.

ICC:

*IFV Encamped*

As the final battery was being charged, Eric and the rest of the men didn't take any chances. By now both Rollins and the Sargeant had the missile launchers at their side, ready to unleash mayhem on anyone who would pose a threat.

The commander and the driver stayed inside the vehicle most of the time monitoring the motion sensor, prepared to make a hasty retreat at the slightest hint of danger.

"Alright, boys, the last battery is charged. Lets get the hell out of here".

With a sigh of relief, the men packed up their equipment and filed back in to the IFV.
 
*IFV outskirts of NY*

After a day of travel and cautious maneuvering, the rig was finally in sight.

"Alright, I see about 5 sentries and maybe three repair drones over there. They probably got wind of the rig the same way we did" whispered Eric.

"It doesn't matter now. Your friends are most likely dead and were going to have to find another way in ourselves" replied Rolins.

After assessing the situation with the robots, the vehicle commander called for a group meeting.

"So whats the plan Lt?", Eric asked.

"Well, we don't have many options. I know for sure the Greys are on our tails. Those three strangers are still out there somewhere as well. Lastly, we can't get a signal back to base camp due to interference. So the only course of action left to us is to explore ourselves."

The men were all apprehensive but deep down inside they all knew it was the only available option. "Atleast they have experience" Eric thought.

"Alright Sargeant, I need you to do a weapons, ration, and equipment check ASAP. Once inventory is complete, we take what we need and get a move on."

"Right away sir".

The commander then disappeared back inside the IFV presumably doing other things that the grunts need not know.
 
Following Rama, Reik checked his armour was securely fastened, then focused his attention on the plasma rifle. He craddled his new toy and aimed down the sight. The weapon was heavy but designed for infantry and could be hefted easily by a strong man.

Winchester. God bless that company.

The tall mercenary clicked the powercell charge on and listened the sonorous hum as the weapon charged. That sound was beautiful. It was the sound of perfectly designed, superbly engineered Death.

"Haven't handled one of these since my days in Recon. Even then, we didn't use 'em much. If we had to blast our way out with heavy fire power, it meant we had fucked up." Reik grinned. "Still, can't wait to see this baby burn some motherfucker down."

"I hear that." said the usually taciturn Rama, nodding the cheery soldier of fortune.

"Eyes and ears open, ladies." said Kilrick, addressing the assembled salvage crew. "Time to punch in."
 
I had been watching a group of troopers close in on our position.

"Isn't that Eric?" Asked Jake.

I nodded. "Yeah, but the question is what the fuck is he doing?"

"Maybe he wants to get back to us." Said Jake.

"Or maybe he's working the opposition." I added.

Deeds was nearby and had also taken to watching. "Whatever they're doing, they are jeopardizing our mission."

Unfortunately I couldn't disagree. Whoever these people were, they were drawing attention. Whether it be Greys or Bots or the three amigos, I didn't want us to get compromised.

"Eric might have been forced to help them." Said Jake.

"Than he's a liability." Said Deeds.

Whatever it was, it was costing us. We should have moved on by now to the next target. Instead we were watching these new members to the party, and they were one more uncertainty among a lot of uncertainties.

Rama and Reik heard us talking. "What should we do."

I thought about it. They were probably going to trip up a wire sooner or later and draw bots. In that case the problem was resolved. Or maybe the bots were watching them to get a trace on us, knowing that they were both looking for the same target.

Paranoia can get you down if you're not careful.

I knew what Deeds was thinking even before he spoke. "We should grease 'em."

But the problem with that was it would draw too much attention.

Still, it was time to end the suspense.

OCC- Ok, Darkcorp. Time to finish this up. THe rest of us are waiting for this story to finish and Eric to get away. If you don't soon, I am going to visit death on these people.
 
*IFV*

After the tally had been completed, another group meeting was called.

"So what do you have for me Sargeant?"

"Well sir we have two rocket launchers, two plasma pistols, and three XM8 assault rifles. As for rations, we have enough for about two days tops."

"Well the rockets arn't going to do much for us in these tight quarters. Pack up the rations and grab both the pistols and rifles. Also........"

"Um sir, I have movement on the tracker. Looks like we have 8 fast moving unknowns headed towards our position", replied Rolins.

"Shit get your gear boys and make it quick. Looks like we just might have a big fight coming our way."
 
*IFV*

Friend or foe? The question was promptly answered as two droids appeared from the north un-leashing a barrage of light machine gun fire. The initial skirmishers were more bark than bite moving on tracks. One domed pursuer was armed with a pre-war M16 while the other carried an old bullpup Steyr AUG.

"Don't waste the heavy stuff on these guys. Switch to the assault rifles." Within seconds, Eric and the other troopers were turning the hapless scouts into piles of scrap metal.

As he monitored the motion tracker, Rolins picked up a second wave of incoming attackers.

"Another wave of hostiles approaching. Looks like two coming from the east and another two swinging south trying to flank us."

The robot interceptors from the east arrived within moments. This time, the killers were carrying more armor and heavier firepower in the form of a lumbering bi-pedaled cyclops. Each carried a chain gun and what looked like light anti-armor rockets.

"Gunner, target 30 degrees to the right. Take them out before they can use their rockets". Instantly responding to the co-ordinates, the heavy turret swung itself towards the new attackers and opened fire. The gun was deafening as every one of its 25mm shells ripped the first sentry to pieces. The second one however was busy returning fire with its chain gun and didn't notice the asian that was taken careful aim.

Breathe slow and steady, aim, fire. Eric felt the familiar jerk of the M24 as his bullet crashed its way into the volatile rockets inside the pod of sentry number two. Like fireworks, the secondary explosions engulfed the other sentry in flames and it crumpled to its knees.

The men had only a few seconds to prepare before the tracker re-detected the flanking sentries arriving from the south.

"Eric, Rolins, get those launchers up here ASAP. I'm not taking anymore chances", replied the Lt.

The two men rushed into the crew compartment and re-emerged with two LAWs and a crate of rockets. As the sergeant and Rolins shouldered the heavy weapons, the driver and the lieutenant loaded the missiles into their positions. As if on cue in a theatrical play, a pair of dark silhouettes appeared in the distance. As the robots entered firing range, the LAWS streaked out of their tubes and relentlessly made their way towards their targets. Seconds later, explosions lit up the sky as another wave of attackers were stopped.

"Rolins, whats the situation with the last two hostiles?" After no response, the lieutenant asked again, this time turning to face him. "Damnit Rolins I asked you a question"

"Oh my god sir", replied Rolins. Seeing his grim visage staring into the tracker, the men all moved in for a closer look. The result was horrifying. The screen was not only showing the positions of the last two stragglers, but the ever increasing presence of drones and sentries.

"We must have tripped some alarm when we arrived. They're coming out of the woodwork everywhere. Jesus christ it looks like a goddamn anthill."

"Alright people, we gotta get out of the open and move into the city. We have to move fast and move quietly. From now on its hand signals only, lets move."

The next moments were totally un-expected but would be forever etched into Erics psyche.

The loud BOOM of a large calibre rifle echoed in the distance. On instinct, the men all dove to the ground looking for cover. Eric looked back and realised the lieutenant had now been reduced to a sac of flesh sausage. A few seconds later another BOOM was heard and one more life had been taken off the mortal coil. The sergeant had been decapitated whilst hiding behind the vehicle.

More machines had appeared. The newcomers had acquired Barret 50 cals and were ruthlessly efficient in its operation.

Not knowing if the others were still alive, Eric crawled his way into a nearby alley. From there on, he continued to crawl until he was sure he had gotten away. By now the gunfire had died down and Eric hoped that the robots were satisfied that the intruders had been neutralized. Covered with sweat and his heart pounding with fear, he didn't even notice the shadowy figures slowly making their ways towards him.

OOC: Ok guys. Eric has one weapon, no armor, and he hopes to god he has finally gotten back to his team.
 
Eric turned down the ally way to see what had become of the others. Had anyone else escaped? Had they abandoned tracking him.

His hands were sweaty and he could feel his heart pounding. Above he heard the buzz of a helodroid patrol. He dared not shoot and give away his position.

But maybe they were heat sensing. Maybe they were already reading his signal.

One of the droids was crossing the street infront of the ally. Eric, hidden before a destroyed car waited patiently, eyeing the bot. From this angle he had little chance to anything critical.

Still, better that then....

Before he could pull a trigger the trigger, he felt a jerking from behind him, felt himselfin being pulled back across the street, his skin scrapping against the street. He didn't have time to even scream.

Cold darkness around his body. Something covering his mouth, pulling him down into the ground. Wet, dank, fetid odors surrounding him. His rifle pulled from his hands. His eyes blinded by the sudden darkness, unable to adjust, shapes moving around him.

He had heard stories about the creatures that lived under the city streets. They were said to be flesh eaters.

"Don't speak." whispered a familiar voice. "Don't move."

Then a loud boom, followed by a second and third, rocking the ground around him, almost knocking him to the ground but for the strong hands that held him.

Then a long pause. His mouth still cover, eyes filling with dust that seemed to fill the air. The rotten smell of waste all around.

They waited, patient, expectant. The moment pregnant wiht anticipation of sudden violence.

But nothing happened.

Then footsteps approaching.

"I think they're moving off." Said a woman's whisper. Edden.

"Let's hope so. I hate to waste good C-4." whispered Jake.

"That was a clever idea," Said Logan. "By setting off a large explosion in the chemical plant you create a large heat signature that would overwhelm the bots sensors."

"Yes, but only temporarily. We need to move. Hopefully by going underground we dampen the sensors reach." Whispered Jake.

"What about him? I don't think we can trust him." Said a familiar steely voice, Deeds.

The voice whispered again. "Be cool. You're among friends. We're moving out because we can't stay here." It was Rama.

"I don't think we should take him." Spoke Deeds, "He's become a liability."

"Maybe he has, and maybe he hasn't" Kilrick this time. "But we don't know one way or the other. But now is not the time to find out. Let's move. We have another target to destroy."

With that the others began to move down a long tunnel, away from the destruction above ground. Eric felt his hands freed, but was also aware that both Rama and Reik were nearby. Where they guarding him? Had he become another prisoner?
 
With Eric's return to our company came an old itch in back that said things weren't quite what they seemed.

It wasn't Eric. I didn't believe it was Eric. It wasn't just a matter of faith in the Asian man, who honestly I didn't know. But I didn't believe he was the spy that had followed us for so long. I doubted he was the tail that kept getting us caught.

I didn't believe it, but I didn't know it. So I had to suspect him.

The three amigos, who I was sure were no more than a few steps behind us, where following Logan like hungry phantoms. It was the nanobots floating in his blood that were drawing them to him.

Was Eric drawing the Greys? I didn't think so. But than who.

It was the itch, the paranoia, the desire to watch your back.

But if the Greys were after us, they had to move carefully. The security grid could cut their APCs to shreds.

We had traveled for about an hour underground, before we came to an electrical conduit. Rama peaked at what the world looked like, but it was mostly leveled ruins, a gentle reminder not to forget to take the rad meds.

I pulled the group to a halt and had them huddle around. Time to lay out the plan. "Ok, here's the deal. We need to create a second diversion. The security system is focused around a few viable access points. That's where things get toughest. We are probing them, forcing a response. For as comprehensive a security system as the grid is, it can't respond everywhere. We are putting pressure on it and forcing it to respond, and the more it has to respond, the more it becomes overburdened."

Rama shook his head. "But the grid would still be capable of respond to other threats, just not with the same level of intensity at first. The deeper you penetrate, the more the grid will be forced to respond."

I nodded. "That's right. So far we have only seen the outer defenders. We have yet to see it bring out the big guns. But we are going to do two things before we break in. First we are going to give them a painful punch, and secondly, we are going to turn off the lights."

It was too unclear for Deeds to like, but that was alright. Still, his concerns were not far from his mind. "But we still have a problem. We're being tailed. Logan is being chased by his friends, and Eric might be bringing the Greys in."

Eric spoke sharply, " I am not working for the Greys. I am not the spy."

Jasmin let out a small chuckle, "Maybe not, but you still got to prove it."

No one spoke for a moment. Most of us liked Eric, well as well as one person gets to like someone in this business. But we didn't trust him.
 
Had Deeds been in charge, the truth would have been beat out of Eric. No doubt Deeds had done enough torture that he knew the levels of pain a man would take until the man blathered whatever secrets he had. But that would take time, and we didn't have much.

"We'll get to what's what later. Right now we need to some things done."

I drew out a picture of a bridge. "We're going to blow this track line." I pointed to the line of railway track that spanned the bridge, right to a point. "It's part of the old infrastructure and the main conduit through which a lot of the juice spills off New York. It will attract a lot of attention and require a bit of repair."

Then I drew my line to a plant. "Here is the electric terminus. We're going to overload the line, and then blow out the terminus. That will turn off the light. After that we move North. Our entrance is elsewhere, but they will look for us here."

"You still need to tell us our entry?" Said Deeds.

"Not till we're there. First we are going to need to hotwire the grid so the juice hits the terminal hard. Then we're going to pop the line. So we need two teams- one to do the electrical work, the other to blow the line."

Logan nodded. "I can do that."

"No, I want you to watch for bots. They are tracking us and it's time we wired back in to find out where they are."

"It will leave a signature." Said Logan.

"I am counting on that. I want to draw them here when we do the pop."

Logan looked suprised but Jake had the answer. From his pack he removed what looked like a metal thermos. But when he removed the top it was clearly electrical. Logan knew what it was. "EMP charge."

"Yep, we're going to fry as many as we can. Then boogie North and slip over while the lights are out." I said. "This is why we get paid the big bucks. WHo wants what duty?"
 
"Ok, I'll move out first and snuff out any traps along the way. I'll set up my gear for the security breach when I get there." Logan said. "Ow, and Jake, be careful with that thing... It just might fry my equipment AND myself."

Logan didn't wait for an answer and headed off first. Quietly sneaking and looking for traps had become a second nature to him by now. If there were traps, he would find them. At least he hoped so, or his stay in NY would be shortlived...
 
We followed Logan through the maze of conduits and crawl spaces, through dark wet corridors and concrete tunnels. On occassion Logan would remove an aerosol can and spray the air in front of him, or he would use a pair of glasses with red lenses, which I took to be infra-red.

Normally I would be hesitant to follow someone, but my instincts told me that Logan had worked his way through the NY security grid. I also thought that if there was anyone of us that had more to lose to that grid it would be Logan. Maybe it was the nano-bots that coursed through his body, growing stronger. Maybe it was the fact that he required more electric shocks to keep those bots at bay and his body was showing the effects of that damage. Either way, I had little reason to suspect Logan would betray us.

But in life there are no insurance contracts so I followed him close. The rest of the crew followed, Drs Edwards and Stowe in the middle safeguarded by Jasmin and Deeds, Jake and Stokes in the back.

This was stealthy work. The need for silence and precision make it slow going. Normally I would have expected to hear grunts or complaints on the speed of our progress, but the others new the dangers we faced. Better slow and safe than fast and dead.

For me, the trip was entertaining. Logan was tech-savy and I enjoyed watching him work. Privately Jake and I both new we were lucky so far. The type of security systems we were nothing new. We had seen this tech before. But then it was closer to the core, and neither of us had expected to find it so close.

That was the nature of this game. The tech was always new. The question was whether we could deal with it. I had few doubts that we would run into some problems sooner or later. The trick was that we would catch the problem before the problem caught us. We were gambling with our experience and our luck, but every gambler knows that sooner or later the luck runs out and you come up against a better player.

Logan put the chips in our favor because he was more updated. That's why I took the risk and kept him around. He might be attracting the attention of nasty friends, but he might get us through a problem neither Jake nor I had seen before. Deeds might not like it, but the contract was only good so long as someone survived to collect it.

It took us a few hours to reach the terminal at the end of the bridge. Once upon a time trains had pulled thousands of tons of cargo over that bridge. The lines were both electric and rail. Through those channels spilled much of the power of Staten Island.

But the security grid was to keep people off NY, not New Jersey, so the grids defense were weaker here.

Quietly we shuttled everyone into a room overlooking the bridge. Nearby was an ethernet hook up that would allow Logan to watch the security systems response.

Logan was about to pop into the system when I told him "Hold back. The system will trace you back, even if you jam it or scramble it. Sooner or later it will find you. But it won't start looking till you plug in. Lets keep our time maxed. Plug in when Jake gives you the signal."

Jake was looking over the site. "We can overcharge the line from there." He said pointing to a junction box.

The box was in the open, and that meant that the crew would be vulnerable.

"Is there another way?" I asked.

"Not that I can see." The way he said it I could tell he didn't like it either. "Wolf, this requires technical hands. YOu game?"

Wolf nodded.

"Do you want to take Stokes?" I asked.

"Better he stay with Logan. I take Reik." Said Jake. I could tell Jake didn't fully trust Logan. That and the nagging suspicion of a spy among us made me feel that old itch again. I didn't like us being so stretched out, but we were few now. Better if everyone watched each other.

"Alright then. Rama and Edden, you two follow with me. We're going to plant the charges on the bridge. Deeds and Jasmin you take Edwards and Stowe back down and keep them there. We'll come and get you after the party blows over."

Rama and Edden readied their weapons. They might have been social miscreants, but at least they liked each other.

"Alright, we agreed?"

Nods all around.

"Ok the plan. Jake turns on the juice and doubles back here. Edden, Rama and I come back as soon as the charges are set. Logan starts watching the movement before Jake throws the switch and on his signal. His move is our signal. If Rama, Edden and I are not done yet, we need to finish up. Everyone diddies back here until the tin cans show and we blow the line, lights out we go to our entrance."

Again nods.

"Lets do it."
 
Everything seemed to go smoothly, well at least not without the usual hick ups.

I found the the place to set the charges under a major line, but the rails were slippery with some kind of greasy oil. At first I thought it was the rain and the environment. But as I continued having trouble setting the charges I began to wonder if this wasn't some kind of counter measure, a guard system that we hadn't caught. Something cheap countermeasure we hadn't seen before.

Paranoia is a bitch and I had been feeling pretty paranoid lately.

In the end I found another way to attach the explosives. It was under the lines in a crawl space, but it would work. At least it was dry.

But as I glanced back I saw that Jake had already begn to diddy back to the main cabin.

It would only be minutes before the tin cans showed up.

"Better get going with this Boss." Said Rama.

"I'm doing this as quick as I can." I said.

"Man I hate them cans." Muttered Edden.

"Almost ready."

"Too late. We've got company." Said Rama.

I crawled out and saw that both Edden and Rama were already coming back.

I expected a sentrybot, or a hover bot, or even a dreadnaught. But the bots were beginning to come were micro-bots, buzzing like a swarm of insects after their prey but incrediably fast and very smart.

occ- Ok, this is a nanoswarm much like in Creighton book's prey.
 
"Take cover!" Rama rasped as he took a chance shot at firing his Eagle at one incoming nanobug. It merely repled the bug, but seemed to not have done any lasting damage.

Edden ducked as a few made a swoop, she barely made it when she felt something slice into her flesh. Minor wound, but a wound nonetheless.

"I hate this place." She grabbed one and swung it into the dirt floor with clatter. The next thing the rubby eyed drone saw was Edden's vulcanizaed rubber heel smash right into its head.
 
OCC- I don't remember if Rohan died or not, so, well, it's time. Five day rule.

IC-
I grabbed at both Rama and Edden and pushed them forward towards the control room. "Go, it's the only shelter!"

The robots we were dealing with were mere drones. It was the swarm that we had to be careful of.

Millions of tiny bots, smaller than Gnats, sharp and moving with one mind, intelligent because of their shared understanding. The Swarm was deadly and it was fast.

Rohan had run out of the control room shotgun in hand. He was trying to cover us. But it wouldn't work.

"No! Get back." I yelled.

But his shotgun blasts had deafened him.

We ran past him and through the door. By then he was screaming. It wasn't until I slammed it shut behind me that I knew what happened to Rohan.

It was just a glance, but the swarm was all over him now, and they were cutting through him, across him, slicing his armor to shreds, slicing open his skin.

It was only a glance, but it was enough. I pushed Edden and Rama further. "Control Room." As I reached for a tear gas grenade and threw it back.

Already the swarm was coming through under the door. Hopefully the teargas would confuse them.

We ran up the stairs, down the hall and into the control room. "This is sealed right?" I yelled.

Jake shrugged. "I think so."

"Do it."

And Jake turned the plunger. A blueish explosion and a concussion wave swept across the area. The middle of the bridge blew apart, pieces of metal twisted and turning in the air. The blast was enough to rock us to our feet, and knock us out.

We didn't move. Not for a long moment.

I looked at Logan.

"They'll be more."

I nodded. "We need to go now."

Quickly we packed and left, back out the room and down. THe room had been part of the old Cold War planning, and was shielded against EMP. But outside the room, everything was vulnerable.

The sound of our feet crushing the swarmbots was somehow pleasing, but none of us ventured a look for Rohan.

We found the access tunnel going down, and once again disappeared into the underworld.

"What now?" Asked Rama.

"Now we go see New York."
 
Logan calmly scanned the area. All seemed so quiet and peaceful, almost surreal. For a moment, he felt at peace.

Logan halted to take a look at the nanoswarm, now entirely harmless. Strange little robots, but just as deadly as they were fascinating. He wondered if they were related to those he carried inside him. Those who were slowly eating away at his body.

He had learnt quite a lot about the city, by casual conversations and eavesdropping. He knew about most bots that could be found here. Strengths, weaknesses. However these swarms, he had never heard off. The continuous evolution of the droids seemed to have sped up somehow. More resources had been pumped into R&D it seems...

He had expected change & evolution, but on his way here he had already identified 3 entirely new detection devices and now this, an entirely new swarm of robots. This did not bode well for the group...
 
AN hour after we had left the railway station we reconnected with the rest of the group. Jasmin seemed relieved to see me, and both Edwards and Stowe were happy to get away from Deeds. Deeds had forced them all to be absolutely quiet, fearful of the sensors of the NYC grid system.

But the grid's security system, it's electric system, was currently fried. THe blast at the railway bridge and the rupture of the main line would short out most of the grid on the west side of greater New York from the Goethals Bridge up to the George Washington. With security down, the central system would act as if attacked, and focus its efforts at defense and restoration of the grid's web emanating from that point.

The further away from the bridge the less damage to the systems. Central authority would respond as if facing the greatest possible threat to it's existence- the threat to core security would dominate over lower risk probabilities. So it would concentrate it's attention there, and when it didn't identify the threat, it would continue to search believing that the nature of it's threat was something new. It would seem to capture and assimilate all new technologies.

Which made our job easier.

Logan told me what I needed to hear. That the grid had broken down, and that the cascade effects were found throughout the region.

But we had to move quickly. If the system found a way to track us, identifying the weak link it it's security chain would be easy and we'd stumble into a trap.

So we moved fast, using the underground access ways to cover our path. It mean wading through pools of waste water and tidal spillage, but the salt water in the underground sewars were lethal to long-life of complex electronics.

A few times one or the other of us would speak, and either Jake or I would hush them to silence. The grid would be rebuilding and hunting, we were best not to make it easier on them.

For three hours we walked before coming up against a connecting conduit going down and I drew them to a stop. Then leaving the rest of the group in a secured location, Jake and I moved down the conduit.

"The PATH is flooded" said Jake, knowing where we were.

The PATH had been a light rail system connecting Jersey City with central Manhattan, a seperate system from most of the NYC Mass Transit system, but a critical artery connecting New York to New Jersey.

"Only partially." I said.

"The tunnel has been rigged with sensors for ever, and I doubt they got burnt with the blast. Not this far south." Said Jake.

"I know. But we're not going through the train tunnel". I said, moving over to a locked door.

I used an aeresol and sprayed down the lock, then used a ballpeen hammer to shatter the lock. Behind the door was a ladder which I climbed up to a metal grate. Using my multi-use tool, I opened up the grate revealing a fairly tight crawl space. I flashed down a light revealing a tangle of electric lines that roped down into the darkness.

Content, I came back down the stairs and said to Jake, "Our way in?"

"We're going to crawl under the Hudson River into New York?"

I nodded. "The PATH system is probably 50% operational, but the security system on the electrical maintenance tunnel is based is run out of a NJ Transit system that moves through Jersey City and Newwark, with 8 different relays stretching all the way down to the Goethals. A few snips here, and we slip in."

"But we won't be able to use this to get back." Said Jake. It was a simple rule. The criminal that repeats the same crime twice risks being caught- so each break-in had to be different.

"Got it covered."

_________________
OCC- Ok, so we can continue with the entrance into New York and I can add a hiccup on the way in, or I can end the chapter here.
 
"We have a long crawl, Kil... and besides, not only machines dwell in here, but other things as well." Rama added, though it wasn't fearful, just a word of caution. He checked his ammo and knew he had enough to ward of the very dogs of hell if need be. Then again, he knew when they entered New York, bandits, and other survivalist will be eager to make the stay harder, especially the military outfit left behind during the great war.

"Well, ladies, what are we waiting for? Reik, Wolf lets take the walk." Edden said with dark confidence, reaffirming everyones belief that the woman was indeed a psycho.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top