Deadly
Game
Chapter
Five
By
Fade
Two days later, the assorted equipment that Hammer had ordered arrived accompanied by two subtly augmented couriers. The taller of the two humans knocked on the door, handed Hammer the keys to the van that he had arrived in, accepted several credsticks as payment, and left.
After Silk had done a quick recon on the astral to make sure there weren’t any suspicious characters in the area, the team nonchalantly, walked out to the van, and retrieved the large number of boxes which contained the gear they had been expecting. When the last box was piled on the floor, Hammer set about unpacking and handing out a variety of lethal weapons. A pair of Ares Predator heavy pistols went to each of the three men, while Silk found herself frowning at a much lighter Beretta. Concussion, incendiary, smoke and fragmentation grenades in various sizes were all stacked in the corner of the room, while Hammer and Shiver quickly and efficiently broke down and re-assembled several Uzi III’s, a pair of Ingram Smartguns, a pair of very high powered sniper rifles, and a monstrous medium machinegun that was obviously intended for Hammer.
Silk was just about to go back to her room and finish working on a new spell formula when Hammer finally got around to pulling out some really exciting toys. A very stylish set of sunglasses was pulled out for the mage. With a slight pout, Silk put them down without even trying them on. “I appreciate the thought, but black is just so utilitarian. It is like screaming ‘I only have one pair of sunglasses, so I have to make sure they go with any possible outfit.’ As stylish as they are, black just won’t work.”
Shiver opened his mouth to introduce the mage to her ignorance, but Hammer quickly intervened before his student could say something that would cause Silk to find another excuse to reject the glasses. “Please try the glasses on. They see lowlight, and infrared and have built-in flare compensation. These glasses are Ares’s latest offering to the corporate surveillance market. I think that you will probably find them invaluable in the line of work in which you now find yourself.
Before Hammer had even finished speaking, Silk had picked the glasses back up and slipped them on. A few seconds ensued, during which the other three realized the mage was going through the set of commands installed on the software built into the glasses. “It looks like the interface is fairly standard, there is a magnification option that you didn’t mention, but which should come in useful from time to time.” The mage then lowered her head slightly and tried to peer over the top of the glasses. “The earpieces need to be lengthened slightly.”
Hammer saw his student bite back a response, probably concerning the stupidity of possibly compromising the flare protection simply to be able to flirt with guys. Unfortunately, Silk seemed to sense the same thing. “I’ll save you the trouble of asking. As a mage, I need line of sight to my target to cast a spell. Electronics can mess up the line of sight, so I need to be able to slide these down far enough that I can see the mana being manipulated.”
Silk saw brief flashes of surprise on the face of each of her team members. It is a good thing I flirted with that guy from the Beta team last year. The goggles that Doc Wagon issued him weren’t even close to being as expensive as these pieces of work, but the interface was the same. Who would have thought that learning how to operate night vision goggles would not only get me a date with Slicer, but also earn me some points with my future team.
The rest of the gear proved to be just as interesting. Hammer next pulled out a very simple katana that was handed to Shiver. A much larger katana was obviously for the troll. After a brief examination, Hammer announced, “These aren’t works of art like Shadow’s, but they are quite functional and the fixer did an impressive job of finding quality swords in such a short time.”
Another pair of glasses proved to be for Shadow. Before the shape shifter could re-explain that he could already see into the infrared spectrum, Hammer explained that the glasses contained a smart system to help improve his accuracy with firearms. The big troll then looked over to Silk and informed her that her glasses would perform the same function.
While Shadow and Silk hooked their smart glasses up to their new guns and practiced aiming at various pieces of furniture, Hammer and Shiver unpacked cases of ammunition. A low whistle from Shiver informed Silk that it was time to go back over and see what new goodies had been unpacked. Seeing only the ammunition that the others had been unpacking for the last fifteen minutes, the mage found herself asking Hammer what was so exciting.
The troll carefully picked up two cases of ammunition, and handed one to the mage. The slender elf refrained from reminding the troll that she had seen a lot of ammunition in her time, and grunting slightly at the weight of so many rounds, took the box of ammunition. After Silk handed the first box back to Hammer, he extended the hand holding the other box to the mage. Feeling that the situation bordered on the absurd, but knowing Hammer well enough now to realize that there was most likely a very important concept that she was about to learn, Silk reached out a hand and tried to take the ammunition box.
Hammer didn’t let go of the box. Instead the troll shook his head and said, “Use both hands.” Once the now indignant mage had both hands positioned on the box--I did just fine with the last case thanks--Hammer released the ammunition, and Silk was in for one of the bigger surprises of her life. Despite her best efforts with both hands, the mage found that she couldn’t hold the box up. Instead, it was starting to fall towards the ground, at a rate only slightly less than 9.8 meters per second squared.
Hammer, who must have been expecting events to unfold as they did, simply reached out his left hand and intercepted the box before it reached the ground. Watching her new colleague casually catch a 75 kilogram box with one hand should have awed Silk, but she was saved from such an uncomfortable feeling by irritation, that Hammer hadn’t warned her about how heavy the box was. That isn’t fair, he did tell me to use both hands, but he could have been more explicit about what was likely to happen. Instead the mage put on an only slightly strained smile.
“Could you please tell me what is in that box, since it obviously isn’t-oh my, you have armor piercing rounds in there don’t you? How in the devil did you get and entire case of that stuff?” Hammer found himself impressed yet again by the seemingly flighty mage. A relatively large percentage of the population knew that there were bullets that could go through military grade armor. There were a much smaller percentage of people who knew that armor piercing rounds were generally made of depleted uranium. Even fewer people understood how the ammunition worked. Unlike lead, which flattened out on impact, or steel-jacketed rounds, which tended to maintain their shape well enough to pierce most forms of light body armor, military grade rounds were self-sharpening. The uranium in the rounds was incredibly dense, and as it hit something, the outer layers of uranium peeled back, essentially leaving a sharp sliver whose incredible density provided it with enough kinetic energy to carry on through the target. Not only that, but impact usually caused the uranium to ignite, doing further damage to whatever was being hit by the rounds. Armies the world over had been using 'armor piercing discarding sabot' rounds for years to take out tanks, but the use of ADPS rounds in handguns was a recent development due to the incredible properties of some of the armor that people could buy these days. The fact that Silk knew all that and was quick enough on her feet to realize that an exceptionally dense box of ammunition must contain APDS rounds was very impressive.
Silk had notice that Hammer had been amazed by her knowledge. The mage decided not to comment, and instead she opened up the box and pulled out a box. “I can’t believe you got an entire case of these things. These are restricted to the military, in my whole time at Doc Wagon, I only saw one guy who could get access to this kind of firepower. He had to keep it quiet of course, but we all appreciated the extra punch when the going got tough. This Peter guy must have some heavy duty connections to be able to supply this kind of bang bang.” Please, as if I wouldn’t know what APDS rounds were.
Next out of the boxes were a variety of throwing implements. Shuriken went to Shiver, while a variety of throwing knives went to Shadow and Hammer. When Silk asked to look at one of the knives, all three of the others got really nervous. “I’m not going to throw it at any of you,” fumed the mage. “I’ve just wanted to learn how to throw them for a really long time.” Shadow finally handed her a knife, while Hammer decided it was a good time to pull out other gear in the hopes of distracting the mage from the knife she was aiming at a nearby wall.
A previously unopened box yielded an impressive array of armor. Overcoats lined with Kevlar and containing composite plates sewn into the lining, were set next to flack jackets, and a variety of ballistic weave shirts and pants. Finally, there were four helmets, which included a variety of imaging systems, a radio, and the ability to withstand a direct hit from a fairly heavy round.
A variety of electronic goods rounded out the equipment purchase. Pocket secretaries, wrist phones for those who had lost theirs before reaching the safe house, range finding scopes, a pair of laser sights, and a variety of ‘bug’ detectors. Hammer immediately asked Shiver to sweep the house and make sure there weren’t any surveillance devices being used to monitor the group.
* * *
A few hours later, the vidphone beeped to indicate an incoming message. Hammer answered the message, leaving the video turned off until the caller had positively identified himself as the group’s new fixer, a small man named Peter who always referred to himself in the third person.
“Things aren’t good Senor Hammer,” Peter mournfully announced. “It has been a long time since Peter has told a client that he hasn’t been able to acquire the information which they requested. Unfortunately, this is indeed the case today. His contacts in the barrens cannot provide any information as to the identity of your adversaries. The mages, who were tasked with following these hombres after you were extracted, were forced to pull out when they met incredibly heavy opposition. According to their reports, they were set upon by no less than four powerful initiates, all of whom had a large number of elementals on call. Peter however always assumes most of his plans will fail, so he also tasked deckers with scouring the matrix for information about these hombres. Peter has a large number of deckers who began this search. Unfortunately, most of them found themselves far out of their league. Those who thought they could play in this arena have nearly been killed several times.”
Still looking mournful, Peter continued. “When it became obvious that these routes would not yield the desired results, Peter assumed that Lonestar could be used to determine the desired identities. Even though Lonestar isn’t very concerned with what happens in Redmond, the amount of firepower which was displayed requires that they at least go through the motions of determining who the perpetrators where. A few calls to Peter's friends can usually ensure that such an investigation is more substantial in nature. Unfortunately, even the vast resources of Lonestar have not made any headway against the opposition your enemies have put in place. Peter is told that several deckers have been killed, and that many deep cover agents in Redmond have also been killed when they tried to investigate what had happened.”
“Peter has made calls to those in his same area of work, but he has little hope that these efforts will bear fruit in the near future. To compensate for the fact that Peter has not been able to do as you requested, part of the purchase price for the equipment you just ordered will be refunded. Additionally, Peter has left instructions with his decker friends to destroy any information they find regarding the four of you. This should make it harder for your enemies to find you.”
Hammer was astonished by Peter’s generosity. In his experience, most fixers were incredibly opportunistic, and ridiculously tight with their resources. It would be a good idea to do the majority of their business through Peter. If the fixer really was as honorable as he appeared, he was worth his weight in gold.
* * *
The next few days proved to be incredibly boring for Silk. The three men practiced armed and unarmed combat, and consequently didn’t seem to mind the self-imposed confinement. Silk quite enjoyed watching Shadow square off against the other two samurai. Although she was quickly becoming friends with the other two, she found that she always rooted for the physical adept. After a couple of hours she realized why-for all that Hammer and Shiver were masters of their forms of combat, and possessed of incredible grace, speed and power, Shadow seemed to create a kind of art when he fought. Consequently, Silk always found herself hoping that the shape shifter would beat the other two, even though he often found himself overmatched by the technological augmentations of the other two.
After tiring of watching the guys, Silk had turned to her art for distraction. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any of the materials required for ritual sorcery. Even worse, most of her spells were the type that she couldn’t really practice without casting them on someone. All three men had refused to be repeatedly put to sleep, and Shadow had merely looked at her in disbelief when she asked if he would be willing to serve as a target for some of her more deadly spells. It isn’t like he wouldn’t just regenerate from the damage anyways, thought the mage.
Deprived of the ability to do what she wanted, the mage had turned to designing a new spell that she thought would suit her new profession better than her present array of offensive spells. Unfortunately, after a few hours she found that the loss of her library precluded further development. Finally, in desperation Silk went back out to watch the guys practice, and realized that this was a perfect chance to get some instruction in self defense.
Although Shiver was dubious initially, once they got started and he realized that Silk was serious about learning, the slender elf turned out to be an incredible teacher. After taking the mage through a refresher course on the kicks, punches and blocks that she had been taught in the Doc Wagon defense course, Shiver started teaching her Aikido, a soft form of combat that used an opponent's energy to throw him around. Although Silk had been hoping for something more flashy, with the flying kicks that she always saw on the vids, she found that Aikido was surprisingly enjoyable, and that it suited her body type very well.
Midway through Silk’s second day of training, the vid phone chimed, announcing a call that turned out to be from Peter. Upon realizing who the call was from Silk called out to Hammer from the floor where she had just been thrown by Shadow. “If you still refuse to let us go out, can you have Peter obtain some ritual materials, and a decent spell theory library?”
Shiver shushed the mage, while Hammer never took his attention from the screen, where Peter was informing them of some very unexpected developments. “Senior Hammer, Peter is sorry to call you under these circumstances. These men, these diablos have taken Peter’s involvement in your extraction personally. These hombres are ignoring Peter’s neutral status as a fixer, and have began to try and destroy Peter’s business. Three of Peter’s bodyguards were killed yesterday in an attempt on Peter’s life. Calls to other fixers have yielded no help for Peter, it would appear that these perros are jealous of the success of Peter, and wish to abandon him to be killed by his new enemies.”
Hammer was silent for a few seconds as he processed the information that he had just heard. He is going to cut us loose, I don’t see why else he would be calling with this information. Finally, Hammer replied, “I’m sorry to hear that Peter, may I ask why you’ve called though?”
With a sad smile Peter nodded. “Of course you may ask Senior Hammer. No doubt you are assuming that Peter will turn you in, or leave you to fend for yourselves.”
It was now Hammer’s turn to nod. “The thought had crossed my mind. I take it from your response that you aren’t going to follow that course?”
“No Senior, that was the furthest thing from Peter's mind. To do this thing would be to compromise Peter’s honor. Not only that, but it is bad business. Peter’s business is built upon people being able to trust him. If Peter did this thing, people would learn of this and stop trusting Peter.”
“No,” continued the small man, “Peter has two options. Peter and Hammer have a mutual friend. While this friend is unwilling to become involved any further in this, this friend has promised sanctuary for Peter. Peter could take this option, but in a way this would mean abandoning other people who depend on Peter for their livelihoods. Peter cannot take this route, and instead must try to fight this organization that has targeted him.”
Hammer nodded again in understanding. “You have called to request our assistance in your fight.”
“Yes, Peter believes that your group represents top talent. Your interactions with Peter have been very professional, leading Peter to believe the four of you to be equal to if not better than any of the rest of the teams working for him. Unfortunately, Peter cannot pay you what you are worth. This covert war has stretched Peter’s resources very thin. Peter simply hopes that you will be willing to help for minimal compensation and the chance to help rid yourselves of a very deadly enemy.”
Hammer turned to look at Shiver who gave him a raised eyebrow to indicate willingness to take the contract if Hammer deemed it appropriate. Shadow gave the troll a firm nod, while Silk looked a little overwhelmed but also indicated a willingness to help Peter.
Turning back to Peter, Hammer decided to test his new employer. “We will accept the job Senior, what would you have us do.” Here is the test Peter, I didn’t ask you about the terms of payment first.
Peter looked relieved and looked down to consult what was probably a set of notes and then continued. “Peter can offer you 15,000 nuyen for expenses, with a guarantee of 60,000 nuyen if Peter survives and the enemy is destroyed, or convinced to leave Peter alone. If Peter dies, he can’t promise you anymore than the 15,000 for expenses. Impressive, though Hammer. Considering how badly strapped for resources I think you really are, the offer is fairly reasonable. Most fixers would have used my early acceptance to try and leverage us to doing the job for next to nothing. I think you really are an honorable person, and weren’t just using honor as a smoke screen to keep us from cutting and running.
Taking Hammer’s silence as a request for more information, Peter continued. “Peter won’t try to tell you how to complete your task, but he will make sure that you have access to all of his resources, and will funnel all relevant information to you.”
Hammer nodded, “Senior Peter, I believe that we can help you. At the very least, we will give it our best shot.”
With that, the two men arranged for a transfer of the relevant data, and arranged times to meet with other members of Peter’s organization who could provided support services.
__________
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