Frankie’s raised gun barked once, putting a precise hole into the woman’s forehead, sending her sprawling.

  Holding her position for a moment to make sure the woman was down, Frankie then turned to see Matt ducking and weaving as the man fired at him. The stream of armour piercing rounds tore through the shelves, and any cover Matt tried to use. Getting to her feet, Frankie turned and sprinted. The man had moved. She didn’t have a good shot. She charged up the aisle. As she reached the junction at full speed, the man spotted her approach and spun.

  Frankie dropped to her ass and skidded into the junction as she took aim.

  The man twisted, bringing the lethal barrage of death firing from his arm to bear as she shot, once, twice and then a third time.

  Blood flew as her rounds hit home. The first caught his shoulder, sending his mini-gun off course, before the next two landed centrally in his chest. He fell sprawling backwards as Matt ran up and fired once into the man’s head.

  He fell limp as Frankie got to her feet and brushed herself off.

  “Good work,” Matt complimented her.

  “Not bad yourself,” she replied, and strode past the dead Reaver. “Come on.”

  MAGIC REAVING

  Amanda snapped into existence in the warehouse as ear-splitting gunshots tore through the space. To her left, she could see Matt and Frankie fighting two cyborg Reavers, but neither of them were magi. Turning, she spotted Howie and Jinx similarly engaged with three other Reavers in a longer-range gunfight.

  As she watched, they navigated their way through cover, trying to close the gap on the enemy and put them down.

  Again, none of the Reavers they were shooting seemed to be magi, and like Matt and Frankie, they seemed to have the situation under control.

  Using her Aetheric Sight, Amanda spotted an aegis towards the centre of the massive space, and stalked towards it. As she approached, Amanda concentrated and sent a powerful spike of Essentia into the shield. The energy slammed into the hardened dome of Essentia, sending sparks of magical energy that only those with aetheric sight could see, sparking and through the air.

  Essentia flared, and two Reavers ported across the warehouse, snapping into place close by.

  Amanda worked her magic and cast the multitasking effect on herself, splitting her mind into independent but linked minds that could each cast a magical effect.

  The pair — a strong-looking man with a mop of dark hair, and a slender blonde woman with dusky eyes — both wore dark clothing and were protected by their own personal aegises. As the woman appeared, a blast of Essenita infused kinetic energy slammed into Amanda and sent her flying into the back wall.

  “You,” the woman yelled. “We know who you are.”

  Another blast of energy hit Amanda, and punched her clean through the wall into an alleyway beyond.

  Shit. She needed to get her act together. These two were not holding back, and it seemed like her reputation had preceded her.

  “Good,” Amanda snapped. “Then this won’t come as a surprise.”

  With a thought, Amanda gripped the man in kinetic force where he stood and yanked him through the warehouse wall, smashing him into the building behind her.

  The rest of her multiple minds split themselves between the pair, sending blasts of Essentia and lighting at them that hammered into their aegises.

  The man roared, and a wave of Essentia smashed into Amanda, making her stagger back.

  “Impressive,” Amanda muttered, and hit him with an invisible battering ram of force that sent him flying into the wall again with a cry of pain.

  “Dramen,” yelled the woman, before she turned to Amanda. “You bitch!” A powerful blast of energy flew at Amanda.

  Amanda spun and released a wave of Essentia back at the incoming attack, and swept it harmlessly away.

  “You’d better watch that mouth of yours,” Amanda countered, and reached out with a claw of kinetic force and grabbed the woman, before smashed her into the warehouse wall. “Might get you into trouble.”

  Amanda unleashed a barrage of Essentia strikes at the magus woman, hammering at her aegis. If she could break through the woman’s shield, she’d be without protection and vulnerable.

  As she pressed her attack, the woman’s shield cracked. Amanda smiled.

  “No!” A massive blast of force hit Amanda and sent her flying, breaking her concentration.

  The female Reaver dropped to the floor as the man rushed over. He caught her. “Get out of here.”

  “No,” she croaked. “I won’t leave you.”

  “You have to. Get to Lux and Kaelis, Tell them.”

  “No.”

  “Do it, Thyra.”

  Amanda shook her head and got to her feet. “Impressive,” she muttered.

  ~Amanda, is that you making all that noise?~ Matt asked in her head.

  ~Yeah, that’s me. I’m dealing with the Magi Reavers over here.~

  ~Are you okay?~ he asked, sounding concerned. ~I can sense the strain your under, and you’re making a lot of noise.~

  ~Don’t worry about me,~ Amanda reassured him, catching her breath. ~I’m fine, and I’m more than capable of taking out these two. I’ll be with you shortly.~

  ~Are you sure?~

  ~Yeah, trust me.~

  “Go, now,” Dramen demanded of his partner.

  Thyra glanced between Amanda and Dramen. “But…”

  “Now.”

  Amanda shook her head as she got to her feet and brushed herself down.

  Essentia swirled, and the woman disappeared in a snap, leaving Dramen in the alleyway, alone.

  “I’ll catch up with her later,” Amanda stated.

  “Not if I have anything to do with it,” Dramen countered, turning slowly.

  Amanda smiled. “Big words, little Reaver.”

  “Enough talk,” the man snapped, and rushed at her, Essentia flaring at his fists.

  Already infused with roiling energy, Amanda unleashed it at the charging Reaver. He wasn’t holding back any more, and threw himself at her in a suicidal last ditch, no holds barred attack. Lightning and fire poured out of him. Infused with Essentia, the energies smashed into Amanda’s aegis with incredible force as Amanda concentrated her counter attack into a single, focused spike and thrust it towards the incoming Reaver.

  Amanda’s aegis fluoresced, glowing under the onslaught as she stood her ground.

  With a roar, she pulled more Essentia from her surroundings, and sent it rushing up the spike she’d hurled at the Reaver.

  It hit his aegis with an almighty crack, and in another second, his aegis split, and shattered into nothing, the released Essentia dissipating into the ether as Amanda rushed through the boiling fire to face the Reaver.

  For a moment, all she could see was fire, and then suddenly he was there, right before her. She twisted and delivered a spinning kick to the man’s head, unleashing a another Essentia blast through her foot as it connected.

  The man hot the floor as his magical fire faded. With another working of magical will, Amanda pointed at Dramen’s head, and sent a concentrated force blast into the mean’s forehead.

  His skull cracked, and blood exploded over the concrete. He was dead.

  “Fecker,” she muttered.

  STEPS TO VICTORY

  Frankie pressed on through the racks and shelves, making her way through the building, wondering when she might see the kidnapped docs, and hoping she wasn’t too late. As she ran, another Reaver popped out from a crossing, but Frankie was ready with her gun and dropped the guard with a quick double tap.

  In the distance, she could hear more sporadic gunfire, as Matt’s friends fought their own battle. As they moved, light flashed in the distance as explosions sounded. Frankie looked back, and noticed Matt was doing the same. She couldn’t get a good look at what was happening through the countless rows of racks and debris, but some kind of fight had started on the far side of the warehouse that was a lot noisier than their gunfight.

  “Everything okay?” Frankie asked.

  Matt didn’t answer right away. A couple of seconds passed, before he turned and nodded. “Yeah, fine. It’s Amanda. She’d fighting too, but she’s fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “She can handle herself.”

  “Okay…”

  Refocusing on the task at hand, she moved through the building, and made out a makeshift structure towards the centre of the room. It was some kind of frame with plastic curtains hanging from it, creating a surgical bay that reminded Frankie of similar set ups she’d seen in cyber doc labs over the years.

  “There,” she said, nodding towards it.

  “I see it,” Matt confirmed as they pressed on.

  Frankie slowed as she approached. The clear plastic of the curtains distorted and bent the light. She could see shapes on the other side of the drapes, but had difficulty making out who or what they might be.

  In a sudden flurry of movement the curtain was thrown aside, revealing five figures. The lead man carried a belt-fed machine gun and fired wildly into the stacks before focusing in on Frankie and Matt. The other four were armed with assault rifles, and all five had been augmented to one degree or another. One of them had replaced both legs, another seemed to have sub-dermal armour beneath his skin, and several of them had built-in weaponry.

  Frankie wrinkled her nose at the brutal look of the cybernetics. They weren’t exactly subtle.

  It was something she remained grateful to Xenox for, despite her misgivings over what he’d done to her. At least she still looked like herself.

  Frankie ducked for cover, shooting as she went, but her first few shots either missed their mark or failed to bring her target down as they fired back.

  “Where are your friends?” Frankie called out in a moment of panic.

  “They’ll be here momentarily,” he answered. “Shall I ask these guys to hold their fire for a moment until they arrive?”

  “If you think it’ll help.”

  Matt smiled and shot at the Reavers from cover as new gunfire joined the fray.

  “See? They’re here.”

  Frankie peeked around the edge of the stack of concrete slabs she’d found and spotted her target, Mr Augmented Legs.

  Adjusting her stance, she ducked out a second time with her gun ready, but Legs wasn’t there.

  “Shit!”

  She heard movement to her left. Several boxes fell from a high shelf. Frankie rolled as Legs appeared and fired. He missed as Frankie returned fire, catching him in the shoulder. Suddenly, he was leaping at her, knee first, and slammed his leg into her gut.

  Frankie grabbed the man by the scruff of his neck and threw herself backwards. They landed in a heap and rolled. Frankie twisted and used her weight to get on top, only for him to jab the business end of his rifle into her ribs and fire just as she brought her gun to bear on his face. Red icons flashed on her HUD, warning her of the damage. She fired off several shots, making Legs jerk as he dropped his gun and fell still.

  Frankie smiled.

  A bullet slammed into her shoulder, sending her sprawling. She rolled left as more warning icons flashed. Ignoring them for now, she jumped to her feet and dashed for cover. Once out of immediate danger, she scanned over the warnings.

  The rib shots had caused minor damage, the bullets mostly caught by her Ballistic Gel flesh, but the shot to her shoulder had been from a machine gun and had penetrated to her carbon nanorod endoskeleton. The damage could have been worse, but she could feel the minor glitching it was causing in the control of her left arm.

  Her Nano was already hard at work repairing it, and providing she took no more hits to her shoulder, she’d be fine.

  Off to her left, Matt yelled. Turning, she saw him in hand-to-hand with the man carrying the Machine Gun. Mr Belt Fed, she thought, picking a random name for the Reaver thug.

  Frankie jumped up to see Matt’s friends dealing with the two remaining Reavers. Howie was in a shootout with one, while Jinx seemed to relish a hand-to-hand fight with another.

  Breaking cover, Frankie aimed and fired at Belt Fed as she stalked towards him. The round slammed home, making the Reaver roar with rage. He twisted and tried to bring his gun to bear.

  Frankie lunged forward and grabbed it, pointing the barrel skywards as he fired. She jabbed her gun up and under his jaw and fired several times. The man’s head jerked as blood splattered over Matt and herself.

  All strength left the Reaver, and he fell, little more than deadweight.

  Frankie let him go, as did Matt, and he dropped to the floor between them. Nearby, Jinx and Howie ended their fights too.

  “Everyone okay?” Matt called out?

  “I’m good,” Howie answered.

  “That was fun,” Jinx stated, smiling. Frankie wasn’t sure what to make of Jinx. She was clearly artificial, but seemed very much alive and sentient. An AI maybe?

  “What about you?” Matt asked, stepping up to Frankie.

  She smiled. “I’m fine, thanks. Don’t worry about me.”

  “She’s one tough cookie,” said a fifth voice.

  Frankie turned to see Amanda saunter up to them and smiled at the redhead’s jovial attitude. “Thanks.”

  “Looks like we picked the right person to team up with,” Amanda added.

  “I could say the same thing.” Frankie checked her gun, before popping the mag and slapping a full one back in. “but, we’re not done yet.”

  Voices sounded close by. “Thank you. Thank you, so much. You saved our lives.”

  Frankie turned to see two men, beaten and bloody, hobble out of the lab. It was filled with automated cyber surgery arms around surgical beds that had clearly seen recent action. In fact, there was still a Reaver unconscious on one table with an arm missing.

  “I’m glad you’re okay.” Frankie grimaced at the wounds they sported. “It looks like you’ve had an ordeal.”

  “Yeah, but we’re fine,” the younger of the two said. “We didn’t know if anyone would come for us.”

  “But we’re glad you did,” the older man added. “I’m Cordell, and this is Seth.”

  “Nice to meet you, I’m Frankie, and this is Matt, Amanda, Howie and Jinx.”

  “There are still good people lift in this city,” Matt stated, and nodded to Frankie.

  Frankie smiled and then frowned. “Shouldn’t there be more of you? Where’s Gema?”

  The faces of the two men fell, as they seemed to remember their situation. “She’s not here,” Cordell answered. “The leader of that group — I think his name is Lux — he wanted something more than just arms or legs replaced.”

  “He was getting angry and aggressive,” Seth explained. “The idiot nearly broke my arm.”

  Cordell nodded. “Layla offered to take him on the train to a corporation facility she knows, somewhere they do more advanced procedures and military tech. He seemed quite pleased with that idea. Gema went with her. She wouldn’t leave Layla’s side.”

  “A bloody stupid idea, if you ask me,” Seth stated. He seemed upset. “Why the hell would Layla do that!”

  “To protect you,” the older man replied, as he placed his arm around his friend’s shoulders.

  The younger man sniffed and looked up, right into Frankie’s eyes. “You need to find her. You need to save her. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

  Frankie nodded, guessing he was close to Layla. “We’ll get her back.”

  “Do you know where they went?” Matt asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Seth answered, as A link request appeared in Frankie’s HUD.

  She answered it, recognising the ID. -Agent Forrester?-

  -Frankie,- the man replied. -How’s it going?-

  -Fine. But, we’re going to need help, I have a pair of injured men here.-

  -Send me your location, and I’ll get someone on it.-

  -Thanks. But we also need to find someone. We have rogue group known as the Reavers operating in town. They’re kidnapping people, stealing tech. They’re violent too.-

  -I’m aware,- Forrester answered. -Veronica filled me in. It’s why I was calling. I’ve had reports of a group matching the Reavers description commandeering a train. Can you intercept them? The flyer is still close by.-

  -Perfect, yes, we can. Send me the details.-

  -Will do,- Forrester said, as data files appeared over the link.

  “Everything okay?” Matt asked, clearly noticing she’d spoken to someone.

  “Yeah, but this ain’t over.”

  TRAIN

  ~What happened out there?~

  Amanda pressed her lips into a thin line at Matt’s question as Frankie helped Seth and Cordell out of the warehouse. ~Do you mean my little side mission, or my fight against the Magi Reavers?~

  ~Both,~ Matt clarified.

  ~I followed up a lead I got from the back market guy. One of the Magi that attacked the warehouse stole info from his mind about the location of a well stocked lab. It was a back alley place, and they took everything, hurting two people, nearly killing one of them. I healed them and sent them to sleep.~

  ~Okay, that’s good.~ Matt frowned, and then pointed to the lab set up in the middle of the warehouse they were standing in. ~Do you think this was their stuff?~

  ~Very likely, yes, and as soon as we leave here, I’ll port it all back to where it came from.~

  ~Okay, great. And I take you won the fight against the two magi?~

  ~Yeah, but it was a closer fight than I’d expected.~ She sighed. ~I wasn’t ready for them, and they took advantage of that. One of them fled, but the body of the other is in the alleyway. I’ll let Void know, so she can do clean up.~

  Amanda turned to Howie and Jinx. “How are you two holding up?”

  “We’re good,” Howie answered. “These dudes are no joke, though.”

  “I’m having fun,” Jinx added. “The conflicts have been challenging so far, but nothing we can’t handle.”

  “Jinx and I make a good team.” Howie added.

  “Indeed,” Jinx agreed. “Howie has been a great partner. The Reavers didn’t stand a chance.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11