The main fighting was a lot closer now, and this definitely wasn't the only place with wall to wall fire. Ah, there we go, strobing laser fire was starting to reach here, harmless at this distance, but still visible and... there we go, it was coming from both directions. They were going to have to be careful they didn't shoot one another, and as my tac-feed went out and was relayed, I noted that the range of the shots out there quickly shortened.
The spideroids were being pushed back. Some seemed to be trying to exit through tunnels here or there, and I could only hope that those places had been sealed off by sufficient forces, as I didn't have enough of an overarching map of the area to really attempt any guides... but if the spotters getting the feeds did, they better cross-reference and relay some orders.
But no, the spideroids didn't keep coming into the burning, stinking mess of their kind and Great Gramma, so I just hung there, recycling my oxygen supply, ignoring the thousand-degree temperature, and just watched as the ends of the fighting happened, and my extended hair was worming through the mess and getting all the nexals I could feel.
Then the spideroids started to scuttle away... I watched them receding as Chalice silently fed me the information in her Banescan, and knew it was time.
"I can bring you down six at a time, if three of you can hold onto the Disk while three are atop it." They were watching the feed with me, so they could see it as plainly as I what was going on. I scampered up the side of the shaft, my Disk came out, and three of them boarded it immediately, lifted it up, three more grabbed it with power gauntlets locking in place, and without acknowledging the weight, the Disk lowered itself smoothly down into the mass of spideroids burning down, which compressed under the weight of the power armor. The Juris waded through without any problems.
Now the shields finally came out, just in case, and they started popping off fleeing spideroids from a distance. I went back up to get the rest of the squad, who joined in the sniping fun a minute later, sticking close to the liftshaft, but no longer feeling threatened as the spideroids seemed keen on avoiding them instead of swarming them... and they'd have no problems retreating into the burning shaft behind.
I was practicing my marksmanship too, going out further than them to get more angles, skating across the ground, and finally getting a good look down in the other direction. While I was skating across the ground I was collecting nexals from the ones burned down by vivus, and plucking them out of the carcasses of others. The place was carpeted in white fires eroding the spiders, and the Gloam was partially lifted, although the webs which really reinforced it were still in place. They'd have to be flamed down to be removed...
The squads coming in on carriers and foot, the former so they could spray down those on the ceilings and walls better, rolled in about five minutes later, volleys of fire leaving nothing alive behind them.
At my quiet urging, we'd hauled the queen's curled-up but still massive carcass out of the shaft, power armor muscle being good for something, and it was sitting off to the side for everyone to admire as the boys made a show of securing the loading dock and waiting for everyone's arrival.
That carcass was probably going to be auctioned off for a lot of money. I made a small frown, thought about all the nexals whose owners I hadn't actually shot, and all the bounty money I was going to pick up, and the hazard pay, and the hourly rate, and I didn't feel so bad.
---
"Hey, boys." I waved them all in. "Recorders off." I waited a second as they discretely muted such things. "You boys got a favorite place to drink?" I asked carefully.
"The Hammer," Sergeant Charlz replied instantly, not giving the others time to say anything.
"I had a good payday here. If you want to give me your private sigs, I'll set you up a tab at the Hammer by way of payback."
There were some murmurs around, and then a lot of contact cards hit my Band. "Got it. You boys probably don't need me around stealing your credit now, do you?" I winked at them, and they kind of laughed softly despite themselves. All that mattered was that I was with the squad, my name would be conveniently dropped from any accolades getting handed out for popping the Queen... which was fine. Only those that should know, knew.
"Agent Rantha, we are definitely going to call you up the next time we need to clear out a bug nest," Sergeant Charlz said in something resembling warm tones.
"You say the sweetest things to girls, Sergeant," I winked at him, and headed for the shaft. "I'll make my own way out, kiss a few girls for me!" I gave them some hipswing as I headed into the liftshaft, and bounced my way back up there.
---------------
"What the fuck kind of high-end psion was that, working as a Termite?" swore Geffkli, the gyro gunner. "Guys... she pulled a Five Sun Shot off with me!"
"Five Suns?" The Juris Tactical squadmates looked at one another. That was a hideously dangerous level of skill right there...
"I want whatever gun she's using," the mini-las bearer noted. "She was popping spiders almost as easily as me!"
"I want to be able to walk into an inferno and run up and down walls like they are level ground," grunted Sergeant Charlz. "But you all got her card, so if there's a problem... well, we now know a really ass-kicking psion that can be called in to handle it, right?" They all nodded. Power armor was good and all, but some things just required having an edge.
Sergeant Charlz definitely put her on his list of people to Follow...
----
The Hammer was a Juris bar in Upspire, near the precinct the Tactical Squad worked out of. True to fashion, there was one fairly near every Spire Precinct House, and they catered to the Enforcement side of the government.
Good enough.
I set up a 5k credit account for each of the squad, non-refundable. They'd be able to eat really well there for the next couple years if they wanted to. It was a nice reward for a job well done. After all, accolades might or might not include a bonus...
Yeah, it was a lot of credits, but I'd swept up a whole lot of nexals that they'd had the kill on, and since they couldn't cash them in and I could, feeding it back was only proper.
There would probably be questions about where so many of those Nexals had gone, aie, burned away in hot plasma and point-blank detonations, so unfortunate...
Damn, I still had so much stuff I had to buy. That yawning black hole that was Gear upgrades was snuffling pitifully at me. I was holding onto a fortune which would stir entire gangs down here to kill themselves, and all I could do was sigh...
Paten had shown me that I definitely needed some ranged punch with speed, as just tossing Chalice's blade around or Sharding wasn't going to cut it here in the future. Really, twenty shots a second wasn't going to cut it with the numbers of things I would probably end up fighting. Also, twenty seconds of sustained fire was nowhere near enough. I needed like, um, unlimited sustained fire.
I looked down at Paten, who seemed to quiver eagerly at my stare. Yes, having a Compressed mini-las attached to him was definitely something I wanted to happen at some point. And a gyro-launcher. And a grenade launcher. And a plasma flamer, and a missile tube...
No, no, I didn't want much. I'll just plink with my little autobolts, and that will surely stop that giant whatsit charging my way, sure it will. And that tank, and that Mech Walker, yup yup...
The far future was definitely a place to challenge your personal weapon load-out, that was certain.
Well, at least I had enough nexals to do a lot of empowering for a while, given the per-day limits on such things. I'd just have to figure out what was important, get that done first, and then work on the rest as time passed.
So annoying... and I laughed at myself. Those Juris had been staring at Paten with outright envy, dreaming of affording a weapon which could do what I did. Paten was actually more valuable than that mini-las if I put it on the market, from a collector's standpoint. Who made hand crossbows with underslung military-grade autolasers?
Of course, I was creature-hunting, not on a battlefield, and it was a mass-slaughter tool of small creatures, not a proper combat tool... until it was Enhanced to +IX and ripping crap apart, that is. Main-Gauche was such a wonderful effect for the price...
Still, I was going to need more than a handgun, in time. I guess I was going to have to have a separate long-range attack, and just upgrade Paten with mass firepower effects. Mmm, that meant a whole arsenal of various types of Bolts to shoot, adding to my ammunition woes.
Money, ah, a brutal thing you are...
Still, I had earned me some relative downtime.
I cloistered myself away up on Floor 161, which I had taken as my personal demesne, to the misgivings and annoyance of the dead... until I started Crafting. Just nexal imbuing, nothing that important, but there was no doubt whatsoever that I had a lot of very curious ghostly eyes on me very quickly, which I serenely ignored as I stayed at work.
Still, it gave me an idea...
---
"Question for you all," I asked in Necrus, and just like before, shock riffled through them at the fact they could understand me so clearly.
I held up my Sword Focus. "Chalice gave me this idea. I know you can see her just fine, and given how active she is Scanning, I think she's having quite the fun time being hauled around with me.
"I was thinking to myself, 'Self, would one of these ghosts wandering around up here aimlessly maybe want to get the frak out of here and see some new sights?' Self replied, 'Damn, there's a hundred thousand of them, there's got to be at least one who wants to leave here with you, Sama!' I nodded to Self, and have decided to give one of you an opportunity. That was Chalice."
Rustling wavers from the dead, speaking at levels I couldn't hear... unless I really tried to. If I concentrated, I could see them, but not wanting to see the sight of umpteen thousands of dead people staring at me, I was not doing so.
"In addition, if this works... there's going to be opportunities for the rest of you. You all want revenge on the forces that did this to you. Well, I hate to tell you this, but they aren't coming here. If you want to find them and get your vengeance, you're going to need to go out to them... and you can't do that if you stay here."
More quavering in the eye, and waves of hate rolling past.
"I'm eventually going to be bringing people here... young men and women, who'll be like me." Chalice flared up, sparkling gold, driving them back with the threat she represented. "Not as strong, not as smart... they could use some help, a guide, and they'll be happy to bring you along as they start trying to fix some of the worst parts of the shitass world that got you all killed.
"So, here's my offer. I'm gonna start looking for people. Are any of you willing to help the kids out? You help them, they help you, and you get to get the fuck out of this place you've been condemned to.
"You think on that. I'm taking no more advantage of you than you are of me. If you don't want to help, no skin off my bones. If you do... then you'll be taking a step closer to revenge, and getting out of here.
"Be back soon!"
Discord Link is TPoT server, at https://discord.gg/gJ6fRs9. I always have Discord up if I'm online!
Killkillkill, craftcraftcraft... oh we should give those Juris something for all these nexals... lots of beer sounds good...
I checked the prices of platinum on the Boole, and it wasn't bad. I'd have to find some that was Energized, as the rote stuff probably wasn't suitable for magic, only for tech use.
I was probably going to have to enchant my bones a lot if I wanted to work with Nog Levels. It didn't bother me... what else was I going to use them for? They were already in the middle of being reinforced and made more efficient for heavy gravity. No reason not to keep improving on them, right?
Of course I was right.
Hum hum, thrum thrum...
I brought my head back down to the gangers passing by as I was sitting there outside, looking at the wonderful eye-bending rustle-wave dome of the sky. One of them was waving a mindblade.
It was a bare thing, more a wedge of green light than anything else, clearly just manifested. The kid who had it couldn't be more than fifteen, clearly exulting over what he had, waving it around as if it was a great thing. His bros were congratulating him, clearly envious.
He had psi-potential, the Gift. He had a ticket out of this place, and was gonna leave them far behind, no matter what he said.
He caught me looking at him, and promptly went into rooster strutting mode, heading on over in front of me, waving his new little psi-toy. "Hey, girl, wachu think? I gots me a mindblade, girl! Ima be a bladeboy! Ima be goin' places! How you like to have a piece of this action?"
He waved it in front of me, showing it off as I raised an eyebrow.
I reached out, pinched the mindblade in mid-wave, and then jerked him forward, interrupting his spiel about himself. My other hand grasped his arm, and my fingers closed.
He squeaked as he fell to his knees, grasping at my hand on his wrist, gawking at me as I flicked out a vibroknife, turned it on, and before his buddies could rush to help him, brought the whirring edge up against his mindblade as he gasped.
"AhhhhhhhH!" he shouted as the humming teeth bit in and sawed through the psychic force. His buddies held up as they watched the strangely fascinating sight of a vibroknife eating through the hard light of the mind blade. It got just about halfway through before the mindblade shattered, dispersing into random light particles, and the idiot screamed and jerked away, blood coming from his nose as I let him go.
I held up the knife to his buddies as they caught him. "You all got knives?" I asked them casually, knowing they were packing. It was the default standby for low-end gangers who couldn't afford anything. Half of them already had them in hand, although they hadn't turned them on. "Well, as you can see, your knives are better than his, so you got nothing to be afraid of with him."
Despite themselves, they had to smirk as they looked at him getting taken down a peg. He wiped away the blood on his face, cursing, and glared at me. "Yeah? Well, breaking it means nothing!" He concentrated, and it flashed back up at the end of his hand again. "I'll just bring it back, and it'll get stronger than-urk!"
He shut up real fast, and they all backed away as I drew my appropriated Penson Industries Mark 49 Laser sidearm from my Masspack and aimed it at him.
"So, you think you got a superior weapon there?" I asked casually.
He looked at his mindblade, the laser in my hand, and the green wedge of force dispersed into random motes of light.
"Now, see, that was the only intelligent thing I've seen you do today. Sit down, all six of you." I waved at the spot on the pavement in front of me.
"Hey, girl, just cause you... have a dark gold mindclaw fuck I'm sitting down," said a sharp-eyed older teen who looked like the leader of the group, hurriedly doing just that. The others looked at my laser in one hand, the metallic soulclaw on the other, and also decided that sitting down would be good for their health.
Especially the new baby blade, who looked a bit awed.
"Sama Rantha, Termite, sensei, bladebelle," I introduced myself, as both weapons suddenly went away. "To whom do I have the great honor and privilege of addressing?" I asked in lofty and very sarcastic terms.
They all flushed, but Smart Guy spoke first. "I'm Brekko. The guy with the mindblade is Davro. This is Jimo, Frankie, Billi, Tohks, and Jamal," he introduced each of them carefully, and each nodded once to make sure I knew who they were.
"Just a crew, not affiliated yet?" I asked casually.
"They'll just have us selling, and we ain't having none of that business yet. Thought with Davro growing a blade, we might get a chance at something better."
"Newsflash, geniuses. Did any of you go look up ANYTHING about new blade babies in Downspire on the Boole? Anywhere?" I asked archly.
They all looked at one another, and then over at Davro, who just shrugged.
"Right. Too excited to get the nod, and ignoring what it means." I reached up and massaged my temples. "Little boys, take a look at where you are." I waved at our surroundings. "You are trash. We live in trash. And somehow, something bright just started shining in the trash. Guess what happens to shiny, expensive shit in Downspire?"
Their faces all got that Oh Shit look. "It gets taken away," Brekko spoke up.
"By?" I prodded him.
"The first to take it?" big Jimo spoke up, trying to sound clever.
"Or?" I egged him on.
"Whoever's strongest. They'll just kill the first ones and take it from them," Brekko said, eying me, and then glancing at Davro, who suddenly paled.
"That's exactly right. And you... are a baby blade. You have the ability to manifest a totally useless toy and wave it around, announcing the fact that you are valuable yet defenseless, a perfect combination of stupidity and value. Congratulations. Think about how many hundreds of people have seen you waving around that foggy, weakass mindblade of yours, telling people you have the Gift and can't do shit with it.
"This is Downspire. You're gangers with no gang, you got no backers. Right now, those people are blabbing. Someone's gonna think something like, 'Oh, ho, a punk psi who can't protect himself. I can sell his brain for a brain battery and make some nice creds.', or 'A stupid psi with no backer. I can turn him into a brainbanger and nobody gonna give a shit if I do.' Or 'Hah, what a dumb shit. Ima get that punk hooked on Cortical Ride and make him my fucking dawg'." I trailed off after a moment. "And that's if some old psion doesn't suddenly think he don't wanna be old no more, comes down, evicts your stupid mind from your skull, and grabs himself a new meatsuit of you."
I lazily drifted my eyes back from the pale kid. "And you, of course, are his friends. Easy to track, easy to lean on. If you get in the way, you're soylent fodder. If he decides to run or hide, you can be used to draw him out. After all, you got next to no use yourselves. Chop you up, make you spill your guts, make it loud, pretty, then start on his next of kin if he's got the guts to watch you all die.
"Damn, I can't believe you were that stupid. This is Downspire, you fucktard, and you just made yourself into bling, and showed yourself off to everyone. It's like you wrote a big 'Come Fuck Me' sign on your face and challenged the world to do so."
He really didn't look too good right now, nor did his buddies. He had just drawn them into some bad shit, after all.
"Now, you can run, sure. But you'd have to stay totally off the grid, and that means running into condemned zones, and word'll get out and back to those who are looking for you. If you don't go into no-Boole zones, some Hacker will track you down in no time.
"So, gotta ask there, blade baby Davro... what the fuck are you planning to do now? Because I estimate a week before there ain't no blade baby Davro anywhere, anymore. You're either gonna be owned by somebody, or somebody is gonna be wearing you."
The horror on his face as he contemplated what was going to happen to him was pretty moving. He looked at his buddies with sorrow, and it was plain that they didn't know what to think, so they were getting mad at him.
Smart boy totally ignored that shit. "You're selling us a story," he noticed, drawing them back. "Yeah, I actually believe it. Can't believe I didn't see it sooner." He glanced at Davro, who shrank in on himself. "Okay, we can cut him, that might get us off, might not. Why you telling us all this? You got something to sell us?"
"What you got to pay with?" I replied easily, looking them over with an eye that told them they didn't have shit.
"We got time and we can fight." I just lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah, we got no cyber or psi. We're not hooked up yet. You knew that just watching us. Ain't gonna boast to you. Just words, right? So, we got time, we got ourselves, and we can take care of ourselves. That's what we gots to offer you."
Had to smile despite myself, and I could tell it roused them. Okay, nymphal looks weren't for nothing, and the Branding didn't bother them at all. "Well, I might be in the market for a bunch of punks who got nothing but time... and a desire to get the fuck out of here." I flicked up my soulclaw, held my hand out, flickered my fingers a few times for them, so they could admire the cleavers that could reach into their chests and tear out their hearts. "I might know what I'm talking about, too."
"Can you save us from what's going down with Davro?" Brekko asked pointedly.
"Good way to stave off guys coming for his brain is make them think he's with someone they don't want to mess with for just one baby psi. Better way is to make him think he's with a bunch of people they don't want to mess with."
"You got a gang?" Brekko asked, interested. "No offense, ain't heard of no gang led by a bladebelle with a golden claw. Looks like yours, people'd talk."
"I'm looking at building one, a bit different from most." I glanced at Davro. "No offense, blade baby, but you're not actually what I'm looking for. I'll take you in, and I can teach you, but I actually want your buddies more."
"You want us?" Brekko and the others all looked surprised. "I mean, he's got the Gift, just like you!"
"I don't have the Gift." They all blinked. "What, you think my Claw is here because I do? I can't manifest a mindblade. I'm a Null, got no true psionic power at all. I'm not much different then you all that way."
"But..." the smart guy trailed off. "Never heard of no Null."
"Well, probably not, because we can't fly, shoot fireballs, teleport, or read minds. We got no flash. Cybers get more respect than Nulls do. We're just kind of meat on the street and goons in the room to the Psis. But," I flicked up my Claw, admired it in front of them, "that don't mean there ain't ways, and it don't mean we got no power."
Okay, I had their interest, even Davro. "Sounds innerestin'," Brekko admitted. "How's it work?"
"Everything that thinks is psionic, more or less. The problem is that using psionic power is very different from being psionic. Nulls can't use psionic power directly. Can't spend it. If you want an analogy, a psion is a water pistol, and you're a bottle of water with a sealed cap." I paused. "But we can still hit people with the bottle." My gold-shrouded fingers waved at them. "A mindblade is just a bottle. It's a minor side-effect some people are lucky enough to be able to see and visualize when they become psionic.
"So, becoming a mindclaw isn't nothing much. All of you can become mindclaws... not mindblades, 'cause you got no range with your claw. He can do shit with his mindblade that we'll not be able to do. Matter of fact, there's almost nothing you can learn that he can't learn, too... it's just that he's got other things he's gonna need to learn which are more effective and useful, overall."
"Wait, you saying you can give all of us... one of those?" Brekko asked, as they all gaped at me.
Discord Link is TPoT server, at https://discord.gg/gJ6fRs9. I always have Discord up if I'm online!
One set of recruits, and here comes another...
And yes, you idiot, just because you are a psion don't mean Grimdark won't eat you. Davro is a true Level One Mindblade, not a Forsaken.
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