Retribution
The low cloud cover glowed in colours from across the spectrum, all reflected from the dizzying array of signs and holograms that seemed to cover every spare centimetre of shop or mall walls and roofs. Occasionally a ribbon of moon light managed to snake its way past the oppressive layer of smothering cloud, the silver-white light would trace its way across the cityscape like gods own spot light before once again being snuffed out.
Concealed beneath a roof eave Marius was barely aware of the awe inspiring sight as he once again tried to flex cramped muscles with the barest minimum of movement, his raised vantage point not only looked out across the slumbering city but also his targets mansion nestled in the lee of the hills. Concealed by the technical wizardry of a chameleon cloak and enduring the discomfit of having his body functions processed by a survival suit, he had remained in almost the exact same position for four days staring through a long range optical viewer and interpreting data from a high end sensor suite.
So far his surveillance had determined two things, the first being that the entire lower floor was almost solely occupied by rooms and facilities for the buildings staff, security and the targets bodyguards while the upper floor was well protected against almost all forms of surveillance. His contacts had also indicated the computer systems where tiered with the upper floor completely separate from the lower floor, additionally the upper floor only connected to the data sphere via an omni-directional line meaning there was absolutely no way anyone could hack into the system.
On the upside he had determined the physical security of the grounds themselves was limited to a high razor wire topped wall, a smattering of sensors and regular patrols by the six professional but low-grade 'warez security guards. The kongo bodyguards seemed to isolate themselves from the other guards and where allowed exclusive access to the upper floor, they would be the problem if encountered as they appeared to have been extensively wet wired and he had seen them armed with at least handguns.
His neuralnet alerted him it was 03.30, slowly he edged back into the small shallow between the eave and the wall dragging his equipment behind him before in slow motion began stowing the equipment and survival suit waste pouches into light weight containers. Then still moving at a snails pace he wrapped on his armoured vest with plates before strapping in place weapons and equipment modules all beneath the chameleon cloak, satisfied everything was secured in place he activated the timers on the container modules and slid them clear of the overhanging eave.
Slowly the timers ticked down, the first set for five minutes the second for ten, in five minutes a small dirigible would inflate and carry the containers aloft and make its way to an isolated rooftop miles away where it would be collected later in safety if all went well. In ten minutes if the dirigible wasn't silently cruising 100m above the ground it would detonate a white phosphorous grenade, the explosion would easily obliterate the equipment rendering it impossible to track its original owner or purpose.
04.05 And Marius started activating neurosoft combat programs within his neuralnet, suddenly a torrent of ghostly neuroiconic graphics scrawled across his vision to display system readiness and important peripheral data, all available to him at his merest thought. Additional systems came on, and for the first time in five days his electronic signature burst above the battery trickle his surveillance equipment had ran on, then just as suddenly his Cyberdyne Shadow IV electronic warfare suite activated to encapsulate him in a bubble of electronic shadows which effectively rendered him invisible to sensors.
A last simple command to his chameleon cloak switched its settings from it's slow change 'stalk' mode to the fast change 'predator' mode, and he gives the street below a final scan for any late night wanderers then without pause he leaps from the roof seven meters above the road. During the seconds it takes to fall to the ground the cloak becomes overwhelmed with the collage of colours flashing past and momentarily changes to its inert grey-green base speckled with hundreds of black sensor beads, landing Marius crumples to absorb the impact and allows the cloak to float down around him and it instantly turns the slate grey of the pavements carboncrete.
Senses alert and discrimination programs running in concert he again scans the road but pays particular attention to any sounds emanating from the mansion grounds, seconds tick by with no sign of an alarm having been raised, with a surge he powers into a sprint towards the five meter curtain wall. Myomer augmented muscles drive his body forward before a burst of superhuman strength propels his body into the air, practiced feet grip the wall lifting him further towards its apex before he flips the razor sharp entanglement along the top with a gymnasts talent to land with cat like grace concealed once again beneath the billowing chameleon cloak.
Minutes crawl by as Marius remains still and concealed within the deep shadows at the base of the wall, the distant continuous cacophony of city noise an odd counter point to the gently rustling trees that stand to either side of him. Eventually to his left his modified snake heat sensing pits detects the amber heat shimmer of two guards flitting in and out of sight between the trees, slowly the routine patrol brings the guards closer and closer to the invisible Marius until finally they pass mere meters in front of him as they quietly converse about some ball game played yesterday.
Closing his eye's he centres himself then activates his bionetic Nervewire™ reflex enhancement, when he opens his eyes time is moving in slow motion, the guards are paused in mid-speech with feet hanging in the air mid-stride. A short moon walker style leap places Marius directly behind the nearest guard, reaching out he taps the fingers of his right hand against the guards neck, the modified electric eel electroplaques send a shiver through his spine as they discharge their enhanced lethal load into the guard. Even as the muscle whacking spasms keep the first teetering in place Marius snaps a kick into the back of the second guards knee causing him to start to fall backwards, reaching out he grabs the guards head before driving his knee into the vulnerable neck with an audible bone breaking crack.
Dragging the two guards behind the nearest tree he removes their radios and attaches them to a small electronic relay designed to repeat earlier recordings of all clear signals from the two, dropping it with the two bodies he drapes his chameleon cloak over them and turns them into a pile of leaves. Quickly and quietly he makes his way around the inner wall until he reaches the closest point between the trees and the mansion, a quick dash and he makes the mansion wall before sprinting towards the back of the building ducking under each window.
04.12 Nestled in the back of the building between the mansion and the garage is the air recycling unit for the lower floor, slipping a plyplastic tool into the access hatch he jimmies the lock open with barely a sound to reveal the air-conditioning ducts. Pulling a grenade from a shoulder pouch he sets the timer for 3 minutes and drops it into the ducts and quickly closes and seals the hatch, Marius moves once again, stealthfully he makes his way around the garage wary of any movement in the kitchen that overlooks the court yard through which he's moving.
Stopping by the back entrance he hunkers down by the wall out of sight of the windows but only a step from the doorway, in his virtual vision a timer counts down, and the door starts to open as the next pair of guards prepare for duty. 04.15 and in his imagination Marius hears the grenade detonate with a pop, instantly it releases its cargo of Neurostun VII incapacitant gas into the ducts to be quickly dispersed through each and every room by the air-conditioning unit. Again he activates his Nervewire's™ even as one of the guards begins turning at the sound of the grenade going off nearby, slipping from the deep shadows Marius appears before the two like a spectre and causes both to blink at his sudden appearance.
Stepping forward Marius drives a straight punch into the guards solarplex with bone crunching power and propels the guards body back through the kitchen door, smoothly pivoting he follows up with an elbow to the others nose breaking it instantly and snapping his head back to drop him in the very same spot. Dragging the body inside he closes the door before propping the body against it just out of sight, stepping up onto the kitchen island counter he pries several ceiling tiles out of place until he finally reveals a bundle of datalines.
Attaching an electronic module to the datalines he watches as its smart connections writhe around like a multitude of hair-thin translucent snakes, each strand connects to a different line until it manages to fully integrate its self. Marius's neuralnet notifies him of a stable connection with the dataline so he releases the smartframe program into the mansions network, it takes only a matter of seconds for the software to slice its way through the fire alarms basic hardware and then into the processing core of the network proper. A torrent of neuroiconic information cascades across his vision, so much so it takes a minute to sort through it all to isolate the security 'warez and shut it all down.
Content that no immediate alarms would be sounding he slips quietly through the building towards the foyer and the stairs to the upper level, in the lounge the two bio-modified security Dobermans lie asleep with their eyes staring vacantly into space having been rendered unconscious by the odourless Neurostun gas. The foyer remained deserted as expected so Marius carefully carried on up the stairs to the heavily reinforced door that was the sole access point to the upper level, another pouched opened and he applies another module to the security panel and waits for it to crack the code and give him access to his quarry.
04.21 Marius pauses to reflect on his mission, it was seldom that he'd take a public interest job but this one needed specialist attention beyond what a community could manage to pay a street samurai or ronin, and there where extenuating circumstances that transcended the low payment they where offering. Truth be told their fee hadn't even paid for the software he'd already used let alone the equipment, contacts and time invested, but Marius considered the money well spent if even half of what he'd been told was true about his target.
With an inaudible *beep* the module signalled him it had completed its work and with a *chunk* the maglocks retracted to allow the door to swing silently open, reaching for his pistol he finds it already clasped in his hand, he'd always preferred the heavy reliance of firearms over the more recent energy weapons. Subtle lighting at ankle height lined the corridor allowing his enhanced vision to clearly see every detail, everywhere he looked the targeting reticule of his silenced Manhunter heavy pistol tracked as it followed his searching eyes pierced every nook and cranny.
Pistol leading the way Marius steps into the lavish hallway off which only two doorways lead, to his left and only a few meters ahead is a simple oak door while at the far end stands an ornate set of double doors. Kneeling he tosses four 50c sized disks onto the ground outside the first door, from each sprouts six tentacle-legs that scurries two of them towards each doorway. In each corner of his vision a small window opens to display the miniature camera views from the small spider bots, SpyderBot.1 squirms under the door to reveal a large open plan lounge with a menacing looking kongo hurriedly loading a sub-machinegun.
Suddenly a huge black shadow looms over the SpyderBot in the form of a large boot that smashes down on the fragile bot and instantly turns its image to a hash of snow, half a second later the oaken door shatters outwards as a huge heavily built kongo throws itself through. Marius is already moving when the first thunderous report booms in the corridor as the kongo bodyguard fires its shotgun in mid-flight, the shotgun blast misses by a wide margin then Marius's Manhunter kicks in his hand as he snaps off a series of quick shots of which only one strikes a glancing hit on the still falling kongo.
Ducking Marius fires three more shots at his now prostrate attacker, two of the 10mm advanced energy transfer rounds strikes its chest knocking the body back under the impact and sending the kongo's next shot out of alignment but still leaving the shot close enough to score Marius's cheek with bullet burn. Shifting his aim three more shots cough from the silenced pistol in odd contrast to the echoing explosions from the shotgun, two glancing hits pummel the Kongo's head with the final shot blowing through its eye socket and punching a fist sized hole out the back of its head to splatter blood and gore over the wall and carpet.
A threatening red neuroicon flashes a warning that his pistol is out of ammunition, quickly he grabs a grenade from his belt and lobs it into the room beyond the shattered doorway. Dropping prone on the ground he escapes being hit as rounds jackhammer through the wall as the second bodyguard sprays the wall in an attempt to hit him, fortunately the second bodyguard seems wary of hitting the firsts body and the majority of rounds strike high.
Accompanied by a pained grunt a sudden nova bright light erupts from the room as the flash grenade flares momentarily into existence, instantly coming to his knees Marius tumbles diagonally into the room to avoid the strobing random bursts of automatic weapons fire from the blinded kongo. Throwing his empty pistol at the guard’s face Marius vaults over the large two-seater couch, the half blinded guard flails wildly at the impromptu weapon and manages to deflect the missile before stepping forward with a wide swing using the heavy sub-machinegun as a club. Arms up around his head in a typical tai-kicking boxing stance Marius steps into the radius of the swing to negate the awesome power contained in the blow, driving his weight behind his knee he slams it into the massive kongo's inner-thigh unbalancing the bodyguard before catching the kongo with an upward swung elbow driven into its throat.
Staggering and coughing the kongo catches Marius with an unexpected side kick that sends him reeling across the room, lucky for Marius the ceramic plate in his vest dissipates the brunt of the force and saves him several broken ribs. Both combatants manage to gain their breath before they begin to circle each other while seeking for any sign of weakness, two rotations and the distance has closed to where the kongo feels confident of a safe strike. Leaping forward he tries a simple but devastating axe kick designed to either force the intruder back into the corner or break any portion of body left in his foots way, Marius sees the telegraphed move coming and forward rolls past the slower kongo before delivering a spinning back kick to the rear of its knee with bone shattering precision.
Yelling in agony the crippled bodyguard collapses to the floor in a sprawling heap, grabbing a nearby coffee table Marius swings it high over head and repeatedly smashes it down on the injured guard until the bloodied pulp of a man moves no more. Ragged breaths cause Marius to wince as cracked ribs and ample bruises protest at their slightest movement, scanning around the ruined room he manages to locate his pistol and with slow deliberate movements he retrieves it to slide another magazine into place. He had to admit to himself that fight had been shorter than expected, and slightly more painful as well, how the hell they knew he was coming was beyond him but there was no doubt any further use of stealth was pointless.
Activating his auto-med it infused him with a dose of Regen™ to aid in his healing, Marius sighed as its warmth flooded through his senses, numbing aches and pains as it hit every nerve ending like a wave flowing around his body. And those few seconds of relaxed semi-pleasure almost cost him his life as he almost misses the tell tale noise of the two security Dobermans tearing up the stairs behind him, turning the Manhunter starts bucking in his hand as the first dog comes into view travelling horrendously fast. Geneengineered and recombined with shark DNA they are terrifying up close and personnel, with a mouth full of serrated shark teeth in a slavering maw beneath coal black eyes that stare emotionlessly into the soul few can stand unmoved before them.
Well aware that to turn and run would mean only that he never saw the harbingers of his death coming, Marius almost fires desperately at the speeding Doberman when a round finally strikes and sends it into a chaotic tumble. The Doberman is eerily silent in its mad dash tumble across the floor before crashing into the inert kongo's body, even if the bionetic implants within the dog's brain had allowed it to yelp in pain the surgeons had insured no sound would be forth coming by having removed their vocal cords. Throwing himself backwards Marius once again narrowly avoids the lethal slashing teeth of the second Doberman, the distinctive impact sound of bullets tearing through flesh accompany his next two shots as the leaping dog sails over the falling Marius.
Twisting on the ground readying to defend against an animal more than capable of rending flesh from bone in a single razor sharp bite, he looks up to see the second dog already trying to gain its feet, miraculously though one of his shots had passed through its stomach and blown out a portion of its spine to fortuitously paralyse it's rear legs. Picking himself up off the ground he once again slides a fresh clip into his pistol before shooting each dog once in the head and putting them both out of any further pain, stepping over the second dog he runs a strip of electron-compression explosive down the centre of the door and sets the detonator.
Walking back down the corridor to the bodyguards room he takes cover then with a thought detonates the strip that explodes with a sharp *crack*, a short dash and leap sends his foot knifing into the weakened centre and ploughs open the damaged wooden veneered tritanium door. Marius follows through from the leap kick with a roll to soak up the residual energy and uses it to carry him into the centre of the room, keeping low he searches the room for any sign of his prey. His finely tuned modified snake heat sensing pits show the bed recently vacated by probably two bodies, a concealed door near the bed glows a slightly warmer colour to indicate the likely hood of living beings beyond.
Stalking over to the door he hears muffled voices from beyond the portal, quiet voices being barked at by a louder cruel voice. His anger starting to seethe to the surface Marius snaps a round-house kick into the door to smash it inwards in a hail of splinters and wood fragments, the childish screams instantly freezes his blood as he realises he has bought terror to those he came to set free from a monster. The adjacent windowless room is illuminated by several night lights and is decorated in a pale pink scheme with pastel butterflies, the half dozen beds all have their bedding tossed back and lie empty.
Standing in the middle of the room are five young girls, not one is aged above twelve and all are dressed in lingerie that would be distasteful on most professional street walkers let alone children. Kneeling behind them is his prey, Luther Crown, spoilt, rich, and powerful son of Edger Crown the CEO controlling ImpGen Corporation who had been renowned for designing some of the 'warez that Marius himself utilized. His targeting reticule sat steadily centred on Luther's forehead within Marius vision, as he used his peripheral vision to further search the room, he had to concentrate to avoid waves of revulsion flooding through him at the sight of so many innocents debased and abused.
Having decided no additional threats lay hidden in the room Marius turns his attention on Luther who he finds studying him back, a simple bright kimono is draped half closed across an athletic physique while he calmly holds an exquisite katana steadily across the throat of the child held protectively before him.
Appearing to be a young man in his mid-thirties with bright blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes he would have attracted the attention of many woman regardless of his wealthy background, Marius knew better, the 'young man' was actually closer to seventy and had undergone several regenerative procedures.
Unexpectedly Luther spoke in a soft voice, “So you would be my assassin? You have done well to have made it so far, most die before they even make it to the house. Do you mind if I ask who sent you?"
Crouching Marius continued to try and determine a way he could attack without risking the children who stood around their abuser, Luther saw the small movement and revealed his other hand and the grenade it held primed and ready to detonate.
"Now let’s not do anything to rash that might threaten my young wards, if you manage to kill me I will inevitably drop this and in this small room that would be most unfortunate for all involved. In fact it may be best if you drop your weapon my silent friend, then we can discuss what is to happen here." Luther said in such a superior tone Marius almost considered it for a second.
Marius drops his pistol to the ground with a heavy *clump*, he watches as Luther's eyes follow its fall and leaps forward with a powerful thrust of his legs, as expected Luther's reflexes kick in and he pivots to drive the sword into Marius's undefended chest. With a nimble twist of his torso Marius scrapes past the sword point but is unable to avoid taking a long gash across his side, with a slap of his hand he energizes the blade with a burst of electricity from his electroplaques, not enough to permanently injure Luther however they do spasm his muscles and send him reeling back across the room.
"Get out now!" Booms Marius at the semi-startled children, who having been extensively brain washed by Luther respond instantly to the larger adults command and run crying through the door. The grenade skitters across the floor having fallen free of Luther's numb fingers, a swift kick towards the grenade sends it skipping into the far corner, grabbing a bed he tosses it in a low cartwheel on top of it to help suppress the explosive hail of lethal fragments before diving head first through the doorway. Rolling to his feet he looks back in time to see the grenade explode and obliterate the room in a fiery burst that perforates the entire room, the bloodied and riddled body of Luther Crown gets hurled through the door to flop at Marius's feet.
Stooping to the children's level he tries as hard as he can to speak in calming tones, "I'm sorry to have yelled at you, but we need to leave here quickly ok."
A few shell shocked nods meet his request, arms wide he starts ushering the children towards the door with soothing noises. Opening his comm.'s network he sends a burst transmission to his accomplices waiting nearby with vehicles to transport the children away to safety, with his focus divided between so many tasks it’s no wonder he doesn't hear the movement stirring behind him.
Like a lightning strike out of a clear sky, pain gorges every nerve ending in Marius's body as he staggers forward from an unseen impact to his back. Confusion holds his mind for an incomprehensible second as he looks down at the sharp bladed end of a katana protruding from within his chest, training and reflexes take over and he risks further damage by twisting into a rear elbow strike to Luther's face. Stepping forward he feels the grating of the blade sliding across his ribs as he pulls free of the blade, snapping off a side kick he gains some room from the deadly blade.
Looking into Luther's blood shot blue eyes all Marius sees is a feral hated and blood lust, obviously wet wired for electroplaques as well, Luther energizes the katana with a lethal haze of electrical energy. The dance that erupts is at superhuman speeds that would be nothing but a blur to any mundane watching, chips of door frame fly free as missed attacks whiz past the manically dodging form of Marius. Slowly Marius backs away from the menacing blade, allowing the tighter confines of the corridor to limit the styles of attacks that can be made with the sword.
Luther steps forward raising the sword above his head in a classic two-handed style, snapping forward Marius grasps each wrist holding the sword high and immobile, both opponents are highly wet wired making the show of strength a titanic display. With a sharp exhale Marius breathes a cloud of toxin from modified sacs implanted in his throat directly into Luther's face, the unexpected assault causes Luther to reflexively inhale and takes the nerve toxin deep into his lungs. Ripples of spasms shudder through Luther's body as his legs turn to rubber and he collapses to the ground at Marius's feet, short ragged breathes and rapidly blinking eyes let Marius know Luther is still aware of his surroundings enough to be on the verge of mental panic.
Capturing Luther's gaze Marius bends down and with bubbles of blood flecking his lips he speaks quietly, "I want you to know why you’re about to die, it’s not your money, power or because you got involved with the wrong deal.
A look of utter disgust passes momentarily across Marius's face, "It's the simple fact you’re a filthy child abusing paedophile. Did you actually think that your money and name would protect you, to allow you to steal children from the local community to fulfil your perversion without retribution?"
Standing he picks up the dropped katana, "Now you know you’re wrong. And since they asked me to deliver retribution to you, and anyone else that thinks the same as you, will end the same." Their eyes still locked, Marius drives the katana through Luther's heart until the blade is firmly imbed halfway through the floor. On the verge of collapse Marius turns to find the children huddled at the end of the corridor staring wide-eyed at the spectacle, then as one they run to him and envelope him in a mass of safety seeking arms.
The bloodied and cut Marius struggles from the front door beneath the heavy weight of the children he carries, beyond the front gate he can see the trucks that will whisk the children to the nearby town hall and their frantic parents. Tears run freely from both the children and Marius as he's half strangled by their thankful hugs, the final minutes blur as he staggers to clamber into the truck and its motor groans into action to carry them all to safety.
