Galactic High

“No means no!” the militia captain snarled at Alora, who had tried to sweet-talk the woman into letting their group through. “No travel is permitted at this time!”

“Gods dammit!” Nika cursed. “We don’t work for Corvin Enterprises! We just want to go home!”

“A likely story!” the captain spat as she raised her rifle at them, quickly followed by the rest of the guards. “False flags and deception are your bosses’ trademark. Get the fuck out of here before we send them your heads!”

They’re not messing around, we should go, Chiyo warned them.

“Let’s go.” Alora sighed. “We’ll find another route.”

“Shit!” Sephy snarled after they had retreated a safe distance. “That’s the fifth fucking district that turned us away! How the hell are we meant to get back?”

“Maybe we just need to hole up somewhere until this all ends?” Jack suggested.

Corporate wars can often last days, if not weeks, Chiyo told him. We don’t have that kind of time and it’s not safe here! Any time the MegaCorps go to war, everyone suffers!

“Not to mention the other assholes on the prowl.” Nika sighed. “Including the ones behind us.”

“Alright, staying put isn’t an option.” Jack shrugged, rolling his eyes. “What’s our next move?”

“We’ve got some neutral territories a few clicks that way.” Sephy pointed in the distance, which lacked the signs of battle that had dominated this part of the city. “It’s gonna be a long trip on foot, but it should be safe.”

“We had better get moving then.” Alora sighed and started walking. Despite the signs of battle, the streets were deserted at this time of night, with the time still being super early in the morning.

So, Chiyo began after several minutes of grudging silence. We haven’t really talked about who attacked us tonight.

"They painted the burning skull in the warehouse," Jack reasoned. "That's definitely the Cult of the Destroyer, right?"

Yes, and they would have every reason to seek revenge, Chiyo agreed. But the resources and tactics we saw tonight don't match what we faced at the Pallid Pit.

"Another cell, perhaps?" Nika asked. “Or Malakiel?”

"Do you think it's a false-flag, Chiyo?" Jack asked.

"I was thinking about that," Sephy added, unsurely. "Nika, can I get a second opinion on something?"

"Sure…" the Kizun agreed in surprise as Sephy caught up to her and showed her something on her commlink. "Ah shit. That's the sniper? Yeah I think that might be her."

"What is it?" Alora asked.

"Nika and I faced a weird cultist when we split up," Sephy told her. "Called herself the Trickster, and she was an undead of some kind, though we don't know what kind. We had no way of knowing if she had a phylactery or not when we killed her, but it looks like she might have."

"If you killed her at the Pit then that explains why she was prioritising you," Jack pointed out.

I'm more worried about who we spoke to in the first place. Chiyo shuddered. It couldn't have been the old man, he was long dead when we arrived.

"I'm sorry guys." Sephy sighed in shame. "It's my fault we took this job…"

"No, Sephy," Alora interrupted. "Whoever or whatever that was fooled all of us. None of us detected anything bad about the guy when we got there, and that terrifies me."

"That raises the question, Nika pointed out. "Do we go back and poke around?"

“Are you insane?” Alora rounded on the Kizun.

“Look, I know it’s a risk…” Nika began. “But we can get some answers...”

“...And get the guy that sent us here,” Jack added. “Unless it’s a trap. I think it might be too much of a risk, especially when it’s so out of the way.”

“Actually, if we decide we wanna keep going through these residentials and the districts beyond, it’s pretty much on the way back,” Sephy pointed out. “I think we should go for it, though at the pace we’re going we’re going to get back home about half an hour before we need to go to school!”

I believe Nika’s proposal has merit, Chiyo pointed out. Provided we are careful and prepare for anything. If we are able to look around we can either eliminate the one that sent us into an ambush, or find out who they were.

“I agree with Jack, I don’t like it,” Alora retorted, but then sighed. “But if the opportunity presents itself, we can at least take a look.”

“Alright, the majority have spoken.” Jack nodded his head. “I don’t know what we’ll find, but I do know I trust your judgement even if I disagree.”

“We’re not chumps, we’ll be careful.” Sephy patted him on the shoulder. “But doing nothing and potentially letting an unknown enemy target us again like that is an even bigger risk. We’ve gotta find out more.”

“Speaking of risks, stay alert,” Nika told them. “I know we’re all tired, but we can’t afford to drop our guard, especially with corporate forces moving around.”

We should ideally keep an eye on the newsfeeds for where the engagements are happening, Chiyo added. The last thing we want is to be caught in an active combat zone!

“I’ll do what I can with the local networks,” Sephy nervously told them all. “But current and accurate information will be hard to get, especially if they get taken down.”

“We’d better pick up the pace and get the hell out of here then.” Jack sighed. “Is there a safe-zone we can aim for to take a break and get our bearings?”

“I think one of the trade lanes is near the residential areas,” Alora pointed out. “There might be a caravan stop we can get to and buy some hot food and stimdrinks while we plan our next leg of the journey back?”

“Sounds good.” The deathworlder nodded. “Let’s go.”

*****

It was about three hours later, after sticking to the shadows and navigating their way through dark alleyways, that the team found themselves pausing outside of a dilapidated building that stood tall amidst the bleak cityscape. Ducking in to protect themselves from the heavy rain that was now falling, the group checked the map to see how far they were from the trade lane.

About 12 more blocks, Chiyo calculated.

“At least we’re almost there, hopefully there’s gonna be a sign or something that points us to a service station.” Jack sighed. “What’s the plan from there? Can we even get home in time?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Nika mused. “Maybe we can sneak a ride on one of the trucks? I’m pretty sure the trade lane ends up curving north, but if we get off at the right place then it won’t be too far away. It’s a risk, but I’d much rather save us a trip on foot if possible.”

“But there’s no guarantee a truck would even stop there?” Jack pointed out, but trailed off as he saw Sephy’s grin.

“There isn’t, is there?” the Skritta mischievously asked him. “Now, if only we had a cyber-whizz capable of amending manifests and delivery locations…”

“You can do that?” Jack asked.

“Yes, she can!” Alora perked up. “That’s a good idea!”

As long as it isn’t another freezer! Chiyo pointed out as they all got up, finished their drinks and kept moving. Remember that Run we went on against Tundra Groceries where we had to hide half the night for all the workers to lock up and go home?

“And we thought the best place to do that would be the walk-in freezer.” Nika snorted with amusement. “While it’s true it was the only hiding place big enough for us to stay hidden, it wasn’t exactly the most comfortable!”

“We got some nice food though!” Sephy grinned as they turned onto a dimly-lit street. “Kept us fed for months, though it wasn’t the healthiest!”

No complaints from me! Those sweets were… Chiyo smiled, before her expression turned more serious as she stopped moving.

“What’s wrong Chiyo?” Jack asked, as everyone turned to look at her, Dante letting out a soft whine.

I detect several auras up ahead with hostile intent!

“Ah crap…” Sephy whispered to the others as she quickly sliced into the local matrix network. “Got a patrol of Myrodin Corp troops heading this way!”

“How bad is it?” Alora asked.

“Small squad.” Sephy shrugged. “Probably a recon team, this isn’t Myrodin territory.”

“Let’s avoid them if we can.” Nika nodded. “There’s a CorvMart we passed a few blocks back, they’re probably heading there to claim they encountered Corvins to justify hazard pay to their bosses. They shouldn’t have a reason to bother us.”

They all cut through another alleyway, with Chiyo doing her best to keep note of the patrol’s position.

They have at least one mage that can perceive astrally, the Ilithii determined as they all took cover against the cold brick walls. They may have spotted our signature.

“If they spot us we can’t let them call for backup,” Nika told them. “We’ll need to take them down as quick as we can.”

“No.” Alora shook her head. “We should try diplomacy first, they’re not here for us.”

“HEY!” they heard a voice snarl out in the background. “We’ve got a potential hostile force moving through this area!”

“Well shit, now they know we’re here!” Jack groaned as he pointed at a distant flying object that moved towards them, before hovering at a safe distance in the air. “And that’s some kind of magical drone!”

“Don’t panic, let’s see if I can talk us out of this one,” Alora calmingly told them as she stepped out of the alley with her hands raised to show she meant no harm...

I’ll pull you back if anything goes wrong, Chiyo told the Eladrie. No pressure.

“I’ll back her up,” Jack whispered as he moved to the entryway of the alley and maintained cover, ready to lash out and fire if anything hit the fan.

The Myrodin troopers consisted of about eight armed troopers with magically enhanced cybernetics, with at least three mages in robes ready to cast spells. The leader was a stern, but otherwise unimposing avian who pointed her gun at Alora, a motion that was quickly mimicked by her team.

“Halt! Stand down and identify yourselves! What is your business in this sector?” the leader snarled.

“We're just passing through, Lieutenant. We don't need to have a problem here,” Alora calmly told them. “We'll be out of your way in no time.”

“What are you people doing here?” the lieutenant snapped. “Where are the others?”

“We’re not coming out!” Nika shouted from where she was behind Jack in the alley. “We’re just passing through, we’ve got nothing to do with your war. You can kick Corvin Enterprises asses as much as you like for all we care, we have nothing to do with them!”

“Passing through? What a load of crap! Who do you work for?” the lieutenant snarled again. “An armed group operating alone at this time of night? State your purpose or face the consequences. This sector is under Myrodin jurisdiction!”

“This district is nowhere near Myrodin territory, and there’s no way your Corp has claimed praxis here!” Alora argued. “You have your mission against Corvin Enterprises, and we’re not involved. I propose we simply let each other pass!”

“Just let each other pass?!” the lieutenant hissed. “Absolutely not! I can’t let you pass unless you’re with us or have the proper clearance!”

“Please, we just want to get home!” Alora pleaded. “We’re just freelance contractors coming back from a job in Scraphaven and your current war cut off our escape route! If you let us pass peacefully we won’t interfere with your operations!”

“Your words mean nothing!” the lieutenant snarled, turning to her soldiers.

“Ma’am,” one of the mages called to who was presumably her boss. “I think we can let them go. Our directive is just recon, we can just call it in…”

“I’m in charge here!” the leader screamed at the mage. “They’re Corvin mercenaries, kill them all!”

Pulling you back Alora! Chiyo warned the Eladrie as a few of the quicker MegaCorp soldiers opened fire, while Jack snapped around the corner and put an accurate burst right into the officer, blasting her down to the ground in a crumpling heap, which caused the Myrodin troops to panic.

“Holy shit! Put them down!” one of the mages cried out as both groups opened fire, with the three Myrodin mages quickly summoning an arcane barrier and some physical cover for their troops as they all dove for cover, with Jack blasting whoever he could with plasma gunfire. He figured that if these Corpo troops could summon a barrier, there would be a limit to the amount of punishment it could take.

And he could dish out a lot of punishment…

“Overcharge!” Jack growled, quickly bringing up his pistol for a heavy shot while the Myrodin troops were still reeling from their officer being downed so quickly and efficiently, as Sephy let loose some ricocheting blasts that bounced off the opposite wall of the alley to arc around and smack into the barrier. His heavy shot missed his target, who was able to dive for cover, but still blasted a massive hole in the ground, causing several of the Myrodin troops to falter, clearly not expecting to be facing formidable opponents...

“Etherias!” Alora cried out as she finished her spell, summoning a translucent spear that emerged out of thin air, before it floated through the air towards the Myrodin soldiers.

“They’ve got a spiritual weapon!” one of the troops reported, shooting at the spear before Jack got low and peeked out of cover again, laying suppressing fire on the speaker, who quickly ducked behind their physical cover as their astral barrier began to falter.

“Jack, don’t move for a sec…” Sephy grinned as she let loose a volley of ricocheting plasma shots at the opposite wall which jumped around and slammed into one of the unfortunate troops, downing them as the hail of rounds penetrated the barrier and caught them just as they peeked out of cover. “Heh, gottem!”

“Guys, get ready to pull back!” Alora told them as she manipulated her spectral spear to lunge out and impale one of the mages trying to give orders to the rest that were panic firing towards Jack.

Nika quickly scaled a nearby fire escape before peeking around the corner and chucking a grenade. “Shouldn’t have fucked with us, Corposcum!”

The grenade went off, completely shattering the rest of the barrier and sending one of the soldiers smacking into a wall. Another had clearly been shaken by the impact, while one of the mages was roaring in pain, clutching their face.

“Fall back! Idiot Lieutenant's dead and I’m not paid enough for this shit!” another one of the mages snarled to the rest, who seemed all too happy to agree. “I’ll make something up! Fuck this!”

That did it, causing the remaining Myrodin soldiers to panic and start to run. Nika quickly sent some rounds after them, but didn’t score any hits, seeming content to allow the corporate forces to scuttle away.

“Well that wasn’t so hard, I was expecting Myrodin forces to be far more dangerous but-” Sephy began to say…

“Command! We’ve encountered Corvin Mercenaries and need backup! High Threat Response Team requested!” they heard the same mage scream into their comms as they backed off around a corner…

“That doesn’t sound good,” Jack pointed out. “We’ve gotta go!”

“Chiyo, drag the bodies over to us first!” Alora told the Ilithii. “Grab the guns, grenades and anything else we might need.”

“I’ll slice into their commlinks, I can listen into their network and sell the access points,” Sephy added as Chiyo pulled the bodies over, two of which were groaning in pain.

“Don’t finish them unless they try anything, they’re not enemies,” Alora told them, and all of them nodded in agreement.

“Well, if Jack didn’t outright take down the leader my grenade sure did!” Nika grinned as both she and Jack quickly took the guns and started rummaging through the pockets of the downed Corpo troops. “I think this other dead one was you Alora…”

If they had not attacked us, then they would have been fine. Chiyo shrugged as she placed some items into a bag. The leader was a fool, but these others were fools for following them! This was probably just a team of Myrodin’s untested trainees.

“Shall I leave the comms of the live ones active? Let their friends recover them?” Sephy asked, looking to the others.

“Best that you do.” Alora nodded. “They’ll keep the others distracted while we make our escape.”

“We ready?” Jack asked. “We should move now!”

*****

The group sprinted through the maze-like city streets, hearts pounding in their chests as the sounds of ships flying overhead grew louder.

“There!” Jack called to the others. “We can lose them in that alleyway!”

The group dove into the narrow alleyway, their footsteps splashing on the damp pavement as they quickly hid themselves from the road they had come down as a ship floated along with a spotlight, before continuing on past them.

I believe we have lost them, Chiyo spoke up after several minutes.

“Never expected Myrodin to be that bothered about chasing us!” Nika sighed, controlling her breathing to slow down and calm.

“That’s the thing.” Sephy snorted with amusement. “Apparently the Myrodin troops exaggerated who we were, probably to save face or something. I assume they’ve got a priority list for Corvin targets to aim for, since they’re getting chewed out over it.”

“I’m guessing that means they’re pulling away?” Alora asked.

“Yup!” Sephy grinned. “One final sweep then they’re all rushing over to something big!”

“Oh great…” Jack quipped. “So tonight has the potential to be even worse!”

Don’t jinx it Jack! Chiyo poked him as they sidled further down the alley, navigating past debris and dumpsters, their movements careful and quiet.

“How far are we from the highway?” Alora asked.

“Dunno.” Nika shook her head. “We know the general direction to head to but the local network is down while Myrodin looks for us.”

“I could climb up and take a look?” Jack suggested, pointing to a nearby fire escape that climbed all the way to the roof of one of the buildings.

“Sure,” Alora agreed. “But be careful. Any ship comes your way, you head back down.”

“Got it,” Jack acknowledged as he scrambled up, being careful not to make too much noise as he quickly made his way to the top, before peeking out over the roof at the sprawling cityscape all around them.

It really was a mess now that he was closer to the action. He could see the dust rising from several recently demolished buildings, and several flashes of light coming from a district in the distance, with two distinct forces of troops engaging one another.

As Jack looked out at the devastation, he wondered to himself how such a sprawling city could so easily succumb to such madness. He had often been a fan of sci-fi stories when he was younger, and had many hopes and dreams for what the future could look like. All of them had been positive, something to aspire to…

But never a future where life was so cheap…

“Jack, do you see anything?” Nika called, and he quickly swivelled his head to see what they were looking for. Beneath a neon sign in the distance, the buildings that dominated the local space gave way to a wide, crudely-lit road, where Jack could see several land-based vehicles travel in either direction.

“I see it, we’re heading in the right direction,” Jack replied, no longer allowing himself to be distracted. “There’s a purple neon billboard in the distance, the road should be right beneath it.”

Are there signs of the road being used? Chiyo asked urgently. If the MegaCorps are fighting for control of it, that will slow us down…

“It’s alright for now, I still see some light traffic,” Jack confirmed.

“Alright Jack, come on down,” Alora ordered. “Sephy says that the local Myrodin troops are moving out to try and reinforce their allies against a major Corvin Enterprises force.”

“Yeah, there’s definitely a hostile takeover attempt happening!” the Skritta added as Jack quickly descended the fire escape. “On the plus side, it means that the assholes are gonna be occupied for now.”

“That’s good for now at least.” Jack sighed as he made his way down to where Nika was leading them all out of the other side of the alley. “Just a few more blocks to the highway, but I didn’t see anything that could be a service station or something.”

“We’ve just got to take our milestones one step at a time,” Nika told him sympathetically as she patted him on the back. “We’ve never had a job go this bad before, but once we get to the highway that’ll give us an easier time walking along it and hopefully bypassing whatever the MegaCorps are up to.”

How long do we have? Chiyo asked.

“About 6-7 hours until school,” Sephy confirmed. “Hopefully we can cut some time off our trip though, but we’re pretty exhausted!”

“Come on guys!” Alora tried to cheer them up. “We can still do this, and when we get to a truck stop we can rest our legs!”

“She’s right.” Nika sighed. “Let’s hustle!”