Galactic High

As late afternoon descended upon the city, and the flow of people hurried about to finish their tasks for the day before night fell, the sight of Vireo Heights came into view, a unique fusion of old-industrial charm and neon architecture. Several of the quaint homes reminded Jack of the earliest 20th century on Earth, with spotless picket fences and small, verdant gardens lining the main road, though he knew it was likely just for show as they were dwarfed by larger apartment buildings. Chrome and glass surfaces reflected the bright, coloured lights of various neon signs and holographic billboards, giving the district an almost dazzling glow.

The entrance to the district was lightly guarded by a few professional-looking militiamen and women dressed in nondescript, low-key uniforms who took no notice of them. The focus of the neighbourhood security appeared to be enforcement robots, who looked poised to strike with a single command from any of the militia. Looking around, Jack could see several small automatons on wheels quickly zipping between the strides of passersby with a quiet, high-pitched whine, maintaining the cleanliness and functionality of the area like roombas on crack, mulching rubbish and promptly speeding over to various collection and charging points when they were full.

Who owns this district? Chiyo asked as the group calmly and casually walked slowly down the main road, taking in the sights of the well-maintained little town.

“Officially it's independent,” Sephy muttered back as they spotted the local park and saw a bench they could all sit at. “Though they have several favourable contracts with Veridian Dynamics, probably due to a small minority of employees that live here. I checked on the way here that it’s led by a local Sheriff, who’s retired from the corp as well, he also brought some people with him who maintain the local robots, advise him and overall strengthen the area.”

“The silent hand of corporate power,” Nika muttered.

“That may be, but this place likely has the positive reputation it has for a reason,” Alora added. “This cluster of districts is all under one authority, we just need to find the Twingi Building.”

“Working on it, accessing the local DataNet now,” Sephy told them. “I suspect Tagrilla and his associates were able to piece together the location through the ShadowNet by following the access points the scammers used. Clever. I can see why the target picked this area, there’s a massive Digital Canopy over us so we’re going to have to make sure we’re under cover when we raid the building.

“Digital Canopy?” Jack asked, not really understanding much of Sephy’s technobabble, but figured he might as well try to learn something.

“Basically a layer of microdrones above us,” Nika answered before the Skritta had a chance. “It’s a digital mesh that can also project holograms, lighting up the sky when it’s night, or more usually being sold for corporate adverts. But most relevant to us is that it’s a bunch of security cameras right above us that filters the local datanet.”

“If it filters it, how is our scammer pulling this kind of stuff off?” Jack asked, curiously. “Are the locals just not bothered then?”

That’s a very good question, Chiyo noted, before Sephy quickly took over with her area of expertise.

“Even if there wasn’t any interest from local authorities in stopping the slicers from doing their thing, which I doubt in this case as Vireo Heights seems to pride itself on its reputation, it would be easier for other slicers to locate them, since junk code from the filter would naturally appear in the slicers own,” the Skritta reasoned. “But it hasn’t in this case, instead it gives the slicer protection from external Net attack.”

Logically, that would mean that they have an alternative access to the DataNet, Chiyo concluded. Perhaps a cable under the ground or they overlap another network?

“Perhaps it will be more apparent when we get the location?” Alora gently prompted the Skritta.

“Yeah, yeah.” Sephy rolled her eyes at the nagging. “I can multitask, you know? It’s two districts over, same jurisdiction but not the nicest according to local chatter.”

“Oh great, another shithole,” Nika deadpanned. “Maybe next time we can find a job somewhere nicer, like Indigo Beach or the Kalthis Slopes?”

“We’ll keep an eye out.” Alora chuckled. “Come on, we’ve got to case the area.”

*****

The target building was a two-story structure right next to the imposing district wall, modest in comparison to the quaint residences they had passed on the way. The dark, quiet alleyway tucked away out of notice led to an area that was very much not like the rest of the otherwise decent-looking district. It reminded Jack of the small, unnoticed, dirty space behind the fridge or dishwasher in an otherwise pristine-looking kitchen, with this area being rife with loud noises from the arguing residents of the dumpy-looking flats and barely any sign of life outside.

Despite the size of the target building, it still had hints of its covert significance, with no visible signage and only a few tinted windows adorning the upper floor of what Jack suspected was an office building of some kind, though clearly built for practicality and discretion rather than the aesthetic appeal he had come to expect from the rest of the district.

At the front of the building was a large reinforced door illuminated by a bright light, as well as a chunky-looking security camera. It was the obvious entry point, but also the most heavily guarded and likely to immediately trigger an alarm.

“We’re going to have to at least cover that, otherwise it’s an easy escape route for them,” Nika noted. “Unless you can disable the camera and the alarm, so we can get in undetected, Sephy?”

“Maybe, but even if I do that activity will raise suspicion if they’re actively monitoring their system,” Sephy noted as she piloted her drone around. “If we go loud I think Jack should be able to get the door open, but I have no way of telling what they have on the other side.”

“See if you can find us another access point,” Alora told the Skritta, who nodded.

“Could we get something through those vents over there?” Jack asked, pointing to a small dark dot he could see on the side of the building while giving Dante a rub behind the ears with his other hand.

Well spotted! Chiyo noted as Sephy zoomed in. It looks too small for someone to traverse through, but could you get a drone through there, Sephy?

“That’s risky, but possible.” The Skritta nodded. “But if I send it in there and they have sensors or even just good hearing, it’s gonna alert them that we’re here.”

“Best to maintain the element of surprise and stay quiet until the last possible moment,” Jack suggested. “But the moment they know we’re here, go loud and cause them to panic before they can think. One of my teachers from back home used to be a policewoman, and she said that a powerful voice yelling at criminals can startle and disorient them, making it easier to take them down. And I would know - she yelled at me in music class often enough!”

Your police are like a militia right? How does one change careers to become a music teacher? Chiyo asked curiously.

“Heh, I’ll have to tell you about the police from Earth when we get back,” Jack began with a grin. “But Mrs Harris retired from the police and retrained to be a teacher because I guess she wanted to leave a legacy. My mum played the flute in the same orchestra as her so it made class awkward when I showed up. I think Mrs Harris played the trombone for a few decades and she could sing, but I never really had much of a talent for music, even though I got a few grades playing the trumpet, so that’s why she gave me a bit of a rough time, but I still respected her. She was harsh but had some wild stories of her copper days!”

“Give it a go if you want.” Nika shrugged. “We normally just make it clear that they need to drop their weapons and surrender, and if they don’t, we shoot them.”

This slicer is wanted dead, correct? Chiyo asked, and the Kizun nodded. Do we just blast him if we see him?

“Ideally, if they give us the excuse, yes.” Nika shrugged, ignoring Alora’s look of disapproval. “But keep them identifiable. The others they work with might be worth something too, but I would gather them up alive first before we make the call.”

“Even if they’re worth dead, some organisations may pay us more if they can be allowed to render judgement, even if it’s death,” Alora noted.

“That might be a bit of a longshot, Alora,” Sephy warned. “Don’t forget, we need to be in and out before the local militia show up, and that this guy is wanted dead for a reason.”

“Our enemies wanted Jack dead for a reason too….” Alora replied with a sigh, before relenting with a shrug. “But I know what this guy has done, and I know it’s probably necessary. If they surrender and cooperate, I’m presenting that as an option. An execution of a defenceless, surrendering enemy is far different than killing someone in self-defence, after all.”

“I know.” Sephy patted the Eladrie on the shoulder. “But we’ve seen the list of things this guy’s done. Targeting the elderly and other vulnerable like he has means consequences.”

“I think with the lack of a justice system like we would have on Earth, all we can do is try to use our own best judgement,” Jack stated, remembering when he had executed Kralk on their way back from the Oracle Run. “Let’s worry about that when we actually hit the place. Do we have another entry point?”

“Let’s have a look.” Sephy nodded, bringing the drone up high and getting a good angle on the back of the building. “I don’t think the walls themselves are that strong, but we’ve got a few windows and a back door that looks less guarded.”

“What about the roof?” Jack pointed out. “Maybe we can get in through there if we can somehow land on it from the wall.”

“Not a bad idea, save one main snag,” Nika pointed out. “Getting onto the district wall would alert the militia who control the access points, and even if we were to climb it, we would likely be spotted by the locals. If we have an unguarded way up it might be a good way out if things get hairy with the locals.”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.” Alora sighed. “If there aren’t any ladders then the back door is probably the best point of entry.”

We’ll still need to cover the front, Chiyo pointed out. I wouldn’t recommend a loud breach though.

“If opening the door is a risk…” Jack thought aloud. “Then instead of breaching, could we lock it closed somehow?”

“Hmm, maybe.” The Skritta pondered the idea. “Tagrilla said that he and his fellow slicers who hate this guy would be more than willing to run some interference to keep the one we’re hunting occupied. If I’m careful, I may be able to jam it locked and stop anyone from getting out without the manual lever, though they won’t be in a rush if they don’t know there’s a reason to get out quick.”

“What about magical security? Robotic guards?” Nika asked.

I detect just a few overlaying stealth and anti-scrying wards, Chiyo told them. Makes sense, too much would ironically have the opposite intended effect.

“Power draw is above average but isn’t too high,” Sephy told them. “So that means it’s unlikely they have any active, but that doesn’t mean they can’t switch them on if they feel there’s a problem.”

“Boot up sequence will still take some time, if we go loud and we’re quick we can take them out before they become a danger.” Nika shrugged.

“How do we take people alive?” Jack asked. “Do we have handcuffs or zipties or something?”

“Uh, do you mean something like manacles?” Alora asked. “No we don’t, just knock them unconscious if you can, or use a stimpatch. There’s no time to tie anyone up.”

“Great,” Jack deadpanned, before he considered something, taking out one of his knives, checking the shape and deeming it acceptable before he began tying it onto the barrel of his plasma rifle with a few shoddy constrictor knots he’d sort-of learned with the Scouts. He had by now gained much experience in the art of a close-quarter battle, and though his axe had been of excellent use to him, he knew that not having enough room to swing would work against him. The others looked curiously at his improvised bayonet, but didn’t comment.

“Alright, if nobody else has any last-minute questions, it looks like we have a plan.” Nika nodded. “Jack and I will take point going in. We need to be quick, quiet and methodical, but if we have to go loud, take them all out as quickly as you can.”

“Calling Tagrilla now, let’s find a hiding spot to wait,” Sephy whispered, as they all felt the anticipation start to weigh on them.

“Agreed.” Alora nodded, seeing more than a few disapproving glances being sent their way, with the locals being spooked by their loitering.

*****

“NO MADAM, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT!” They heard the voice yell on the other end. They had wondered what kind of ‘interference’ their slicer client had in mind, and they certainly didn’t disappoint as one of Tagrilla’s hacker associates, a female, was successfully posing as a vulnerable old woman, not only confirming that they were in the building, but that they were fully distracted. Apparently several other associates were also contacting them posing as potential victims, holding up several of their associates in the building, pulling off the same scam. "NO YOU FUCKING BLOODY BITCH! FUCK TO YOU!"

“Well, if there’s a time to move, the time is now,” Nika told them. “Once Sephy confirms the main door is locked, stack up behind me and Jack, and we’ll wait until Sephy picks the lock before we advance. We’ll be on subvocal comms, but try to stick to silent hand signals if you can once we’re inside. You can never be too sure with code slicers.”

Sephy made a snort of amusement at that, as the rest of them nodded. Jack sighed in anticipation, trying to keep himself calm and focused as they quietly power walked towards their entry point, coming out of the dark alley they had been positioned at, and stuck to the shadows of the district wall as they approached.

As they got close to the back of the building, Alora cast a quick, quiet spell that dimmed the main light outside, getting behind Jack as they all made sure to remain outside the view of the one battered-looking camera outside, making it past its field of view before stacking up on the door, ready to move. Sephy leaned against the wall, deep slicing into the local network and quickly tracking the controls for the gate, noting a much more simplistic network for the building than she expected. Realising that the enemy slicers were likely working off a closed-shell system, Sephy easily placed a digital marker on the door and forced it under her control. Having quickly checked before and seeing no immediate network reaction, she easily slipped back out into realspace, and confirmed to the others that the main door had been remotely taken care of. She began to quietly move towards the back door to bypass it, though immediately stopped as the door suddenly swung open.

With a deep sigh of someone under a lot of stress, a man in loose, baggy clothing staggered out, lighting some kind of cigar or drug. With grey, rocky skin and a bulbous elongated head, they stopped abruptly with comically-large bulging purple eyes, before something invisible appeared to smack them in the head, preventing them from calling out. Following through with her quick reaction, Chiyo telekinetically grabbed them, sending them flying to smack hard into the district wall, before they crumpled to the ground, smoking stick still smouldering beside them.

Nika had quickly spun around, shotgun up to look inside for any others, but saw nobody, Jack backing her up a split second later. They all waited in silence for several seconds, but heard nothing else. They were still in the clear for now.

“Good job,” Nika whispered to the Ilithii with a thumbs up, before motioning forwards with her hand.

The Kizun then entered the building, quickly covering the immediate room on her left with the door already open, with Alora assisting as they scanned for possible threats, before checking the small utility room and confirming no hostile presence. Jack moved past them with Sephy, carefully covering the main corridor ahead, ready to unload as he ‘sliced the pie’, scanning for threats at incremental angles while Chiyo and Dante stayed back, ready to support. They could hear the loud noises coming from the scammers, who seemed to be above them, and they were glad to have the noise to cover their activities.

As Nika moved up to join them, she motioned for Jack to hold position and cover the main corridor to the right with Alora, while the rest of them worked on the rooms on the left. Judging from where the back door was located there were fewer rooms to the left of them, so it made sense to clear those first.

Sephy took the first room on the right with Dante, while Chiyo and Nika kept their focus towards the other uncleared rooms. Pressing her ear to the closed door and hearing nothing, she tightly gripped the doorknob before slowly turning, releasing the door off the catch and gently pushing. The lights were off, and she quickly confirmed that what looked like a manager’s office was clear.

Moving up, there were two more doors at the end of the corridor. Taking the left, Nika quickly realised that it was a communal bathroom, with Chiyo confirming the same on the right. No hostiles so far.

Having cleared their left, they pulled back to Alora and Jack, Nika nodded to the both of them as they pushed forward down the corridor towards the right-hand side of the building, hearing muffled voices from a larger room on the left. Chiyo moved up and concentrated for a moment, before holding up three fingers, indicating that many life signs in the room. Alora held up a hand to get their attention, and indicated that she had something for it, but Jack raised a hand to stop them, indicating the two rooms on their immediate right with a questioning shrug.

Nika nodded, motioning for Chiyo to stay with Alora, Sephy to cover the corridor ahead with Dante, then pointing to Jack to check the first door while she took the second. Quietly breathing deeply, Jack put his ear to the door. He could hear something, and motioned as much to Chiyo, who concentrated for a moment to indicate one person, while pointing to Nika’s door to indicate zero, which was quickly confirmed by the Kizun opening the door to a janitor storage room.

Jack thought for a moment, then in a daring moment, rapped on the door twice with two of his fingers, softly enough to not be overheard by whoever was in the other room, but enough to alert the occupant. Jack heard a muffled voice call out something indistinct, but heard no movement. He waited a few seconds, and rapped again in the same way, and once more ignored whatever was said back to him. Waiting once more for a few seconds and knocking again had the desired effect, as he heard the sounds of slow movement approaching. As the door opened with a tired-sounding “what the fu-”, he pounced, quickly tackling the small alien to the ground and covering their mouth so they couldn’t call out, and catching them in a rear-naked choke. The furry-looking alien’s four eyes gazed out in panic before the wild flailing stopped and they lay still, unconscious. While he was conflicted on what to do next, Nika quickly moved over and stuck a patch of something onto the creature’s forehead, which initially reminded Jack of a plaster or band-aid, before he realised that it was the stimpatch that would keep them sleeping. Oh yeah, he had some of those…

He gave Nika an apologetic look, who just shrugged and gave him a thumbs up, before indicating that he should cover the corridor ahead with Sephy, while Dante stayed at the door with the three unknown lifesigns. He’d temporarily forgotten, but it worked out fine. Either that or Nika hadn’t realised he'd forgotten.

Chiyo and Nika stacked up on either side of the door, ready to act, while Alora began casting. Dante was at her feet, tensing up, before Alora nodded at Chiyo to open the door, revealing some kind of break room. The Ilithii did so quickly and silently, barely attracting the attention of the three people chatting within before Alora pointed her wand and whispered ‘Slaivin!’.

A shimmering bolt of grey dust shot out, silently detonating in the middle of the three as Nika and Dante quickly started moving. One of the three smacked their head on their table as the sleep spell took full hold, while the other two swayed with sudden exhaustion. The one facing them made a move to shout out, before Dante blinked right up to them and clamped their jaws around their arm, unleashing a fierce jolt of electricity that sent them crashing to the floor as if they were hit with a taser. As the last woman spun around in surprise, Nika quickly vaulted the table, sprinted along it and dropped the woman with a powerful flying kick.

Jack and Sephy were tense as they heard the sounds of stifled combat behind them, but they kept their guns raised and ready to engage. When the brief sounds of struggling stopped, everyone was silent, keeping their ears open for any kind of reaction nearby, but getting no response. The voices from upstairs became slightly more animated, but there were no sounds of movement, so they assumed that it was still part of the scam and that they didn’t need to go loud.

Pushing up, they got to the last corridor going across, before it continued to two rooms either side at the end of the building. Peering around the corners, they confirmed the stairs to the next floor were on the right, while on the left there was a foyer area with a set of thick, reinforced doors that they recognised as the front entrance.

While the others covered the stairs, Jack, Sephy and Chiyo moved up to check the rooms, with the Ilithii confirming one lifesign to their left. The door was slightly ajar, so Jack carefully went in, spotting the clueless guard sitting at their security console watching something on a screen. They were taken completely by surprise as Jack grabbed them in another chokehold, before Sephy quickly put them to sleep by slapping another stimpatch on them, then quickly checking the security console for anything useful, though only finding a few pictures of the outside, with the rest either being dead, or reconfigured for them to watch TV.

Moving over to Chiyo, who confirmed no lifesigns, they quietly opened the door only to find a strange sight. A long, thick cable snaking down from a hole in the ceiling, and falling beneath a wide hole in the floor with a ladder.

We have a ladder going down into a tunnel network, possibly even the Gloom Paths, Chiyo telepathically informed the others. I think this is how the scammers are able to run their operation if this cable extends to another district.

‘Best not to let anyone up.’ Jack thought with a shrug, as he quietly grabbed the top of the ladder, wiggling it slightly to confirm it wasn’t fastened, before carefully pulling it up. It was longer than he thought, so Sephy did her best to help him as he laid it on the ground, half poking into the corridor.

Okay…that hopefully solves it, Chiyo confirmed, before informing the others.

“NO MADAM! DO NOT REDEEM! NOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOO! NO BITCH NOOOOOOO! MA’AM ARE YOU BLOODY STUPID!?” They suddenly heard a voice bellow from upstairs, and Alora quickly motioned at them that they needed to hurry up. Jack and Nika took the lead as they swiftly made it up the stairs, checking their corners as they made it up the stairs. Confirming that the long, fat cable continued up, they quickly cleared the immediate rooms nearby which didn’t seem to be in active use, serving as some kind of storage room for electronics.

Two lifesigns on the left side, one on the right, Chiyo informed them. Got several up ahead, I think it’s the main room.

Sure enough, the long cable snaked along the corridor until it entered a smashed hole at the end of the room. Sephy quickly checked the room on the right while Jack and Dante kept watch up ahead, seeing several bunks, including one sleeping occupant, though how they were able to sleep through the mess even with the earplugs was a mystery to Sephy as she quietly slapped on a stimpatch to aid in their naptime.

Alora was ready with her wand as she, Chiyo and Nika got ready, opening the door to another bunkroom to deal with the two occupants, only to see that both were fully awake and alert, instantly spotting the infiltrators…

Alora quickly cast a quick stunbolt that smashed into the first one, before the other one, an insectoid, yelled out, “INTRUDERS! HELP!” a split second before Chiyo’s psychic blast sent them smacking into the far wall with a loud crash.

“Woah! What the fuck was that?” they heard a yell from the far room. “Hey assholes? What the fuck’s going on out there!?”

“We’re going loud, get ready,” Nika whispered to them as she pulled out a stun grenade and caught up to Jack, who had already moved to the far door, ready for a fight.

“GUYS! WE’VE GOT AN INTRUSION IN THE BUILDING!” another voice called out from inside the room, as the others caught up and stacked up on the door. Nika motioned for them to get ready to rush in as she activated the grenade, quickly opening the door a crack and chucking it in before slamming the door shut and holding it tight.

Barely three seconds later, there was an almighty roar and a blazing flash of light that flickered through the cracks in the door, before they all rushed in.

“GET ON THE GROUND! GET ON THE FUCKING GROUND NOW!” Jack yelled at the top of his lungs, menacingly running to the left and clobbering the closest guy he could see to emphasise the point. “ALLAHU AKBAAAAAR!”

Encouraged by Jack, the others soon began to yell threats of their own, with Dante aggressively barking loudly at the leader. The panicked scammers quickly complied after Nika and Sephy opened fire on the first idiot to try and run, and immediately fell to the ground in surrender.

“HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!” Jack yelled out, more than happy to accept his role as the object of terror for these scumbags. “INTERLOCK YOUR FINGERS OR WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU HAVE! NOW! OR WE’LL SHOOT YOU!”

“Sephy, check their systems,” Alora told the Skritta as she began magically tying down several more captives so they couldn’t move. “Make sure they haven’t set off an alarm!”

“All good!” the Skritta confirmed, manually inputting the command on one of the consoles to check. “One tried to get an emergency ping off their commlink, but I had my jamming field up.”

“Good thinking!” the Eladrie complimented as she covered the rest of the compliant scammers, while Jack and Nika quickly disarmed them of all devices and weapons, throwing them into a pile on the ground near the entrance.

I detect no further lifesigns, Chiyo confirmed. Magical protections were only on the outside of the building, not the inside.

“Good.” Alora nodded. “In that case, can you bring the rest of those bastards in here before they wake up? Jack, go with her, quicker the better.”

“On it,” Jack confirmed as he rushed after the Ilithii, confirming that his friends had their captives well handled.

“So.” Alora turned to the scammers with a look of cold fury. “What shall we do with you?”