As we get into the relative cover of the walkway, Doker asks how we're going to recognise the suspect. A valid point I tell him which is why I pulled his profile from the SLAnet . The perp is a 25 year old ex-op wanted for a triple murder of Corporates last year. He went missing after an internal order went out for his arrest. It looks like his net access wasn't revoked before the BPN to get him was placed so he saw it and split. Re-surfaced about a month ago working for FireTail who are believed to be working for Dark Night. His psyche profile lists him as a violent, unpredictable man with a history of paranoia and an inflated sense of self importance. I reckon he'll be at the bar himself. He can't be that bright sending round the goons to Farthing's flat knowing that two Ops would be there expecting trouble.
Doker takes the mug shot and examines it in the dim light. Although he wears it, his shoulder light got broke the very first time he wore it and he's never had it fixed. "How far to the bar then Champ"
"It's another level down and is somewhere on that walk...the map's not too specific." I reply motioning to a hole in the ground that represents the stairs to the next level.
They built this area from good quality stone and it's held up pretty well considering. The water is leaking in from a few windows but the years of erosion have created channels in the stone for the water to flow though and the whole thing looks like the inside of a giants body. Albeit the life blood of this place is a slow moving green sludge. Our walkway terminates by the stairs and I agree to go down first in case Doker scares anyone. Coming face to face with a Stormer is not likely to entice anyone to hang around.
"All clear" I shout.
Doker comes down the steps as quiet as I did and I wonder if he's had his armour modified for stealth. He's toying with the idea of using Rush as he's holding the vial in his left hand. "Where's the bar?" He says, putting the drug back in his belt pouch.
"Somewhere on this level. Can't be any more than a few hundred yards from this stairway..." I look into the corridor as it opens out in front of us into a huge open area walk. There are a few people walking about and we receive a look from each and everyone of them. He'll know we're coming so we best act fast. I grab the first person I come across and ask where Redline is. The usual look of dumb anonymity crosses his face and stays there until I put a ten Uni sheet into his hand.
"Over there" he points to an area of the walk that has a few tables outside and there's a few bars throwing out their various shades of neon comfort. "It's the one with the...Doorman outside" He was going to say Prop but as he obviously recognise who I am he plays safe.
"Thanks Howard" I say handing him back the wallet that I pulled from his jacket pocket. The Social Security Number is memorable enough in case he's pulled a fast one.
"Uh, no p.p.problem man...." He takes it back and flees into the darkness.
"Right Doker, this is the plan. You go straight at the bar and flush him out and then I'll cap him wh...if he gets past you" I'm playing it safe, this plan has worked a hundred times but only when Doker thinks that this -is- the plan.
"OK Champ." He leans in a little closer and I can see a worried(?) look in his eyes through his helmet. "Are we taking him alive? If we kill him now we might never find the others." Doker is a genius. He is also on the brink of a serious violent outbreak.
"Exactly." I motion him on and slip into a recess and watch the action. I don't expect much difference to how it normally works. Most people assume that he's working on his own and throw out a decoy for him to chase and then split when he's concentrating on that one. He walks up to the bar and the 'Doorman' shouts something to the group inside which Doker doesn't miss either. There's a brief exchange of words on the door and when Doker enters after pushing his shotgun into the 'Doorman's' balls the window comes through and a scrawny youth in a fluff jacket comes tumbling through and legs it with Doker in hot pursuit. He doesn't get too far before he's caught though. People never realise how fast Stormers are. Doker slaps him about a bit and the real perp slinks out of a side door that I was watching. I zoom in on the range finder and confirm his ID.
I flick the headset back on and carry on with 'the plan' "Keep him talking Doker I'm going into the bar for accomplices"
Dokers fallen hook line and sinker "No problem. He's reckoning that it's not him though.....do you want me to Interview him?"
"No" I remember his 'interview technique' "Just...make sure he's not going anywhere." I wonder if that sets him up for a kicking but I don't have time for sympathy as our man is getting away.
He takes a few back streets and swaps levels a few times but I stay close. All those hours in the Pursuit Suite in Meny pay off and I keep him tagged all the way to a black garage door. He taps twice and it opens spilling light onto an otherwise dark street. There's no cloud of smoke that usually follows on the vid channels and I feel a little stupid for expecting it. There is however a lot of rain.
Time to bring Doker in I think. I patch the headset direct to his channel.
"Doker. Forget that Mook and get over my way quick. Looks like he might have been a decoy."
After a few seconds the reply comes back, "...Er, OK Champ. I'll chain him to the wall though, just in case"
I don't bother to tell him it's a waste of cuffs as he'll only feel upset that he's (in his eyes) not done anything. I let him know where I am and decide to get a little closer, maybe edge round it a little to see if there's a handy window to look in on. I'm just scoping a few places out when the door opens and a light van rumbles alongside the garage. A few figures come out and I can't see any kind of details due to the rain and the handy back lighting effect they've got going. I can see two figures on their knees though and I also see someone raise a pistol and shoot them both down. I barely have time to register what's happened when Doker, who's snuck up beside me, charges out onto the streets with his KPS Mangler levelled in the business pose. I follow him seconds later.
Everyone starts shouting all at once and I can hear Dokers shotgun thumping rounds out like they're unis. I hear a few screams and feel a sharp pain in my leg that drops me to the ground in a spiral. As I hit tarmac I see a fountain of red that I take to be my blood and a woman re-adjusting her aim. Instincts and training take over and I'm already squeezing the trigger when I match her face to the picture in the BPN. Too late to stop though and my HP round catches her right in the stomach. She pitches forward from the shock of the impact and drops the pistol into the road. I lie staring her in the face and she looks at me with an expression of complete surprise. Mouth open and silent, she falls to her knees still clutching her bloodied stomach, and falls flat on the ground not ten feet from where I am. Her blood washes over my hand as I watch the last breath she'll ever take evapourate into the air.
I come round from my own drama to realise that Doker has stopped firing. I'm not sure when he stopped but there's no-one else firing either. All I hear is the clunk of his boots and the hammering of the rain. A quick flick of my wrist and the Kick Start goes to work re-knitting my leg together and a few seconds later I'm well enough to stand up again.
Dokers voice booms across the deserted street "Champ, you OK?"
"Yeah, No problems." I say, crouching down to check the woman. No pulse. "What about..." I can't bring myself to say their names.
"KO'd but OK. Looks like Farthings been Hotlined and Wuppass's been shot in the face but he's not dead. Regeneration looks OK too. Clean."
I'm just happy they're not dead, besides, right now I'm wondering just who the hell this girl actually -is-.
"Lets get them out of here sharpish and we should head back to yours, no wait. I know a place." Leggo owes me a favour or two so he shouldn't mind.
But he does.