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Axia Chronicle 2: Contingency
Or: The First Time I Made a Difference
===
A note... "Arch" is pronounced "Ark."
And as for the setting... the story physically takes place in the near future from where VO is now. The events described occur around our time, and focus on the illegal and shadowy Valent/Axia conflict. See the VO wiki for more info.
Continued from
http://vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/7/19823
===
"Did you kill again?" asked Max after a long silence.
"Of course. And I'll tell you, it was easier after the first one. Why would anyone else deserve to live more than that scientist? No, they all began to blend together after that."
Another pause. But Max sat with a curious anxiety.
"Surely there was at least one more that stood out."
"Oh yes, there was. But if you're after the most interesting parts of my career, it'll have to wait."
"Of course. At your own pace!" agreed Max jovially, although his eyes betrayed a certain disappointment.
****
Assassinations were a normal part of routine after that. And like I said I could get through them. It was all getting... easy. But still fairly trivial business. Until the day I got a data chip promising an eight figure payoff. It was big. See it turns out that Valent's innovations weren't doing so hot as Axia's standard equipment. Standard equipment, such as AAPs. They were replacing normal positrons in almost every case. Became cheaper, too! But Valent started to figure out how to get in on that.
And by "figuring out" I mean they launched a covert assault on an Axia station and stole everything they would need to replicate the gun. But they did more than that. According to the brief, they had a new and unquestionably better variant in the works. Valent was gonna sell them cheap too. Which, naturally, could not stand.
Their downfall was just from being overexcited. They were planning an unveiling of the only working prototype in UIT space a week from when I got the brief, before even starting mass production. I was to be there. So, one week and a few fake IDs later, I was docking in Verasi E-14 with a suitcase in tow. Making myself out as a traveler, I rented a room for a week. Which, by the way, I never visited. I stopped in a bathroom, and changed into a Valent uniform. Ripped a piece of cloth off my other shirt, but left the suitcase in the stall.
The presentation was gonna start in two hours, so I made my way over to the showroom. It took two flashes of my new badge to get me on the floor. A Warthog was raised just above the ground, and a team of scientists swarmed around it, mounting the positron. A Sky Command Prometheus sat one hundred meters away on a spinning platform. Very showy. Valent had gone all out on the display. A Sky Command, for no other purpose than to get shot! It must've taken some real string pulling with the Reds. They do not easily give up their nation ships to non-Serco. To this day I've wondered if Valent promised them a supply of the new positrons. Just think what that would've done for the war! I'm sure the global maps would've ended up a bit differently, but damn man I stopped that.
I'm sorry, I'm rambling. Maybe Valent just bought it.
Anyway, I looked just like security, so I earned a few questioning looks when I approached the scientists at the 'hog. I stopped at the one nearest me.
"Someone said the Prom is too loose. Wanted one of you to check it out. Couldn't be bothered ta come here and tell you though, o'course. He needed ta send me. You scientists can't afford thirty seconds waste!" I said, shaking my head angrily. The man spared a look of distrust, but started over to the other ship. By now, all the other techs but one had moved inside the 'hog for a systems check. I approached the last guy outside and slapped a small pulsing battery to his back.
"This is a small Corvus sticky bomb. If you try to remove it, it will go off. It's also got a handy remote which happens to be in my pocket. So, if you please, walk to the corner by that door for a moment and wait for me."
I whispered this in his ear, holding a small gun at his side after he jumped around from feeling the slap. It was, of course, not a bomb, and didn't have any of the features I boasted about, but he didn't know any better and trouped off to the corner with wide eyes. Lucky, no one else saw him go. I holstered the gun as soon as he had turned, and started examining the positron. It was quite the piece of machinery, such that even I, as a layman, knew I was seeing something special. All the same, I knew by that point that a job was a job, so as soon as I located the exhaust port I stuffed the cloth deep inside.
Now you may find it hard to believe that such a powerful weapon-to-be could sport such a glaring weakness, but you must remember that this was merely a demonstration, the first working prototype, and was mounted in a way to fully show it off, without any of the standard casings.
Anyway, I met my scientist and grabbed him by the shoulder. Led him out of the showroom, flashing a few smiles to other security on the way, down a hallway towards the nearest wall terminal. I'm sure you've figured out by now that this man was not of strong will, and it only took a single point of my gun to get him, crying, to break into the file on the new positron. From there, he was done, so I slapped him unconscious with my pistol (I still at this point had a distaste for killing if I could help it), and began to delete every single file Valent had on their most prized achievement. I believe the tech was blamed for it, all this happening under his account of course, but as you'll see that was more as a scapegoat than because they actually believed he was the culprit. The process finished, with everything deleted except one reference file. Apparently the data chip originally stolen from Axia with the AAP plans was in a terminal, stories above, and could not be modified.
That really bothered me, I'll tell you. I had really begun to accept this as an easy mission with a high payoff. But it just wasn't to be. So I dragged the scientist into a closet, locked the door from the outside, and started searching for an elevator. But I was headed off by a group of other Valent security guards, on their way back to the showroom. The leader grabbed my shoulder as I tried to pass, and I still remember the look he shot me.
"Where are you going." He said, but in a tone that did not leave any hint of a question in his words. "We are supposed to be in the showroom managing the crowd."
For a moment, my mind ran over all the possibilities for bluffing. But my fake credentials weren't that good, and it just wasn't worth the risk. I apologized, and resolved to grab the datachip during all the confusion that would occur with the testing.
I'll skip over the part where I helped rich assholes find their seats. Even if that, unfortunately, is an all too memorable part of the mission. Anyway, an hour later the lights dimmed and a voice came in over the speakers.
"For years, the esteemed Axia Technology Corporation has served pilots with a weapon of marvelous abilities, far beating standard guns in every way. The Axia Accelerated Positrons were an amazing achievement in the field of energy weapons. However..." the voice trailed, and a spotlight each focused on the two ships.
"We at Valent have always had a hard time settling for simply 'amazing' when we can be vivifying!"
The Warthog's engine rumbled as it started up.
"And so, to the ladies and gentlemen in the audience, on behalf of Valent Robotics, may I present the most powerful small port add-on in existence. The Valent High Velocity Positron Blaster!"
A shot of bright energy erupted from the front of the Warthog with a boom. For the briefest of moments, the dark between the two ships was illuminated in an iridescent purple from the shot's light, and then it slammed directly into the side of the Sky Command, rocking it on its pedestal. Lights brightened to show a significant crater taken out of the thick armor. I was just as surprised as the now-muttering crowd. Such power!
"Featuring the best auto aim of a light weapon..."
The pedestal the Prometheus sat on began to move in an intricate pattern. The Warthog however remained completely still as it fired another shot which struck in the exact same place, chipping away feet of armor.
"And a rate of fire that will question the difference between a positron and a neutron blaster!"
The weapon boomed again and again, truly faster than I would have ever expected those purple blasts to move.
"Yes, the VVP is here, and we are now accepting pre-orders, to be filled within--"
The speakers cut out as the weapon tore apart in a purple explosion of plasma. I recoiled a bit and closed my eyes to the blast's intensity as screams erupted all around. The roaring ceased, although people were now scrabbling to escape the suddenly overcrowded room. I took a look at the carved-in Prometheus and smoldering Warthog as scientists streamed in to figure out what went wrong. It was easy to duck down and move with the crowd out of the room. I stepped away from the masses at the elevator, and without a second glance made it up towards the chip.
But when I got to the lab where the chip should've been, I started realizing that this wasn't going to be as easy as I had expected. The scientist I had sent over to check the Prometheus stood inside, pointing a gun at me.
I slowly raised my hands, cursing to myself, only to see him lower the weapon.
"You're the other one from Axia right? We need to find the datachip and get out of here."
I stood silent.
"Come on! You didn't think they'd just send one person for something this important, did you? You ever heard of contingency?"
It seemed strange. I had never met another agent, but also, I reasoned, I really had never taken part in something so important.
"Uh..." I finally got out, looking around. "Isn't that it?" The chip was sitting plainly on a folder, labeled as the AAP plans, on a desk between the scientist and myself.
"Ah, yes."
We both started towards it, and I grabbed the chip just as he reached the desk.
"Good," he said furtively. "We should escape."
I nodded, and as soon as I turned towards the door an alarm rang through the lab. I glanced back at the scientist to ask the plan, and wouldn't you know it he had his gun out pointing back at me. I dived behind a desk just as he took the shot, and blindly returned fire. I think I must have landed a lucky shot because I heard him cry and his shots stopped coming. Didn't need to make sure though. I jumped up and sprinted towards the hallway, looking for a stairwell. A few guards burst onto the floor, I fired a few shots and ran by. There was a set of stairs at the end of the hall, and I opened the door right in the face of three more guards. The scientist must have let them know I was up here before he died. Anyway I just sort of ran into them, pushed them down the stairs. We all tumbled down, and I landed right side up and tore all the way down ten more stories. I heard doors open up above me, but I guess they didn't expect me to get so far so fast.
I just needed to get to the dock now, and for that I had a little diversion planned. I hit the switch of a remote in my pocket, and an explosion rumbled the station from a floor above. Hazard alarms went off, clamoring with the security alerts to make a nice racket as the suitcase I had left in the bathroom took out a wall of the station. This was all becoming a lot less covert than I'm sure my bosses wanted, but the job was done and it would take Valent a while to sort out the PR disaster before they realized that all their work on the VVP was gone.
With the explosion, the total terror going on through the station, it made the rest of the job simple. I got to the docking bay, onto my ship, and left amidst a crowd of other pilots doing the same.
A few hours later I was back at my apartment. A check to my bank account showed a ten million credit deposit. As usual, this triggered a call from my contact for debriefing. I told him about the Valent scientist, and he stopped me.
"That was contingency. He was supposed to finish the job if you couldn't."
"Valent bought him off?" I asked. It was a bit worrying to know they could figure out who we all were.
"Maybe. There's no way we'll ever find out now. If you did hit him, he's either dead or in a Valent prison, in which case he may as well be dead. I need to report this to my superiors, We can finish the debrief later."
A bit disconcerting as you can imagine. But ten million credits has a sort of easing affect, as I'm sure you can imagine.
===
A note... "Arch" is pronounced "Ark."
And as for the setting... the story physically takes place in the near future from where VO is now. The events described occur around our time, and focus on the illegal and shadowy Valent/Axia conflict. See the VO wiki for more info.
Continued from
http://vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/7/19823
===
"Did you kill again?" asked Max after a long silence.
"Of course. And I'll tell you, it was easier after the first one. Why would anyone else deserve to live more than that scientist? No, they all began to blend together after that."
Another pause. But Max sat with a curious anxiety.
"Surely there was at least one more that stood out."
"Oh yes, there was. But if you're after the most interesting parts of my career, it'll have to wait."
"Of course. At your own pace!" agreed Max jovially, although his eyes betrayed a certain disappointment.
****
Assassinations were a normal part of routine after that. And like I said I could get through them. It was all getting... easy. But still fairly trivial business. Until the day I got a data chip promising an eight figure payoff. It was big. See it turns out that Valent's innovations weren't doing so hot as Axia's standard equipment. Standard equipment, such as AAPs. They were replacing normal positrons in almost every case. Became cheaper, too! But Valent started to figure out how to get in on that.
And by "figuring out" I mean they launched a covert assault on an Axia station and stole everything they would need to replicate the gun. But they did more than that. According to the brief, they had a new and unquestionably better variant in the works. Valent was gonna sell them cheap too. Which, naturally, could not stand.
Their downfall was just from being overexcited. They were planning an unveiling of the only working prototype in UIT space a week from when I got the brief, before even starting mass production. I was to be there. So, one week and a few fake IDs later, I was docking in Verasi E-14 with a suitcase in tow. Making myself out as a traveler, I rented a room for a week. Which, by the way, I never visited. I stopped in a bathroom, and changed into a Valent uniform. Ripped a piece of cloth off my other shirt, but left the suitcase in the stall.
The presentation was gonna start in two hours, so I made my way over to the showroom. It took two flashes of my new badge to get me on the floor. A Warthog was raised just above the ground, and a team of scientists swarmed around it, mounting the positron. A Sky Command Prometheus sat one hundred meters away on a spinning platform. Very showy. Valent had gone all out on the display. A Sky Command, for no other purpose than to get shot! It must've taken some real string pulling with the Reds. They do not easily give up their nation ships to non-Serco. To this day I've wondered if Valent promised them a supply of the new positrons. Just think what that would've done for the war! I'm sure the global maps would've ended up a bit differently, but damn man I stopped that.
I'm sorry, I'm rambling. Maybe Valent just bought it.
Anyway, I looked just like security, so I earned a few questioning looks when I approached the scientists at the 'hog. I stopped at the one nearest me.
"Someone said the Prom is too loose. Wanted one of you to check it out. Couldn't be bothered ta come here and tell you though, o'course. He needed ta send me. You scientists can't afford thirty seconds waste!" I said, shaking my head angrily. The man spared a look of distrust, but started over to the other ship. By now, all the other techs but one had moved inside the 'hog for a systems check. I approached the last guy outside and slapped a small pulsing battery to his back.
"This is a small Corvus sticky bomb. If you try to remove it, it will go off. It's also got a handy remote which happens to be in my pocket. So, if you please, walk to the corner by that door for a moment and wait for me."
I whispered this in his ear, holding a small gun at his side after he jumped around from feeling the slap. It was, of course, not a bomb, and didn't have any of the features I boasted about, but he didn't know any better and trouped off to the corner with wide eyes. Lucky, no one else saw him go. I holstered the gun as soon as he had turned, and started examining the positron. It was quite the piece of machinery, such that even I, as a layman, knew I was seeing something special. All the same, I knew by that point that a job was a job, so as soon as I located the exhaust port I stuffed the cloth deep inside.
Now you may find it hard to believe that such a powerful weapon-to-be could sport such a glaring weakness, but you must remember that this was merely a demonstration, the first working prototype, and was mounted in a way to fully show it off, without any of the standard casings.
Anyway, I met my scientist and grabbed him by the shoulder. Led him out of the showroom, flashing a few smiles to other security on the way, down a hallway towards the nearest wall terminal. I'm sure you've figured out by now that this man was not of strong will, and it only took a single point of my gun to get him, crying, to break into the file on the new positron. From there, he was done, so I slapped him unconscious with my pistol (I still at this point had a distaste for killing if I could help it), and began to delete every single file Valent had on their most prized achievement. I believe the tech was blamed for it, all this happening under his account of course, but as you'll see that was more as a scapegoat than because they actually believed he was the culprit. The process finished, with everything deleted except one reference file. Apparently the data chip originally stolen from Axia with the AAP plans was in a terminal, stories above, and could not be modified.
That really bothered me, I'll tell you. I had really begun to accept this as an easy mission with a high payoff. But it just wasn't to be. So I dragged the scientist into a closet, locked the door from the outside, and started searching for an elevator. But I was headed off by a group of other Valent security guards, on their way back to the showroom. The leader grabbed my shoulder as I tried to pass, and I still remember the look he shot me.
"Where are you going." He said, but in a tone that did not leave any hint of a question in his words. "We are supposed to be in the showroom managing the crowd."
For a moment, my mind ran over all the possibilities for bluffing. But my fake credentials weren't that good, and it just wasn't worth the risk. I apologized, and resolved to grab the datachip during all the confusion that would occur with the testing.
I'll skip over the part where I helped rich assholes find their seats. Even if that, unfortunately, is an all too memorable part of the mission. Anyway, an hour later the lights dimmed and a voice came in over the speakers.
"For years, the esteemed Axia Technology Corporation has served pilots with a weapon of marvelous abilities, far beating standard guns in every way. The Axia Accelerated Positrons were an amazing achievement in the field of energy weapons. However..." the voice trailed, and a spotlight each focused on the two ships.
"We at Valent have always had a hard time settling for simply 'amazing' when we can be vivifying!"
The Warthog's engine rumbled as it started up.
"And so, to the ladies and gentlemen in the audience, on behalf of Valent Robotics, may I present the most powerful small port add-on in existence. The Valent High Velocity Positron Blaster!"
A shot of bright energy erupted from the front of the Warthog with a boom. For the briefest of moments, the dark between the two ships was illuminated in an iridescent purple from the shot's light, and then it slammed directly into the side of the Sky Command, rocking it on its pedestal. Lights brightened to show a significant crater taken out of the thick armor. I was just as surprised as the now-muttering crowd. Such power!
"Featuring the best auto aim of a light weapon..."
The pedestal the Prometheus sat on began to move in an intricate pattern. The Warthog however remained completely still as it fired another shot which struck in the exact same place, chipping away feet of armor.
"And a rate of fire that will question the difference between a positron and a neutron blaster!"
The weapon boomed again and again, truly faster than I would have ever expected those purple blasts to move.
"Yes, the VVP is here, and we are now accepting pre-orders, to be filled within--"
The speakers cut out as the weapon tore apart in a purple explosion of plasma. I recoiled a bit and closed my eyes to the blast's intensity as screams erupted all around. The roaring ceased, although people were now scrabbling to escape the suddenly overcrowded room. I took a look at the carved-in Prometheus and smoldering Warthog as scientists streamed in to figure out what went wrong. It was easy to duck down and move with the crowd out of the room. I stepped away from the masses at the elevator, and without a second glance made it up towards the chip.
But when I got to the lab where the chip should've been, I started realizing that this wasn't going to be as easy as I had expected. The scientist I had sent over to check the Prometheus stood inside, pointing a gun at me.
I slowly raised my hands, cursing to myself, only to see him lower the weapon.
"You're the other one from Axia right? We need to find the datachip and get out of here."
I stood silent.
"Come on! You didn't think they'd just send one person for something this important, did you? You ever heard of contingency?"
It seemed strange. I had never met another agent, but also, I reasoned, I really had never taken part in something so important.
"Uh..." I finally got out, looking around. "Isn't that it?" The chip was sitting plainly on a folder, labeled as the AAP plans, on a desk between the scientist and myself.
"Ah, yes."
We both started towards it, and I grabbed the chip just as he reached the desk.
"Good," he said furtively. "We should escape."
I nodded, and as soon as I turned towards the door an alarm rang through the lab. I glanced back at the scientist to ask the plan, and wouldn't you know it he had his gun out pointing back at me. I dived behind a desk just as he took the shot, and blindly returned fire. I think I must have landed a lucky shot because I heard him cry and his shots stopped coming. Didn't need to make sure though. I jumped up and sprinted towards the hallway, looking for a stairwell. A few guards burst onto the floor, I fired a few shots and ran by. There was a set of stairs at the end of the hall, and I opened the door right in the face of three more guards. The scientist must have let them know I was up here before he died. Anyway I just sort of ran into them, pushed them down the stairs. We all tumbled down, and I landed right side up and tore all the way down ten more stories. I heard doors open up above me, but I guess they didn't expect me to get so far so fast.
I just needed to get to the dock now, and for that I had a little diversion planned. I hit the switch of a remote in my pocket, and an explosion rumbled the station from a floor above. Hazard alarms went off, clamoring with the security alerts to make a nice racket as the suitcase I had left in the bathroom took out a wall of the station. This was all becoming a lot less covert than I'm sure my bosses wanted, but the job was done and it would take Valent a while to sort out the PR disaster before they realized that all their work on the VVP was gone.
With the explosion, the total terror going on through the station, it made the rest of the job simple. I got to the docking bay, onto my ship, and left amidst a crowd of other pilots doing the same.
A few hours later I was back at my apartment. A check to my bank account showed a ten million credit deposit. As usual, this triggered a call from my contact for debriefing. I told him about the Valent scientist, and he stopped me.
"That was contingency. He was supposed to finish the job if you couldn't."
"Valent bought him off?" I asked. It was a bit worrying to know they could figure out who we all were.
"Maybe. There's no way we'll ever find out now. If you did hit him, he's either dead or in a Valent prison, in which case he may as well be dead. I need to report this to my superiors, We can finish the debrief later."
A bit disconcerting as you can imagine. But ten million credits has a sort of easing affect, as I'm sure you can imagine.
:)
Nice work. I can't wait for more. Too bad about that other agent guy though. Oh, and I cheated sorry.