Cyberpunk III: 2856A.D. MARS

He had just finished re-assembling his gun. He loaded the first round into the chamber, and then holstered it. He walked over and stood beside Angel, looked over her shoulder at the map display. A section of the map was fuzzed out. He moved the map display around a little, but the fuzz stayed centered on that spot.

"Jamming of some kind, I'm thinking...but how can they be jamming this thing? The frequency is way off the usual bands, and the signal should be tiny enough to sneak by anything." He sighed.

"I guess no secret's safe down here."

 

"Maybe they aren't just jamming us," Angel replied, "maybe the area's generally protected in some way."

Angel looked up at Jack and grinned.

"Which means we should probably head straight for it, doesn't it?"

She pointed to an area between their current location and the fuzzed out spot.

"The corridor abruptly goes deep right here and there are symbols representing fans, I think. That bit might be tricky but it's direct. We may have some rappelling or climbing to do and if there is no way around the fans we may have to hope they are slow enough to go through them."

She handed the comm to Jack and walked from passageway to passageway, sniffing. At one she was rewarded with a current of fresher air than the others.

"This is the one we should take if we're going that way." She told them.

 

She looked up at him and smiled, and he almost lost it again. What was wrong with him? He smiled back and nodded.

She handed him the comm unit and he looked at it, verifying her appraisal. He then backed out of the map screen and tried to find some kind of frequency diagnostic so he could maybe find out exactly what was causing the hole. He stopped for a second when he looked at the assault force roster.

Oscar McShayne??? Oh ghod. Charlie has a friggin' B1FF with 'em.

Shaking his head, he moved on, and began a diagnostic.

RESULTS: INCONCLUSIVE

Foo. So much for that.

"Okay. Sounds good. As long as Sarge is okay with that."

 

"Okay. Sounds good. As long as Sarge is okay with that."

"Naturally," Angel said, going to the passageway and feeling the current of air. Just because this was the most direct way didn't mean it was the best way, "That is just my assessment."

Angel withdrew a small waferlike plastic container and snapped it open. She withdrew one of the translucent strips and placed it on her tongue, letting it melt. Each Energy Strip carried a powerful dose of vitamins, concentrated protein, glucose, and a drug similar to caffeine. They melted quickly on the tongue and entered the bloodstream by absorption through the tissues of the mouth.

She felt the kick at once, heightened alertness, almost a jitteriness that she knew would soon pass and become a tide of energy sustained for at least the next twenty minutes. She offered the container to each of the others in turn. They tasted like a blend of cherry and clover...an odd taste that almost masked the aftertaste of the protein.

"Energy strip?" she offered.

 

The loading door shot open, and Bull moved forward to point. It was darker than the caverns, and smelled worse than the sewers. Cow s*** smells better than this, Bull thought to himself, moving cautiously forward. Still, the smell was familiar to him. His helm-lamp lit the way in front and he peered around, searching for an ambush. It was then that he located the source, sources really, of the smell. Pinned to the walls in the loading bay were skinless, rotting corpses. Civilians left for dead.

"This is FUBAR in every sense of the phrase," he said quietly.

 

He grinned and accepted one, placing it on his tongue. The strong, sweet vapor filled his mouth. Not quite unpleasant, but not exactly pleasant either. He shook his head. In their quest for ultimate efficiency, the military was slowly forgetting that they were working with human beings. A bio-engineered breath strip was nothing compared to an actual meal; no matter how many vitamins and minerals they claimed they could cram into it.

Jack felt the rush start as the stimulants flowed into his veins. He instantly felt more awake, alert, and vigilant. Even the dull pain in his leg subsided a little more. He felt ready to run a marathon.

Maybe a bio-engineered breath strip wasn't so bad after all...

 

"This is FUBAR in every sense of the phrase"

I look at the dead skinned bodies and they look so real, it is amazing how this place looks exactly like Blood Rain The Dead Crypts of Dumb Blonds, all we need now is some kind of undead bimbos with really big, bouncy, barely contained boobies.

This place is the r0x0rs!

I check the main link to the ship to see how the system is connecting to the other telecoms, the signal is weak because the heavy iron content in the ground forcing the frequency to break apart, Explains why their vaporwarz is the $uck


Team alpha's light comes on again "Alpha Team has been attacked, 12 soldiers/red DMP/well armed assault. We continue to move toward the objective. Please report."

 

Angel saw Cyrus suddenly stand straighter, breathe in a long breath, and look around him as though he'd had a fresh shot of life.

She herself felt flushed, jittery, and a little breathless. She had to look away from the men as the drug hit her system, sending a warm tingling all over her body. She knew that it would drive blood to her cheeks and lips and temporarily give her eyes a natural brightness usually associated with sexual invitation.

This initial side effect was why the strips had gained popularity in nightclubs and among teenagers.

Angel looked down, breathing deeply and fidgeting with her sleeves as she waited for the rush to pass. The energy would be worth it.

 

Karasu watched the other two and shook his head. He said nothing and staid in the back of the group.
"This is life or death not a nightclub," he said to give them a light warning.
Karasu wasn't a big fan of those strips. He was fine on his own his body made him always work. Karasu was still far to alert for what he liked, but he was on some alien planet and enemies would come out of nowhere. Karasu found it strange that no one asked what he had discovered while interrogating the creature.
Karasu analyzed the area. He had a bad feeling and he couldn't shake it off.

 

Ash sees the message that Hot Dog recieved. "Well, so much for stealth. I guess there is no use hiding our presence anymore. Hey Hot Dog, try to find the quickest and safest route to the gate, and try to find somewhere we can get some more ammo and explosives. Also, I want you to attempt to either intercept the enemy communications or jam them. Think you can handle all that, leet boy."

Using the light on the end of her rifle, she looks around at the dead, shredded bodies. "These people got lucky. Atleast they weren't converted."

 

"This is life or death not a nightclub."

Master of the obvious. Thought Angel as she felt the rush subside. She lifted her head and gave Karasu a cold look.

"Why haven't you reported on your interrogation?"

 

Karasu looked deeply into the girls eyes. His stare was cold and calm.
"Because I don't think you are in the right state of mind to report to you what I have found," Karasu said, "When you are in the right state of mind I will tell you."
Karasu breathed in deeply and calmly. And he began to analyze the surrounding area. He still had a bad feeling. He felt this was a trap. But then again he could just be paranoid.

 

"Holy feeping frack," Angel heard Jack mutter. "What a rush..."

It must have hit him the same way.

"My state of mind is just fine, thank you," Angel told Karasu acidly, "and I think that since this IS a life or death situation you might impart what you've learned as it may be useful at any time?"

She stared at Karasu with a gaze every bit as cold as his own as his mind appeared to wander off.

She sighed and suppressed the urge to snap her fingers in front of the man's nose to regain his attention.

"Well, if you are so intent on being silent then I hope for your sake that the knowledge is useless."

 

...And then the second rush hit, and it caught him by surprise. A fire lit up inside him; his heartbeat growing rapid and warmth covering him. He had all the symptoms of a very fast and intense arousal. He looked over at Angel, just in time to see her turn away. He did likewise, closing his eyes and trying to concentrate.

Okay. Calm... Even... Steady...

He tried to regulate his breathing, and eventually the feeling burned itself out and died down.

"Holy feeping frack," He said. "What a rush..."

 

Karasu analyzed the situation before looking back at Angel.
"My point was made without needing me to make a point," Karasu said, "Its to important to tell you when you're like this."
Karasu breathed in calmy and closed his eyes for a second. He was listening now listening for the least bit of noise he could hear.

 

Well, it was conclusive. Karasu was an a$$. Oh well. Angel ignored him and waited for Nero to be ready to tell them to move out.

 

Team 3: Charley

"Well, so much for stealth. I guess there is no use hiding our presence anymore. Hey Hot Dog, try to find the quickest and safest route to the gate, and try to find somewhere we can get some more ammo and explosives. Also, I want you to attempt to either intercept the enemy communications or jam them. Think you can handle all that, leet boy."


" L33t! J00 n008, 1 wA2 73a 8A991n' j00R DADDy 83F0R3 j00R m0mMA2 D1cK Wa2 uP h12 a22"*1

I whip out the scanner and wish that I could FIND some kind of communication in this place. The whole area seems to be coated in garbled crap static. ZOMFG! The Krapi$titic IS the Com! I am so gonna pwonz those n00bs now! I am gonna r0x0rs their B0x0rs!*2

Ammo, right Boos man!, yah, like everyone neatly marks on maps where they keep their ammo supplies.

I pull up the map in full 4D light display showing what is open to us as well as the motions of team Alpha from their limited contact as well as proposed trajectory of their traveling. We are in a supply station dock MD137 that is designed to hold medical equipment. Not much here anymore and what is here looks old and outdated. I tap three main rooms between us and the main central core of the the station.

Each room looks like a main place for a Death Trap between us and the core. They are storage areas MD227 and MD 469, Label says they should be holding nothing more than food and other necessities. Storage area MD 371 which is over by Team Alpha, actually above team Alpha's last message is supposed to hold armaments, but the trip to them is long, which means deadly.

It is the fastest way, and for the most part the cordoors are tight which gives us the edge, they can not overrun us with sheer numbers in narrow hall ways. That is about as safe as I am going to get.

The Gate itself is not shown, only where we could assume the gate was, nothing more or less then that. And the great almighty gods of Intel have said the gate is in the main core of this craptasic space station. So that is where the Map says the gate is. After all they made this map so they get to put the markers in.

Can't generate what you don't know, and these beouches aren't telling us crap.

Maybe if I could get one alone I could hack it's processor and expand upon my map and location skills as well get some base to start decoding the static they are communicating though.

'MY mu51c 5O LOUd;1'M 5W4n91N'.7HEY HoP1N', 7h@ 7hEy 9On' K47CH MEh r1d1N' D1r7y.'*3

*1: Translated: "It is pronounced Elite, and I knew your father when we were children playing games together."

*2: Translated: The Static that we are hearing on our com units is the means by which they are communicating, they are not jamming us so much as they are drowning us out. Now that I know this, I can find some way to decipher what they are saying and use that info against them.

*3: Translated: We need to capture one of cyborgs or robots so I can reverse engineer their processing and software so that I can decipher their encoded language as well disrupt their communications methods.

 

Charlie Squad

Bull stared at Hot Dog for a long while. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be impressed by what the guy was saying, or disturbed. I understand cows mooing at eachother better than I understand this guy, he thought.

"I'm not sure what the f*** you just said, half pint," he said. "Just point us to a f***ing room that doesn't smell like pig s*** or has dead bodies hanging on the wall."

 

Charlie Squad

"Unless my leet is a little rusty, he said that we need to capture one of the cyborgs or machines that use communicate with each other. So, that would be our current objective. Once we do that, the rest of this mission will get a lot simpler. Its too bad we didn't capture one of those spiders." says Ash. She looks out one of the windows and sees several machines that would be a good canidate.

.......Now, how do we get one, without getting swarmed.....

"Hey Hot Dog. Are there any machines in this place that you could use for this purpose?"

 

Charlie Squad

Bull pointed around the room at the skinless bodies. "You're telling me we have to capture one of things that did this?" He spat some more and gave the lieutenant and Hot Dog skeptical looks. "Do we have to capture it still operating, or can it maybe just in several pieces?"

 

Team 3: Charley

"Hey Hot Dog. Are there any machines in this place that you could use for this purpose?"

The stuff in this place looks like some crap my grandpa pulled from his last car. Outdated and worn out. The Cyborgs and the remains of those crawler things were far higher tech then this lame trash.

Whoever built this place originally was not who is running this place now.

"Do we have to capture it still operating, or can it maybe just in several pieces?"

"p0l1C3 7h1nK 7H3Y K4n 533 M3 l34n;1'M 71n7 50 17 41'n7 345Y 70 83 533n. Ph0R M3 70 533 M3 R1d3 8y, 7h3Y K4n 533 73h GL34N 4nD mY 5H1N3 0N 73H D3CK 4ND 73h 7v 5CR33N. R1D3 W17 4 n3w ch1CK, 5h3 L1k3 "h0LD UP."*1

*1: Translated: I can't use the stationary stuff as it is not linked to the robots and cyborgs. I only need the operating system, mainly the main drive so I can get the info off of it. Anything other then that is worthless to me. Feel free to destroy them as much as you want beyond that.

 

Alpha Squad

Nero walked back towards the group as Karasu and Angel were exchanging their bitter remarks.

"Because I don't think you are in the right state of mind to report to you what I have found," Karasu said, "When you are in the right state of mind I will tell you."

"Well, Karasu" Castillene said from behind, making Karasu turn to him with a leer.

"I believe I outrank you, and if you don't disclose that information to me, then you'll be met with the same pity I showed them," Nero snarled, gesturing to the shattered bodies of the troopers he slaughtered in his frenzy.

"So, whats it gonna be?" he said, one hand hovering loosely over his combat knife.

 

Charlie Squad

Bull nodded...sort of. He looked at the others in the squad and cleaned up the bit of chaw that was dribbling down his chin. "I see," he said. He turned and started looking for the exit. Listening to a foreign language was one thing, listening to it while surrounded by dead bodies was another. He saw another door at the far end of the room.

"Well," he said finally. "Let's get the f*** out of this room and go get Hot Dog a godd**n cyborg."

 

Alpha

"I believe I outrank you, and if you don't disclose that information to me, then you'll be met with the same pity I showed them,"
"I believe I had the right to disclose the information to them," Karasu said, "As I made a point they are energy full and still filled with anxiety."
Karasu looked at the man straight in the eyes.
"There is no need to threaten me," Karasu said, "I was going to tell someone who is right in the mind."
Karasu closed his eyes and took a deep calm breath in.
"An unknown ally commanded those creatures to attack, the unknown ally had bribed them with money and the the threat of killing of their species, the creature said their base was located were the Mars dessert turns to ice," Karasu said.
Karasu looked at the hand that was hovering over the knife and then looked at the man. Karasu then turned his attention to something else. Not because he was afraid or because he was threatened. But because he didn't liked to be threatened. It made him feel lesser then what he was. Karasu had a right to disclose information from Angel and Jack. Like Karasu had thought none of the people here analyze their own condition.

 

Charlie Squad

"Right." The team goes down to the ground floor and Ash goes ghost. "Stay here and get ready. When I come back, I'll have some company."

Ash walks out of the building's door and turns the corner. There are three Adepts scanning the area. Slowly she puts her rifle in position and aims for the one farthest away. Bang. His head is gone. She turns off her cloaking device, so that the other two can see her. They start shooting right away, as she runs back towards the biulding. Running through the door Ash says "Get ready, they're right behind me!" The two adepts storm into the building, while firing their guns at Ash.