IC: Guns, Germs, and Steel Options

[mallet]

Prologue


In the summer of 2064 the worst heat wave in the history of the Northwest descended upon the city of Seattle. The Emerald City, famed for its rain and cool, damp climate, reeled under record high temperatures, drought and rolling brown-outs as the already taxed power stations struggled to keep up with the city's demand for electricity. As the privileged few hid in climate controlled buildings pulling every erg of power available to stay cool, the faceless masses below toiled and struggled in sweltering shadows of the Megacorporate high-rises, living lives that could have been ripped right from Dante's version of hell.

Thick, sweltering smog, usually blown out to sea by cool winds, hung in the still, dead air of the city, raising the temperature and humidity and choking any of the inhabitants brave, stupid or unlucky enough to venture outside. The death rate amongst the elderly and infirm skyrocketed.

To make matters worse the heat, smog and lack of clean water acted like a giant incubator and it wasn't long before a new and brutal flu virus arose in the Puyallup Barrens and began spreading out of the poorer areas and into the rest of the city, causing hundreds of deaths and it kept spreading with no cure in sight.

As the days turned into weeks, without any end or relief in sight, tempers began to flare. The unending heat brought out the worst in the city's citizens. Act's of violence rose sharply, in a city already known for its violence. Road rage, domestic abuse, gang wars, random violence and racial tensions rocked the city. Lonestar, already taxed beyond its means, struggled to keep a lid on a city ready to boil over.

The Governor, fearing a full-scale collapse, issued a state of emergency and called for the help of UCAS government and the National Guard, but the President, already involved in struggles across the nation, declined to send troops or aid to the drought stricken area.

And so the city of Seattle began to spiral out of control in a sea of violence, heat and sweat.

And still the summer kept slowly moving on…

[mallet]

Chapter One

Mid July, 2064…

Jason Stark slowly made his way down the dark, drek filled alley, his forehead slick with damp, clammy sweat. 2:00am and it was still 33 degrees out. The smell of rotting garbage was almost overpowering in this heat, he felt light headed and nauseated from the odor. He took rapid, shallow breaths trying to clear his head and his stomach while his sweaty palms griped the non-slip handle of his Browning Ultra that he had raised up in front of him. He cautiously sidestepped around a towering pile of garbage bags, willing himself to be as silent as possible.

He wiped the sweat from his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket, it was too hot for a jacket in this weather, but he needed the protection it provided. Better to be hot and sweaty, then dead and bloody. He made a mental note of that line, filled it away for the book he was going to write someday. Just as soon as he got out of this city, got out of this life…

Up ahead of him the shuffling footsteps of Ex-Edger didn't slow or falter, a sure sign the Stark was still undetected. Ex-Edger was a bit of a mystery to Stark, he wasn't acting like they usually did, not that he had enough experience with them to really make that distinction, but from what he did know, Ex-Edger was acting strange. Like he was being forced to go somewhere. Like someone was calling him. Not that that would matter in the end, Stark only had one goal this night. Ex-Edger had to die… again.

It had started, as most of his nights did, over a bottle of hooch in the small closet of room he called an office…

* * *

The dame had shown up uninvited at his office door a little after 6 that evening. It was the type of office you'd love if you like great panoramic views of brick walls. The air conditioning consisted of a small fan with a little red ribbon tied to it that fluttered in the breeze. It was after office hours and he already had four shots in him, three from a bottle of Jack Daniels and one from a gutter-punk's Streetline Special. The Doc said he'd take the slug out in a day or two, when he had the time; meanwhile he gave Stark a bottle of aspirin and a glow in the dark band-aid. You gotta love private health care.

The dame was a bit hysterical at first, her clothes splattered with blood and her mouth running a mile a minute. It took Stark a couple more shots of Jack before he cared enough to actually pay attention to her, but when he did, it certainly got his attention.

Seems like the dame, we'll call her Lisa, had been married to Edger for a good 14 years. Well, make that a not so good 14 years. Seems Edger had a bit of a drinking problem and also like to make time with the local "ladies of the night" that frequented their little section of Ravenna. Still, they had stuck together through 14 years, various STD's, a liver's worth of booze and a mountain of debt they would never see the other side of. Ain't love grand?

Anyways, that's how things were between Edger and Lisa up until this afternoon. Seems Edger had gotten a little careless in his running around, and word on the street said that a, well, we'll use the term "lady" loosely here, a lady by the name of Sparkles had a little Edger Jr. in the oven.

Lisa wasn't amused, to say the least.

Maybe it was the 14 years of cheating? The 14 years of drinking? Or maybe it was the heat? I'm not a psychologist. I don't know.

Whatever it was, it put Lisa over the edge and she took the old fashioned, double barrel shotgun Edger kept to scare the gangers with, and unloaded both barrels into Edger's chest. Rest in peace Edger.

Except that he didn't. Now I'm not a doctor, and neither is Lisa, but you don't have to be to know that someone with two holes that big and going that deep, isn't going to get up ever again. Except Edger did just that. Not right away, mind you, it took a few minutes while Lisa was running around not believing what she had just done, but he did. He got back up and let's just say Edger wasn't very happy. I guess we can't really call him Edger any more; he was… something else now. Let's just call him Ex-Edger.

Lisa doesn't remember much after that. Ex-Edger smacked her around some and then she blacked out, pretty sure she was never going to wake up again, but she did. Her dog Fifi wasn't so lucky. Fifi was some sort of poodle, and I am of the strict opinion that any small, rat like dog named Fifi deserves to die. But not the way Fifi died. Ex-Edger ate him. It's true. Ate him alive, nothing left but a fluffy, well-groomed tail and a bloody collar. The things you hear about in this business… It can turn your stomach.

Anyways, She couldn't pay much, but it wasn't really the cash Stark was in this for. Things like Ex-Edger had cost him his job on the force and taking them out was more of a mission then a job. After she paid him he sent her on home then put in a call to Lonestar. They picked her up 15 minutes later and charged her with Edger's murder. What was he supposed to do? She was a murderer after all. He took her money, and he was going to stop Ex-Edger, but that doesn't mean he was going to let her get away with it.

He got his gear together and hit the hot and humid streets of Seattle. Now all he needed was a little luck and a lot of lead. Ex-Edger was going to be Ex-Ex-Edger before the night was over.


* * *

Ex-Edger let out a blood-curling howl from down near the end of the alley. Stark froze for a moment, but then quickly advanced. He had never heard one of them howl like that before, something was going on.

As he closed in on Ex-Edger he got a good look at what was happening. Ex-Edger was banging against the rear door of an old warehouse, trying in vain to smash his way in. Howling in frustration. But that wasn't the only strange thing going on.

Weird, multi-colored lights were flashing through the small high-up windows of the building and, inaudible to anyone without Stark's exceptional hearing, was a strange chanting coming from inside. Whatever was going on inside was what was driving Ex-Edger to act so strangely. And whatever caused Ex-Edger to act, was something that Stark wanted to investigate further…

[jklst14]

What the holy frag was that? Stark thought to himself, wincing as Ex-Edger’s ear piercing shriek echoed down the dark alleyway. A chill ran down his spine and the dwarf stopped dead in his tracks. After all these years of chasing shadows in the night, even he got the creeps sometimes. Little rivulets of sweat ran down his perpetually unshaven face as his breathing quickened and his pulse raced. With a shaking hand, he wiped the beads of moisture from his brow with the stained sleeve of his trusty and battered old coat.

Get a hold of yourself, old man. Or are you getting to old for this line of work? he chided himself. You’ve done this before. So just relax. After all, what’s the worst thing he can do to you? Eat you? Not fragging likely. There’s no way a dwarf could possibly taste good… We’re probably all gamey. Especially me, with all these years of hard living… Which reminds me, I could really use a drink...

Stark took a swig of liquid courage from his hip flask and then after a brief a brief moment of hesitation, he moved forward. He crept with a swiftness heightened by the adrenaline surging in his veins and a silence born by years of practice. Crouching behind a pile of garbage bags, he wrinkled his nose from the near overpowering stench. He stepped around the body of a squatter sprawled nearby on the ground. Whether the poor slot was drunk or dead, Stark didn't know nor did he have time to find out right now.

What the frag are you doing you ugly bastard? he wondered as he watched Ex-Edger flailing against the the warehouse door. There's no way you can knock that down. It looks like densiplast from here. Unless you're stronger than you look... And you’re a fragging walking corpse! Do you seriously think someone’s going to let you in just because you knocked?

Stark gripped his pistol, Betty, tightly in his hand as he eased back the safety with his thumb. The gun's black surface was smooth with use and age but it was an old friend to him. Once, his ex-partner Taggart had asked him why he had such a penchant for naming inanimate objects after women. Stark wasn’t sure why exactly. It was something those old gumshoes all seemed to do in those flatvids he liked. Then again, Stark always did have issues, even before the divorce. It was kinda cold how I ratted out that dame... But then again, she was a murderer... I couldn't let her go free, just because her ex-husband rose from the dead...

He raised the gun, preparing to squeeze gently and put Ex-Edger out of his misery when he stopped, his gaze drawn to the bizarre flashing lights and the soft chanting emanating from the window above. Something wasn’t right and Stark could smell it. There was the scent of something unnatural in the muggy night air. Someone was pulling Edger’s strings and Stark meant to find out whom. He shifted his perception, the meat world fading into grayness as he tried to see more through the thick morass that was cluttering the background of astral space...

It seems like there’s more than meets the eye… Sorry Edger, no bullet for you just yet. It seems like they’re bigger fish to fry. I need to get inside… Maybe there’s a fire escape, a vent shaft or maybe another door… I have to see what's happening upstairs...

[mallet]

Stark crouched down and studied the warehouse. A rusted fire escape clung to the back wall of the building, just a few meters past Ex-Edger. The rest of the building was shrouded in darkness, all of the exterior lights had been broken long ago.

Stark then took a deep breath and shifted his vision to the astral and instantly wished that he hadn't.

The nauseating stench of garbage was mild compared to the wave of despair and hopelessness that now assaulted his senses; it even overpowered the waves of hostility and anger that had been boiling across Seattle's astral space for the last few weeks. This was something different. This was something evil.

Ex-Edger was like a black stain in the astral plane, shifting and pulsing with an unholy light, but Stark had seen that before, what he hadn't seen before was the nauseating waves of sickly yellow and green mystical energy emanating from inside the warehouse. The power being unleashed inside was unlike anything he had felt before... it was something toxic. He felt it pulling and warping his own astral form as he watched and after a moment it began to feel... wonderful...

[jklst14]

His stomach lurched and his head spun as Stark struggled to compose himself. He tightened his grip on his pistol, his knuckles whitening as beads of sweat ran down his brow. He could feel the bitter taste of bile rising in the back of his throat as he combated the waves of nausea washing over his body. But despite the wretched sickness of astral space, he could sense a certain seductive and captivating beauty calling from amidst the rot and corruption. It beckoned, alluring like a siren beckoning sailors to their doom against the jagged rocks.

GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!!! He screamed inside his own head. What's the matter with you, old man?! SNAP OUT OF IT!

Through a supreme act of will he shut himself off from astral space, slaming the mental window shut between this world and the next. The twisted ebb and flow of mystic energy faded as the meatworld came back into focus. After the sickness he had seen on the astral, the gray and squalid alleyway looked beautiful...

He sat for a moment, exhausted, his breath coming in long and ragged gasps. Composing himself, he looked back at Ex-Edger. Sure enough, that thing was still at it, pounding at the door..

I suppose you'll never get tired of that... he thought to himself.

Spotting the fire escape, he rose to his feet. That's my way in... He rose to his feet, gripping Betty tightly just in case he needed to give Edger a taste of high velocity lead. And with as much silence as he could muster, Stark began to sneak across the alleyway...

[jklst14]

Always reluctant to leave the safety of concealment, Stark emerged from his hiding place in the alley. With slow and careful steps, he carefully made his way to the warehouse. He gripped Betty in his hand, the Browning's metal surface glinting softly in the flickering glow of a nearby street light.

Arriving at the rusted fire escape, he reached for the lowest rung...

Damn it! Why do the fragging humans have to build everything so high?

Reluctantly, Stark holstered his gun. He was going to need both hands for this. Climbing on top of a nearby trash can, he was able to reach the ladder. The old, corroded iron protested with a series of creaking noise as he pulled himself uupwards and began to climb...

Wow...Whatever brought poor old Ex-Edger back from the grave apparently left him deaf as well...

[mallet]

The rusty ladder shuddered and groaned under Stark's weight as he pulled himself up. The chanting voices were much louder this close to the building, but he still couldn't make out what they were saying, it seemed to be in another language. swedish maybe? He wasn't sure.

As he neared the top of the ladder, other voices reached his sensitive ears. These were speaking english, but the sounds of chanting and Ex-Edger beating himself against the door, ruined any chance he had of making out the words.

Cautiously he poked his head over the edge of the roof. Near the center of the building he spotted two men, crouching by the a skylight, their faces illuminated by the eerie glow coming from inside the building. Their attention was clearly focused on the events going on below them as they carried on a hushed conversation.

Stark ducked back down below the lip of the roof before he was spotted. What was going on here?

Another howl echoed up at him from below and he took a quick glance down at Ex-Edger...

Oh frag... He whispered to himself, Ex_Edger had friends...

Three more zombies were slowly shuffling out of the ally, groaning and moaning as they stumbled along. A quick glance along the alley told Stark that this was not all of them. His thermal vision picked out at least four more heading in this direction.

What the hell have I gotten myself into...

[jklst14]

Damn Swedes, I should have known they were up to no good... Stark thought to himself half jokingly. Seriously, I wonder what language they're chanting in? It doesn't sound familiar. And it sounds like there's definitely more than one voice. This can't be good... Oh drek!

Spotting the two figures crouched on the rooftop, Stark ducked. Clinging to the ladder, he had nowhere to go. He was trapped between them and the ever growing number of walking dead down below....

Given the choice between 8 dead guys below me and 2 living ones above, I'll have to take the latter...

Peeking just ever so slightly over the roof edge, Stark studied the crouching pair by the skylight. He strained to block out all the other noise, trying to focus on what they might be talking about...

[mallet]

Darien crouched at the edge of the skylight staring grimly down into the warehouse. This was not going as well as he had hoped. Sure they had located the Stones, but was it too late?

The last three days had been a whirlwind of panic, a race against time to recover the Stones, he was still surprised that they had even been able to track them this far, this fast. Now, finally having found them again, they might not be able to get them back…

Down below a ritual of the darkest sort was taking place, and the three stones seemed to be playing a major roll in the production. He didn't know much about magic and even less about ritual magic, but this was bad. He could tell from the grim expression on Daniel's face, made all the worse in the sickening yellow glow of the magic being unleashed not twenty feet below them. He glanced away from Daniel and back at the situation below.

Five shamans, he was unsure of what totem, were dancing and chanting in a tight circle. In the center of the circle, a naked man kneeled, chained to the floor. Was he some sort of sacrifice? He had heard of magic like that before. Blood Magic it was called. The worst of the worst. He wasn't sure if that was what he was witnessing, but it seemed like a good bet. The naked man seemed unconscious, which was probably for the best. The three stones formed a triangle around his prone body and glowed with a black light that they had never displayed before, at least not that he had noticed. This wasn't good. He had been warned what could happen if the stones ever fell into the wrong hands. Now they were going to have to get them back… or die trying.

They should have come better armed then they had. No matter how much mojo Daniel might be able to whip up, Darien was sure it wouldn't be enough. Apart from the five shamans, who knew how many other hostiles filled the warehouse. All he was carrying was his Browning Ultra, a good gun, but not nearly enough for what faced them below. A team, they should have gathered together a team, hired on some help, but there hadn't been time…

A glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye brought him quickly back to his current situation. He turned to look towards the edge of the roof, but whatever had attracted his attention was gone. He frowned as his cyber hearing began picking up other noises above the sounds of chanting coming from below. Someone was banging on a door somewhere in the alley below and… was that growling? What was going on down there?

He cast a look at Daniel, but his partner was still caught up in the magic being preformed below, muttering different magical incantations as he tried to follow along with what was happening.

Darien shook his head and drew his gun. He had better do a quick check of the perimeter before they began their assault.

[Whizbang]

What had they been thinking, coming alone? If nothing else, Phoenix and Gizmo would have came. And even if neither of them were magically active, a bullet could stop a caster too. But now wasn't the time for regrets. Doing anything else would most likely have brought them here too late.

Focusing on his surroundings, he heard the sound of someone banging on a door. Some poor sot had picked the wrong neighborhood for that They might very well wind up in the circle as well. Of course, there had also been growling and...something he had seen. He really hoped that growling wasn't a dog...he hated dogs.

Darien quietly informed Daniel of his intentions before moving to secure the perimiter. Last thing they needed was that 'bum in the alley' to turn out to be another team come to crash the party and take the stones for themselves. He cautiously moved towards the edge of the roof, keeping an eye out for whatever it was he had seen on the roof as well as going to check out what was in the alley. Hopefully somewhere in the process he'd come up with a plan for how to get the stones that might have some small chance of succeeding.

[mallet]

Darien was half way to the edge of the building when Daniel final responded to him.

"Good idea. I'll keep an eye on these guys."

Darien nodded, but Daniel had already looked away. Daniel had always been moody, but this was taking it to an whole other level. It made Darien even more nervous.

He raised his gun as he arrived at the edge. He quickly poked his head over the edge got a look at the alley below and then pulled his head back, not wanting to make himself to easy of a target.

But what he saw took a moment to sink in. "What the the...?"

Something wasn't right, not really able to believe his quick glance he poked his head over the edge again, this time taking a risk by taking his time and studying what was going on below.

"Uh... Daniel... We may have a problem..."

He still couldn't believe what he was seeing...

Down below a group of... what he could only call zombies were shuffling towards the building, moaning and growling. One of them, who looked like he had been almost blown in half, was pounding on the back door of the warehouse. In the distance he could make out the approach of even more undead. But the really funny thing was...

... The Dwarf waring a longcoat dangling from the fire escape just below him.

The dwarf flashed him his best "problem-what-problem?" smile and said, "Um... Hi. How's it going?"

[Whizbang]

Ohkay....they were summoning hordes of undead. Things had just gotten much more complicated. He should have known that those stones were nothing but trouble.

Aside from the growing number of undead, there was the dwarf. At least the guy had been smart enough to get out of the way of the zombies. Though he doubted that one more warm body was going to help them much...they needed all the help they could get. "You might as well get up here and explain what you're doing here...and I don't want to hear 'just hanging around'." Darien said.

[jklst14]

Stark clung to the fire escape with clammy palms, his heart racing and arms shaking as he desperately plotted his next course of action. Below him gathered a small but burgeoning horde (or was it a pack? A herd? Certainly not a flock... What the frag does one call a group of zombies anyhow?). Ex-Edger and his dead companions had apparently been drawn to this location by whatever infernal process was occuring inside the building. The dwarf's stomach lurched as he remembered the sickening aura permeating the astral plane. It carried a putrid scent of rot yet was strangely beautiful like the sweet, cloying smell of decay.

He couldn't go down without risking being eaten or whatever the walking dead liked to do to dwarves. And he couldn't climb. He had spotted two slots up on the roof, probably standing guard for their buddies down below. Paralyzed with indecision on this hot summer night, Stark thought to himself, I could really use a nice cool brew right now...

Just as he was about to move, he heard a voice and saw a face above him...

[Whizbang]

Well here was chance for you. Darien hadn't expected the dwarf to actually come up with what sounded like a real reason for being here. He didn't really care for investing too much trust in total strangers...but right now they needed all the help they could get. "We're trying to crash the party on those who are most likely responsible for the condition of your 'friend'." he explained

[mallet]

Daniel stood up from the skylight and studied Stark from across the roof. He seemed willing to let Darian handle things for now, but he makes it clear with his pose that he has Darien's back covered. He mutters a few words under his breath and fingers a small bead hanging from his jacket.

After a moment he returns to studing the events going on below.

[jklst14]

[Whizbang]

"Darien." he answered, shaking the dwarf's hand. "And my less talkative friend is Daniel. A third perspective could be useful...thus far all I can see on our side is surprise..." he added, heading back towards the skylight.

Stark's new companion stood somewhere around 5'8", with more of a gymnist's build. He had short blonde hair and blue eyes. The only obvious piece of cyberware on him was the datajack behind his left ear.

[ Spoiler ]

okay...so I'm lousy at descriptions even when I'm not half asleep... oh well...it moves things on...I really do need to come up with a pic for this char, as he's one of my favorites...

[jklst14]

"It's good to meet you Darien," Stark replied as he firmly shook the other man's hand.

The dwarf ran his hand through his reddish-brown hair as he tried to think. Every year, there was a little more gray there. Probably from too much thinking and worrying and stress... he thought to himself.

"Hmmm.... If all we want to do is kill these fraggers, we could set the building on fire. From my limited scouting so far, the only exits are this fire escape and that door the zombies are pounding on. We can hide nearby, pick them off as they try to get away."

"And with this awful heat wave, there's been plenty of arson. Won't look suspicious at all. And in this drekhole of a neighborhood, I'm sure it'll take Franklin Associates a while before they make it down here to put out the blaze..."

[Whizbang]

"No go." Darien answered. "Not only would I prefer to do this without the death of that poor sot in their circle, but they have something that belongs to me that it's crucial that I get back...and I'm not sure just how flame resistant it is."

[jklst14]

"Circle? What fraggin circle?" Stark replied as he stepped over towards the skylight. "Oh drek...that circle..." he added softly under his breath, his eyes widening at the sight of the chained man surrounded by chanting shamans in robes.

Quietly moving away from the skylight, he took a swig from his hip flask before whispering to Darien. "Okay. We need to disrupt whatever ritual they're performing. And kill the zombies. And rescue the civilian. And retrieve your possessions. And not get eaten or turned into walking corpses in the process. So we need a plan. We can cut the power. That'll distract them, at least for a moment or two. Then we start shooting, using the element of surprise to the best of our advantage. Can we kill them all? Probably not. But we can certainly mess up their little party. By the time they regroup, we'll need to fall back. Quickly. Since they can't hit us with spells if they can't see us, I suspect they'll use Spirits or come Astrally, so we'll need to be prepared for those possibilities. Either way, they only have one way out of the building and that's through the door. As long as we can keep it covered, we can keep them locked up tight in here. How does that sound?"

"Oh, by the way... I have a little Sight. And I'm handy with a pistol. What can you boys do? Have any spells or special moves up your sleeves?"

[Whizbang]

"I'm mundane, more of a decker and infiltration sort. Which boils down to I could find the power cut off from here, and that I have the gear to go in through the skylight if we wanted to." he answered, trusting more to Daniel to confirm that this guy wasn't barking up the wrong tree in reguards to assulting a magical foe.

[mallet]

Daniel, doesn't move from where he perches, watching the mages below, but his voice carries across the roof-top to you.

"It is not a good plan... But it may be the only one we have. I can handle some of the magic they throw at us, but I do not think I could hold back all five of them in a mystical battle. These men below are dealing with dark and powerful magics... I am not sure what they might be capable of... Or if I would be able to resist it. But we must do something. Even if it means our deaths."

His words send a chill down your spine, not from what he said, so much as how he said it... Cold and unfeeling. A man prepared to die this night.

[jklst14]

You're getting old, Stark... the dwarf thought to himself as he paced along the roof of the warehouse. This building is much bigger than I realized... There has to be entrances in front. How the frag can the three of us cover them all? And what's up with that Daniel guy? Gives me the creeps...

Breaking out of his reverie, Stark turned to Darien. "A decker, eh? Could you access the Matrix from here? There might be something around here you could splice into... Maybe you could cook up some sort of distraction? Say trigger a fire alarm? I'm sure the fire department is busy but if you could slip something into their files... say something suggesting this warehouse stores hazardous chemicals, it might encourage Seattle's Bravest to show up..."

[Whizbang]

"These days you can get a pizza quicker than rescue services...but hazardous materials might do the trick...assuming we have enough time to wait for them. Mabey the folks who built the place sprung for a sprinkler system...that would rain on their parade...hmm...you know, I'm still wondering just what the girls are up to that they haven't been answered their messages." Darien responded. Where Daniel seemed to be accepting the possibility of death, Darien seemed to be pushing it to the back of his mind.

[jklst14]

"Girls? I'm sure they're fine...." Stark replied. It sounded like this Darien fellow had some teammates missing in action. It would be best just to reassure him so they could focus on the matter at hand. "Now, that sprinkler idea, that's good. And if we're lucky, they'll have more than just that. Maybe they'll have a modern system with fire extinguishing foam or something similar. Why don't you see if there's something up here you can tap into? I think I'll look around the roof, scope out all the entrances and exits into this building... We don't want any of these fraggers escaping..."