ICC- Kilrick Salvage Chapter 3- Manhattan Story

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welsh

welsh

Junkmaster
The conduit tunnel was cramped and I could hear the others occassionally mubble and complain behind me. Jake was bringing up the rear, and I was on point. The rest were spread out in between.

On the positive side, the tunnel was clean. With the power blackout arranged we should be able to get into NY without much notice. I had already passed a couple of electronic alarms. Twice I had to stop to disarm autonomous alarm systems.

On the negative side, something was bound to go wrong. Something always did.

Which was what made life interesting.

Behind me I could see Deeds moving in his combat armor, cursing quietly. The bulky armor most of us was wearing made getting through the narrow conduit and the tangles of wire difficult. But better to have the armor when the laser fire picked up than to be without it.

In places, water had begun to pool and there were cracks in the surface, places were fuse boxes had blown open leaving wire entrails about. It felt like we were crawling inside the belly of a beast.

At one point the conduit turned a corner and then it disappeared. I stopped, and slowly the others came to a stop behind me.

I found a flash stick, lit it, and threw it ahead.

It fell down into the dark, leaving a green radiant trail, until I heard it splash.

Crawling forward I found that the conduit had broken off, fairly cleanly. Somewhere ahead it probably continued, but in the meantime we would have to descend into the main tunnel of the PATH train. I could see the green glow even through the brackish water.

"Looks like we are going to have to into the main tunnel. Be careful. It's not clean. Keep it silent.

Slowly a rope was brought up from the rear. I tied it around a metal rod that was impaled in concrete, and then lowered myself down.

Lifted a hand to tell the others not to continue as I reached for a hand scanner. Jake was better at these things but he was in the back.

For 15 minutes I scanned the tunnel. It was some kind of a junction point in the PATH train, with four tunnels meeting and going in different direction. But if there were electronic trips, I couldn't find them.

Of course that didn't mean there weren't other nasties to deal with.

"OK, let's go." I said, and began to help the others down into the tunnel.
 
OCC- Ok, since Edden isn't coming back-

IC-

One by one the company lowered into the dark tunnel of the PATH. Once, ages ago, it had been a central rail line between Manhattan and Jersey City. Now it was flooded and quiet, but not quite dead.

As the others were lowered, I spoke to each. "Stay tight and stay close. We don't plan to be in this tunnel long."

The others spread out, using what light they had to create a small illuminated circle. Deep in the caves we could hear the drops of the Hudson River, tons of water above us, dripping into the water.

The water was dark, brown and greenish, filled with garbage and waste from the days when the tunnel was alive with electricity and traffic. Now the water hid nothing.

"What about the electricity of the rail?" Asked Edwards, who seemed unhappy to be getting wet and generally displeased with this surroundings.

"Shouldn't be a problem with the power out." Said Jake, who was the last down.

"So what happened to the conduit?" Asked Rama, who also seemed displeased with the state of affairs.

I didn't blame him. This was an unexpected hickup, but that was the nature of the business.

"I figure it was a tremor, but it could have been corrosion from the water and salt. No matter, the conduit tunnel seemed to fall in as one large shaft. Chances are we will find the place it reconnects up the tunnel. We'll climb back in and continue till we get to Manhattan." I said.

"Is that save?" Asked Logan.

"Safer than this." Muttered Jake.

Somewhere in the tunnel, not so far away, I heard something splash.

That didn't please the others. We moved, careful not to make motion, down the tunnel about 150 feet until, looking up, we saw the opening of the access tunnel.

"Doesn't look too stable." Said Deeds, indicating that the joints that hell the conduit in place seemed to be loose and potentially dangerous.

"Nope. But the last bit held us, I reckon the rest will too." I said. "Let's get people up there."

Rama took the lead along with Eric, both of them climbing up the side to set the rope for the others.

With their departure our little circle of light got smaller.

"Jake, take point. I'll hold on till the rest of us are in." I said. Jake knew the conduit as well as I did and I trusted him. Besides he was better at disarming the electrical traps than I.

Jake went first, Rama and Eric helping to pull him up. Then went Jasmin.

I hadn't noticed that Edden had stepped away until Jasmin had disappeared down the conduit after Jake.

__________________

Edden has seen something move in the dark, beyond the light. More she felt it. Something was there.

And that it whispered, a voice, like a little girl. "Help me."

Careful not to speak, she found herself stepping away from the others. One step, than the other, and next thing she knew, she had traveled nearly 30 paces away.

And there she was, a little girl, no more than 5. A little blond haired angel, in a dirty white dress, up to her waste in the water.

"I'm not going to hurt you, " Said Edden, putting the shotgun away and reaching out.

"Why are you here?" Asked the Girl. "You're not supposed to be here."

"We're just passing through."

"YOu should not be here. This is not your place." She said.

Edden stepped forward, reaching out. It was then that she felt something glide over her feet. But she dismissed it as refuse and stepped closer.

This time she felt it wrap around her legs.

_____________

I had called to Edden but she didn't seem to be hearing. What ever she was looking for, it couldn't be good.

I hurried the pace, sending up Stowe and Edwards fast, leaving me and Deeds. I turned back to look for Edden who had disappeared around the bend.

Took two steps and saw her looking down into the water. And then she up in the air, with something long, like a tentacle, wrapped around her body.

She reached for her shotgun but it was trapped, and then she seemed to find a knife, and it was in her hands, stabbing.

I was reaching for my weapon. "Deeds, we got problems!" I yelled out.

The tentacle had her up in the air, almost to the height of the tunnel, wrapped up her legs around her hips. I could see they were squeezing her already. Had I not been squeezing off rounds I might have heard the legs breaking.

Then another tentacle came around and wrapped itself around her torso, around her arms. She screamed once more "Fucker!"

ANd then the thing broke in half.

I didn't wait to see her body hit the water or the maw that the tentacles would feed Eddens decapitated body.

I was running for the rope, seeing that Deeds had already gone up.
 
Stryfe could hardly move at the sight he had seen. After how many campaigns, battles, conflicts; Edden had survived them. She was but the last of the once proud organization called the Rangers. In the beginning a wet behind the ears recruit who would later become insane, but nonetheless true to her code as a Ranger.

She had died valiantly and without fear, and all Stryfe could feel in his gut was anger and sorrow... but above all, anger. Once again, this city had taken the last remnants of his past away, and he couldn't save her.

Not even turning back, Stryfe climbed the rope along with Deeds,

***********

When Stryfe had reached the surface his face was an unmoveable mask. He didn't want to hear any words of comfort. That was the way she wanted to go... in defiance.

"What now?" Stryfe asked, his voice as emotionless and as unscrutable as his expressionless visage.
 
occ- I am a bit busy- could someone pm Eric that he needs to get back in before I make him the next "in between' snack. Rama? Suaside?

ic-

"Go damn it, Go!"

I had just seen two tentacles split a person in half, and was willing to guess that there were more. Decapitation or being pulverized where not good ideas.

The tentacles had snaked at me as I had climbed up the rope, pulling the rope back and ducking back into the conduit tunnel. The others were crawling fast up the tunnel.

"Jake! Fast!"

Something banged hard against the side of the narrow conduit, then again, denting the metal crawlspace in on us. Then I heard something slap above the metal tunnel, and it seemed to jerk, knocking us off balance.

"Fucking A." Said Eric, who was ahead of me.

I pushed him forward, where he bumped into Rama who was also making his way down the tunnel. "Fucking A right. That thing is hungry. Move up before it tears this crawlspace off the wall."

The tunnel jerked again. A quick peek back saw the end of one tentacle creeping in the crawlspace behind me. At the end of it looked to be some kind of mouth with a tongue darting in and out past rather nasty looking fangs.
 
Logan hurried down the crawlspace. The screeching of rusted metal against concrete, the threathening sound of bolts giving way. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, but still, all this felt welcome to him. Only in these brief moments filled with fear and adrenalin, he was free of what had incessantly haunted his thoughts since he last saw Sara.

"Tentacles?" he thought.

Well, Logan was pretty well versed in the ways of the Wasteland, but tentacles? He had been expecting cannibalistic ghouls, rogue droids, huge mutated rats and maybe an assortment of Dire.

After all Logan had seen and been through first hand, rarely something caught him off guard, but New York would clearly do the trick...
 
OC- New character introduced is Alba's

IC-

The tentacled thing kept hitting our little crawlway.

WHam
Wham
Wham

"Move damn it!" I yelled to the others, that seemed to have not learned to appreciate the urgency of our circumstances.

But movement was slow and Jake was being careful not to run into any mechancial traps. That said, the possibility of a mechanical trap didn't seem to compare to a giant tentacled beasts.

I turned around and fired at the tentacle that was crawling through the conduit tunnel behind me. I would have moved further away, but Eric was stopped ahead of me.

My shots did little good. I fished for a flare and lit it, hoping to burn the creature.

Finally Eric began to move again as I was putting the firey end of my flare into the tentacle mouth.

It didn't seem to like that and lightening quick, it jerked back to the exit.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then WHAM.

Wham

The thing was slamming the conduit tunnel.

We turned a corner in the tunnel, then up a ladder to another tunnel, then around. It was slow work, loose electrical lines like vines tangling us, our clothes getting stuck in jagged pieces of metal and broken circuitry.

I could continue to hear the damage being done by the tentacled creatured, glad that we were leaving it behind.

Another corner and we came to an intersection with about 5 tunnels running in different directions.

Jake was trying to figure out which way to go. He looked up at me, and shrugged.

I looked at the map.

This wasn't on it.

"What's the problem?" Asked Deeds.

Figures it woudl be Deeds. "Looks like we're in the wrong tunnel. Guess we have to go back." I said.

"Fuck that." Said Eric.

I laughed.

"So which way?" Asked Deeds.

Jake was checking out the markings of the tunnel. "Looks like this is a juncture of different authorities. Here's a public works tunnel- probably plumbing. I'd think it was waste, but those are probably below us a few levels. This here is electrical- marked Con Ed. I bet that was how we came in."

"But that would also mean that we got through the PATH tunnels." I said.

Jake nodded. "That's Manhattan above us."

Something bigger than a rat but smaller than a tentacled beasted moved down one tunnel.

From another we heard a whirl and a buzz that could only mean a sentry bot on patrol.

Down one of the tunnels we heard a female voice. "This way, and hurry. Sentinel bots are around. Unless you want the Authority to get ya."
 
Logan was quite surprised to see the young girl coming out of the tunnel, she looked young and traveled light. For an instant, all guns were pointed straight at her, but she remained perfectly calm. Probably she understood that even the danger of a trap was nothing in comparison to what they had just escaped. In the corner of his eye, Logan could see Deeds aiming his rifle at her with his eyebrows twitching.

"Let's not do anything stupid, Deeds." Logan said as he stepped in front of him. He could feel his Deeds' angry eyes piercing his back. This yet again certainly didn't help the relation between both men.

Somehow Logan felt the girl was sincere. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but somehow, the vibe he got from her was good. Some people might call it karma, but Logan didn't quite believe in such concepts. The groups attention soon switched to the other end of the tunnel, as sounds of movement and buzzing edged closer and closer.

"Introductions will have to wait, lead the way out of here, girl." Logan said.

Kilrick was still at the back, but didn't intervene. Neither did Jake. Both men probably acted out of necessity & well weighed consideration. Logan had never really been a true member of the team & he was a skilled spy. There was probably no one better in the team to sniff out an ambush. Valuable, yet expendable.

Logan quickly followed the unnamed girl down the tunnel, as the others started to follow at a distance.
 
occ- No offence SUaside, but Deeds would normally stomp you into the ground for that. Thus this story. Also remember that we have a spy in our midst- which could be Eric, could be you, or could be someone else. (only I know the truth!)

IC-
I didn't like it.

First, Eric had been captured and then recaptured by us. We had little reason to trust him.

Logan had been more a burden than an asset thus far. The nanobots in his system might already be betraying our location to interested parties in Manhattan.

And there was the problem of having a spy in our company, someone we had yet to identify and who could be working with either Eric or Logan.

I caught the look from Deeds. Deeds wanted to stomp Logan to death.

I knew that he had wanted to since we had discovered that Logan carried a trace. He didn't trust Logan, and Logan had made his intentions quite clear that he had no loyalty to us either.

Even so, this was not the time to put a Logan's head to plasma.

I shook my head to Deeds than nodded down. He nodded, the message clear- follow along but don't trust.

I gave a similar to look to Rama, Jake, and Eric. The rest would follow.

It might have been a trap but given the choice of going back to the tentacle or wandering into a sentrybot, I figured it best to follow the girl.

If the girl was acting in collaboration to Logan, than he would have been able to send a signal out and make these arrangements without our noticing. Perhaps he had at the railway station, but I doubted it.

Deeds grabbed Logan by his armor, pulling the smaller man back and giving him a hard cuff to the head, knocking Logan down.

"Know your place botboy."

Logan resisted and tried to get up to fight, but Deeds just kicked him down. "You're lucky I don't kill you."

"Enough Deeds." I said.

Deeds smirked and took point behind the girl who was already moving ahead.

I helped Logan up.

"Thanks" He said, "That guy is an asshole."

"Stupid to mouth off to Deeds and not expect punishment. That guy has a job to do and he'll kill you to do it. And don't forget it. Besides he doesnt' trust you already, you don't want to piss him off more. " I said.

"Hey. I don't know..."

"Then you should know when to talk and when to shut up. You must have a short memory due to all those electric shocks, but the trust you've gotten is based on my credit and not earnings."

"I've never met that girl before." Protested Logan.

"You think Deeds cares about you or the girl? Do you know why any of us should believe you?" I said. "THat guy is already hyped up and suspicious by nature. And you still need to earn my trust."

"If you don't trust me than why follow?"

"Because I think you know better than betray us." I said. "But if I were you, I'd think about earning some trust."
 
I wasn’t sure what in the world these guys were doing or where they had come but they sure weren’t very smart. Fighting and arguing outside the central area was a great way to great yourself killed. I knew that these guys couldn’t be from the inner city. I mean, they obviously didn’t have any of our maps.

“Can ya at least try to keep it down? Ya want them to find ‘em to find us or what?” I whispered as started to lead ‘em down an old service duct.

I knew that there were noise detectors in some areas of the web, and that if you vibrated the strings, the SecCom, Security Compromise as the it was called a long time ago, system would on top of ya. SecCom alerts could last for days once started. I had seen what the bots could do and it wasn't pretty. As I continued down the dusty n narrow tunnel, I looked back to it is if anyone was following.
 
Logan stretched his neck a bit as Kilrick went ahead of him, it would be sore for at least a day, thanks to that mindless brute Deeds.

"Trust?" Logan whispered.

What a strange concept, considering that Logan always had been a spy, before everything in had started to fall apart with the disappearance of Sarah. There was but 2 persons he trusted in this hellhole: Sarah & himself.

In the eyes of Logan, the success of a mission was never based on trust. Motivation, necessity, mutual goals & a healthy dose of paranoia were key, trust was too often betrayed. How does one measure trust? How does one gain trust, when he is not allowed to act freely?

Kilrick sure was a weird piece of work...
 
Stryfe had got the glimpse of Logan, and for a moment all disdain came back. Logan had been a spy? Right? A man who was loyal to nothing but himself and his own selfish goals. Goals that would require everyone presents cooperation. But at the end he wasn't for Kilrick, he was for himself. A spy, a man without any sense of honor or duty.

Yet, Stryfe couldn't hold it against the man. Looking at Deeds, Rama had half a mind to kill the man and say it was an accident; something Stryfe had been proficient in the past. A simple thrust with his dagger would be enough; especially a stab between the fourth and fifth rib into the heart.

But no, Stryfe was served Kilrick for the time being. He was the man who hired him in the first place, and as such would obey his Contractor's wishes... for now.

There was always tomorrow.

Stryfe walked with the Laser Carbine in the crook of his rigle arm, keeping his eye on the mystery girl who appeared out of no where and at his back; making sure the tentacles that claimed his comrade wouldn't come back to haunt them. Whatever it was, it was hungry and it didn't seem its lust for flesh was abaited by Edden's tortured soul.

Stryfe didn't care for this trust concept. He wasn't a philospher and the only thing Rama trusted in was his steady hand and his own guile. To lean on others as a crutch of hope was to invite impending doom.

Rama gave Deeds and cold look and Deeds just returned it with his own version of a sneer. How Stryfe wanted to humble this man... to reach out with blinding force and grab his jaw and pound him into bloody jelly... That would have to wait.

They all needed eachother to get in... and get out of Manhattan. There was nothing else to it.

Rama took the chance to walk close to Kilrick, traversing Mady and Jasmin and past Deeds, who gave a grunt of disproval, but Stryfe seemed to have went temporaly deaf.

"Where is she leading us," Stryfe asked, his voice dropping to almost conspiratorial. "The Bots seem to be droning else where, since I get flickers of them on the sensor, but so far there is no movement... and I wonder." He gave a quick glance at the girl. Trying to measure her.
 
I kept leading the new comers down the maintenance duct. As we went, it angled down til it reached some where around 35 degrees. After about ten or so minutes, we came out into an open area, a subway station as it was called before. It would be our first lil’ challenge on the path back into the city. As I peered out of the end of the duct, I could see a few bots roving the area. Still I thought it was the safest way to go due to the lack of sensors in place.

I couldn’t tell how many bots there were, mostly because of all the boxes and pillars that were spread all over. The dimmed lighting didn’t help either. After we had all gotten out of the duct, I motioned for them to follow me. Not more than four steps off, someone began to whisper. I turned back placing a finger over my mouth as a sign to be quiet. We continued on, sneakin’ through the maze of crates, pillars and debris. About half way across the station, it happened, someone knocked over a stack of empty crates. I think it was the Asian looking guy but what the hell did it matter. There was no doubt that the bots would be all over us now.

“We have to get over to those boxes. It is our only chance.” I pointed to some crates stacked against the far wall in a barely light portion of the station. Even as I said this, the bots began to close. I pulled out my 357 and prepared to use it if I had to which I would. A shot rang out, whether it was from the group or the bots I’ll never know. In any case, I took a pair of shots at on coming bot, staggering it but lil’ more. We needed to get those boxes and to the path to Fanum or the bots would chew us up. I took a third shot at the bot. It fell unable to move though still working. Half my shots were spent as I started make my way, towards those crates, towards hope, towards Fanum.
 
Stryfe took point, crouching, laser rifle outfitted with a pointer. The laser beams were twice as hot as the conventional laser carbine. Sunbeam MK34 Laser rifles were deadly as they came, especially with after market modifications.

The beam traveled up an incoming Mr. Handy, a maintance bot by design but had become far deadlier since New York fell to the shadow of the steel empire weaving itself around New York.

Carib got the bot in sight, the second one knocked over by the woman's well aimed shots. Rama didn't give a visible ascent of aproval, but the girl had it, even if it weren't spoken aloud.

ZIIPPPPPPt!!!

The hot searing beam soared through the air and burned into the plate, just an inch off the sensor plate. Stryfe's original target. It sizzled and burnt into the durasteel armor, Stryfe could get the faint scent of ozone. He fired a second one, and the crimson beam of concentrated light smashed into the sensor dish. First super heating it at thousands of degrees and slowly melted the sensor plate, leaving the robot like a mentally addled child.

More were coming and Stryfe fired, trying his best not too waste too many shots on the droids. Times like these he needed Edden at his side. She always had some dangerous trick or two up her sleeve.

"Aim, if you can for the sensor plates. They won't be able to radio anyone within reach and they will be paralyzed." Rama barked inbetween laser parrys. The bots had defencive arms as well. As Stryfe could measure from the sound small arms. Mostly surpluss. Assault rifles, mostly AK-112 line, and perhaps a Combat shotgun or too. Stryfe didn't want to end up using EMP grenades and knock out the droids as well as the equipment they carried.
 
One of the big security bots came out of one of the side tunnels and turned a pair of .50 cals on us, pointed directly at where Stowe was hiding behind some crates.

I took two shots at it with my modified plasma rifle, but the hits didn't distract it, just knocked it aside.

Before I could stop myself I was running across the the concrete platform and throwing myself across the air in Stowe's direction.

.50 Cal bullets were tearing the crates to sawdust as my body hit hers and knocked her down. I put one arm over her to hold her in place as bit of wood began to hit my armor and sting my exposed skin.

WoooooooossshhhhhhHHH

BOOM!

SIzzzleee Zap!

I looked up. Jake with a RPG had hit the machine gun bot hard. It was still moving but banging into walls, out of control.

"We need to get the hell out of here. More Bots will be incoming." I yelled.

"This way." Said the girl who was moving towards a side tunnel.

Deeds seemed to be enjoying himself finally blasting at the bots with his lazer rifle. Deeds watched her go and yelled back. "She's going the wrong way."

What the hell did Deeds know. I looked at Stowe. She nodded. "If we're near the end of the PATH train we need to head either to Washington Square Park or further uptown to Columbia University."

Logan called back from his position. "We got more bots coming down those tunnels."

The rest of the group was still exchanging shots with the bots. Jake saw me looking at his direction and shook his head, mouthing, "we need to get out of here."

Which made the decision easier. "Follow the girl. Let's go."

The bots would only bring more friends.
 
Logan smiled and holstered his Scorpio SMG. The group had no choice left but to follow the girl. In the end, the whole scene about trust had changed nothing at all.

He quickly fastened the butstock & scope to his Gauss pistol, but didn't attach the prolonged barrel. With his guass gun ready for action, he cautiously advanced, taking aimed shots at any droid in sight. The 2mm bullets effortlessly pierced their designated targets, yet the shots had to be right on target to cause real damage due to the size of the bullets.

Slowly, he made his way from the tailend to the front of the group.
 
I moved low and fast towards where I last saw the girl.

If the fight lasted long the bot's would bring more weight in and they would cut off our escape.

To stand and fight was to be overwhelmed. The best I knew, there were no end to the hunter-killers of NYC.

I heard a cry out and the sounds of gunfire hitting skin.

I moved down a dusty stairwell, knocking aside a frightened rat, on hands and knees. One crate disappeared in a cloud of sawdust and splinters as a bot ripped it with .50 cal fire.

Quick and fast, quick and fast.

I made it to the girl who had been hiding low behind a concrete bench that was being chipped away by bot lead.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I think the bot has us both stuck. And I'm out of ammo." She said.

"Sorry we didn't get the chance to introduce ourselves." I said.

"This doesn't seem like a good time for pleasantries."

I handed handed her my single shot. 40 mm, then passed her an EMP shell. She seemed unfamiliar with the weapon so I took it out of her hands and loaded it.

"Can you fire with both hands?" I asked.

"I can try."

So I handed her a Watts pistol. "Aim with the single shot. That should take it down. IF you miss, hit it with the Watts and take cover. But wait for my move and then shoot. Cool?"

She nodded. The trick was bot speed and it's ability to adapt. I was banking it would be slower.

I turned around from the benching knowing I had but a brief second before the gun turned on me. Fired twice, hit once.

But the gun was now moving on me. The girl was coming out to fire.

I ducked and rolled back, feeling the air above my hand slit as .50 cal slugs broke through the air above.

She fired both barrels at the same time and then dropped into a roll back, knocking into me.

"Did you hit it?" I asked.

"Got me. I didn't want to look."

But whatever it was had stopped chipping away the concrete barrier.

I put a hand out, "Kilrick. I'm boss of this bunch."

She shook my hand "Terra."

I let go her hand and took back my .40 mm, and reloaded it.

I peeked over. The bot seemed to be fizziling and popping in a pile of crackling metal and wires.

Elsewhere the battle seemed to have peaked off, for now.

"Terra, where are you taking us." I asked.

"Somewhere safe." She said, holding the Watts.

"Keep it. Consider it payment for services rendered. Lead on then."

The others were all getting up and moving up, being cautious.

"Let's get going. We can expect more any moment and I don't want to be here when they come." I called back, as Terra began moving towards a dark tunnel.

"KIlrick, we lost Eric." Said Jake from back in the tunnel.

Fuck.

"Grab his gear and parcel it out. We need to go. Now." Another one down and we had been in the city for less than a day.
 
Stryfe checked the charge bar on the Carine laser rifle. Half empty or half full. Either way the EMP had knocked down the senrty bots. Of course, that didn't mean the systems that controlled them would find the silence in this area go unnoticed.

The team had suffered another loss and this time it was the asian Eric. Rama had owed the man a debt for his life, and unfortunately couldn't pay him back, now that he had gone to death.

The HK units had been taken down. Rama took a tentive look at one of the fallen bots, and noticed to his horrid surprise these machines had been adapted. He had seen them five years ago, and even then the machine had been tough, but these ones sported better armor plating along with deadlier accessories.

For some reason, Rama just dropped his chances of getting out of NYC alive a couple notches.

With that, he followed Terra and Kilrick, as always being the good grunt and not saying anything at all.
 
"Another one bites the dust..." Logan thought.

If life was cheap out in the wastes, then it was even worse in NYC. But still, no big loss, Logan felt no pity for the man. However, Eric had been considered suspicious as well and now he was gone. That would mean all hostility would now be directed at him.

He wondered if he should jump ship as soon as he had the chance...
 
Rama wasn't very the very social type. He was tired and he badly needed some caffeine in his system or he would probably end up slitting Deed's throat in the middle of the night.

As he walked closer, trying to stay close enough to Kilrick and just enough to the guide Terra, in case she was leading the proverbal flies into the web. Stryfe doubted any treachery from the woman would be of any gain. After all the machines didn't bargin with the humans... they simply killed them. No negotiations or bribes. Simple and coldy.

Just how Rama liked it.

What he didn't like Logan, though he had some affinity for Eric, who had saved his life from the cannibal mutants. But Logan, he was the worst sort of man. Of course, compared to Deeds, Logan was a prince.

As he got closer, he felt Deeds cut him off, as well as add insult into injury by trying to brush aside Stryfe. Which Stryfe wouldn't let pass, no now at least.

As Deeds thought his calculated brush would have gone unchallenged by the taciturn Stryfe... For if he took Stryfe's silence as weakness, he was sadly mistaken.

"Watch it," Rama said with mock concern as he thrusted Deeds' forward with his shoulder blade, causing Deeds to stumble. "you have to watch your step, 'Sir'."
 
I wasn’t really use to meeting up without anyone this far out and when I did they turned out to be real jerkwads, even after I had been nice enough to help them out. Somehow, though, this bunch seemed different. Then again this was the first time I had never encountered more than one person this far out in the web so meeting up with a group was, in its self, different. Still their leader seemed nice enough.

I led the group down some twisting tunnels until we reached a staircase that went back up. At the top was a door with an electronic lock system.

“So you still haven’t told us where we’re going, care to enlighten us?”

I wasn’t sure who had asked but it didn’t matter as they were entitled to know, or at least I thought they were. As I typed in the access codes for the door, I told them.

“We’re goin’ to a place called Fanum. It’s a sort of church for a group that calls themselves the Athean Order.”

“So we are going to a cultist church?” asked Kilrick.

“I guess you could call it that. The members Athean Order really just a bunch of scavers who take techonology a little too seriously.” I said.

“A little too seriously?” asked the man who got hit by the other earlier on.

“Well, they’re all cyborgs. But don’t worry they’ll let us in and they’re nice enough,….” I replied. “Hey, I don’t even know your name.”

“I’m Logan, and you’re?”

“Terra.” I replied

“Well Terra if you don’t mind my asking, how do you know so much about the city?”

“That would be dad’s doing. He taught me how to make maps, sneak around, and make contacts. Wandering around out here is all that I’ve really known since mother disappeared. And that dad’s gone as well….” I could feel myself beginning to tear up so I turned back to the door and opened it. As I did, a foul stench moved forth.

“You don’t expect us to go through there, do you girl?” It was the guy I think they called Deeds.

I turned back to face him. “Hey, I’m no girl! I’m seventeen years old! And no, I don’t expect you to want to go in there but it’s only semi-way I know out of this sector so I don’t see that you have a choice!”

From what gathered later on, Deeds would have normally smacked someone down for being angry at him, but he only laughed. Apparently he found me to be a joke.

“Semi-safe?” asked Kilrick.

“You ever hear the stories about monsters in the sewers?” I asked.

“Yes.”

As I walked through the doorway to the sewers, I called back, “Well, let’s just say that they aren’t stories.”
 
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