Day 2
Little Watch Inn
Near Frenchburg, Kentucky
Jet
left her pad running overnight on the desk, beside the phone. When Ruth
saw her through the window, she assumed Jet was awake. The cyborg sat
upright, dead still on the chair. The bed was clearly unslept in.
Did she even take her armour off?
Ruth knocked on the door. No answer.
"Jet!" she called. "Miss Jaguar, you awake in there?"
No
answer. She glanced through the window. Jet hadn't moved. There was
something so unnatural about her position. Both arms on the armrests,
feet planted firmly on the carpet and her head upright.
"Jet!" she banged on the door, starting to get a little worried.. "You alright?"
A moment.
"Yeah. One sec'"
She
saw Jet stand up, as if she'd been wide awake the whole time. It was
still eerie. She answered the door, looking as fresh and rested as it
was possible for her to look. "Mornin'" Jet said. "I Haven't gotten a
response yet. That could take a few days."
"Hadn't
expected one," Ruth shrugged, "I know you've got bigger problems up
there than a few bank robberies in the so-called ‘danelaw."
"That's why I was ordered here."
"Oh?"
"We
need to be sure there's no connection to the Boskonians. And if there
is, we need to know what it is. After Osaka, and SerenityCon, nothing's
being ignored,"
Jet's expression was harsh, and strangely cold.
"I heard of what happened at Osaka and SerenityCon. Hope you guys are giving them as much hell as you can for that."
"We're
trying," sighed Jet, "SerenityCon was the largest Boskonian attack of
the war. They tried to take out most of the fen leadership... we just
about held ‘em back." a pause. Jet snapped her fingers with a metallic
clack as she remembered something. Her expression brightened. "And I've
got to tell Janet what I found about her son, can you wait a few
minutes."
Ruth guessed it was good news. "Yea I can wait in the van."
"Great, this won't take too long."
Jet
found Janet still asleep. Not wanting to wake her, she just left a note
under her door, stating that Roy was alive and well, and doing CAP over
Helium city on Mars. Ruth had the van's engine running by the time she
got back.
"Feels good to deliver good news, Jet?"
"Yup. There's been too much bad news lately."
She still grimaced as she pulled the door behind her.
"Well every little bright spot of hope keeps us going. Going to head over to the Frenchburg robbery site"
Jet just nodded, and stayed oddly quiet for the rest of the journey.
Ruth
carefully pulled the van up to what had been the entrance to the bank,
stopping just before the police tape sealing it off. There wasn't much
around the bank, besides a store just down the road, most of the lots
around appeared to have been specifically cleared, like more had been
planned for this area. The bank itself, however was little more
scattered mounds of rubble... recognisable only by the remains of an
ATM, and the sign still on the ground.
"We
think they knocked all the external cameras out before they brought
that mech in. Given that they appeared to have picked someone up off
the roof in the video. Probably someone with a sledgehammer."
"Good reach," commented Jet, "Any sign they were using any sort of power armour?"
Ruth gave her head a shake, "Not that we know of."
"Damn," Using Panzer Kunst against ordinary people would be like using sledgehammer on an egg.
Ruth
pointed out some of the damage to the parking lot, "Foot prints from
it, a lot more all over the place compared to the other two. They
actually seemed to have gotten cleaner about their robberies."
"So they're still learning how to use it. Let's hope they fucked up then"
"I
really don't want to find out what happens when they become good with
it. They could flatten half a town before we can stop them and end up
flattening the other half ourselves doing it."
Jet thought.
"Worst
comes to worst, once I find this thing, you can call the airforce in
and blow it while it's outside the town. But I'd really rather we
capture people alive. Dead men tell no tales"
Ruth
nodded, "Yea, need to find out where that money is disappearing too.
More then money in those vaults, a lot of jewelry and other items that
hasn't turned up anywhere local."
"Well.
Can we wait until there's nobody around? I'd really rather as few
people as possible knew I was here,. Fox will have a bloody field day."
Ruth glanced at Jet, "Yea, but I don't know when the clean up crews will leave, they might have a night shift."
"Maybe they could do with a quick smoke break or something... somewhere where they can't see the bank."
Ruth laughed, "Well I could get out and just ask what their shift hours are...ere.... I don't think it will be a problem."
Jet
watched the deputy discuss it with the foreman, who seemed only to
happy to agree. The men packed themselves into a work truck and drove
off, leaving behind bits of equipment and a flatbed. "Odd time for a
break..." one commented, peering into the van. Jet was hiding in the
back.
She
was interrupted by the foreman, who just gave Jet a smirk through one
of the van's windows. He was wearing a small blue arm band, nothing but
a piece of cloth tied around his upper arm.
"Alright, all yours for half a hour."
Ruth just shook her head, "Figures."
Jet
double checked to be sure, using the traditional eyeball, and a more
thorough scan with her radar, and radio detectors. A pair of pilots
were talking about handwavium... but a quick triangulation put them at
about ten miles out, and heading away. Ruth watched the whole thing.
The cyborg stepped out of the van and stretched, looking glad to be out
of it, before both her wings swung up and locked into position. A pair
of stubby fins seemed to jut down... control surfaces the deputy
figured, until they started to move almost in tune with the antenna
hair.
"What the?" she murmured. Was she going to fly away or something.
"Radio's
clear," Jet announced with a thumbs up. Her wings snapped back into
place with a metallic click, almost on a thought. "Just some general
aviation, and the local pastor cursing fen to hell and damnation." She
noticed Ruth's expression. "What?"
Ruth gave herself a shake, "Just through you where about to take off."
"Nah, just making a quick scan. I didn't pick up anyone watching us so lets get to work."
It
looked like a demolition crew had been through there. The concrete in
the carpark was torn up, gouged by three-clawed paws. Chunks of
concrete lay impaled by bent re-bar, mixed with wood splinters and
paper.
"Has it rained since the attack?"
"Not that I know of, why?"
"Well...
if we're lucky there might still be handwavium traces... especially if
it scratched its paint on the concrete. It'll be like a fingerprint...
it'll stick to the people who're using it."
"Well,
there'll be water if God wills it," Ruth shifted through the rubble,
finding some trace amounts of yellow paint. She held up a piece of
brick to show Jet, "I'll take some scrapings of this as it doesn't
appear the work crew is using anything painted yellow."
"Don't let me touch them, I'll contaminate the sample. I'll see if there's anything around the vault,"
Nothing
but foundations, and more yellow paint scratches. Electrical cables and
ventilation ducts looked like they'd been ripped apart. There where
what looked like giant bite-marks on some of broken walls, scored with
what looked like silver traces of the metal the mech had been made of.
More samples to take.
"Wow," breathed Jet.
"Yup,"
Ruth put her hands in the pocket's of her brown deputy's jacket.
"That's exactly what I said when I first saw it. Scooped the whole damn
thing right out to take it who knows where."
"I've never seen anything like this," Jet said, putting one arm behind her head. "How long before the cleanup comes back?"
Ruth glanced at her watch, "About ten minutes or so."
"Right.
Time enough to get a few more samples, then on to the next bank. If
we're lucky we can be done before lunch," she smiled. "It's been a
while since I had fresh food,"
Just a few chips of concrete with metal traces on them was enough.
Ruth
nodded, "Can take you to the Stanton site and I don't think they've
started clean up there yet. The Campton site is still crawling with
people and reporters." Ruth headed for the van, "I know a little BBQ
place along the way, they do pick up orders."
"Great, Hope you don't mind me eating in the van. Be a bit of a shock for the locals if a Kunstler walked in the door,"
Jet
still looked uncomfortable sitting in the back seat. Ruth chuckled,
"Nope, just don't get it into the electronics we haven't even used in
years."
"Speaking of electronics. Do you know what a handwavium taster is?"
Ruth gave her head a shake. "Nope, is that like a food taster?"
"In
a way." Jet had to stop to think, "It's a tool for analysing handwavium
in a sample. You put a little bit of a sample in, and it gives off an
evil laugh before giving you a colour and level code. It's not hard to
use. I can't do it because my armour might contaminate the sample. It's
best if a wavium-free person uses it."
Jet deliberately didn't mention who invented it.
From
the evil laugh comment Ruth could guess, but chose not to. "Don't know
where I can get one at, much less the info on how to read it properly."
"I brought one with me, it's back at the motel. They're not hard to read."
Ruth started the van, "Alright, lets hit the next site then. I'll call ahead and order the BBQ and pick it on the way."
Jet licked her lips. "It's times like this that make me glad I can still taste."
Ruth
flipped open a cell phone and placed a order before she backed the van
out. Jet felt the signal disrupt her bodies systems for an instant. In
her mind, she was flexing her toes. In actually, she was adjusting the
exhausts on her thrusters. She listened to the deputy make the order,
not actually knowing what half the stuff she ordered was. Fresh food
sure beat the vitamin man.
After
Stanton, she'd show Ruth how to use the taster, then take an overflight
of the surrounding area for a few hours. Campton could wait until night
time.
One big question though. How do you stop a giant mech?
Stop whoever's piloting it. And if that's a built in AI?
The
barbecue didn't disappoint. Fresh meat... actual dead chicken parts
rather than flavoured tofu. Real potato chips, or ‘Fries', and a
crispy salad made with (reasonably) fresh picked vegetables.
"I have to admit, there are some advantaged to a danish lifestyle," said Jet with her mouth full.
Ruth laughed, "Yea I could see being near large sources of food as being a good thing."
"We have food. But what we get at Grunthall I think is for people who've lost the ability to taste,"
"I'll
bet," a beat. "So what are you exactly?... If you don't mind my askin'.
I saw you this morning sleeping in that chair, and then there are those
wings on your back. Does your armour even come off?"
"No"
said Jet, putting a piece of chicken down on a keyboard, "Long story
short, a few years ago it was just an armoured suit. I built and waved
it, and was kind of annoyed when it turned out a completely different
shape to me," she tapped the suit's chest, "Thanks to a quirk of the
handwavium. Sometime afterwards, I managed to accidentally fuse myself
to the suit,"
"So it's a part of you're body.... like a cyborg?"
"Yup," she smiled, freaking Ruth out a little.
"That must be awful,"
Jet
chuckled, "Everyone says that. Trust me, it's not as bad as you think.
The most annoying thing is the people who insist I'm female."
"But, you are a woman, aren't you?"
Damn. Jet grimaced.
"No. That's just how the suit was built, and my body was biomodded to fit."
Ruth just shuddered, "That's all kinds of disturbing,"
"It's not the worst. I can do some cool stuff. It can be pretty fun too."
On
question above all however, gnawed at Ruth's mind as she drove. Just
how in the heck did someone enclosed in armour like that go the
bathroom? It was a silly question, and one she could never ask, but it
bothered her all the way to Stanton.
The
Stanton site was more of the same. The same paw prints gouged out of
the ground. The same yellow paint scratches and metallic slashes. Again
Ruth took samples while Jet watched, careful not to contaminate.
The
destruction was much the same, the attackers seeming to have crashed in
from the east. The tornado shelter was still standing, bent a little
with the door burst open. There were thousands of dollars still on the
ground, coated with red dye when the ATM had been burst open.
It looked like blood.
The
vault was gone, scooped up out of the ground in much the same fashion.
Water had pooled in the foundation from a broken main. Jet kept an
antenna on the airwaves, looking for any signs they were being
monitored. She caught a civil band broadcast by chance.
"I
tell you boy, It was huge. A giant robot cat, right on down Mountain
valley three weeks ago. Must've been damn near twice the size of my
rig, straight across the road"
"You all full a shit Jodie. You been popping to many go pills or sommat. Giant robot cat my ass,"
Jet
spoke aloud as she radioed, "Jodie, Jodie this is," she chose a handle
of her cuff, "The Jaguar. You say you saw a giant cat too? Over"
Ruth looked at her like a madwoman, hearing only one side of the conversation. Jet just tapped her ears. ‘Radio,' she mouthed.
"Well hot damn lady Jaguar, I dang knew I weren't going crazy. You saw him too, a big yellow sucker? Over."
"Yup," she lied, "Where'd you see him man?" She tried to match the American accent. It came across a bit awkward.
"Mountain Valley, right by State Highway 378 heading northwest, where you see him Jaguar? Over"
She closed the channel. "Ruth, where were those photograph's taken again?" It was practically a demand.
"Joe Ward Fork Road, in Mountain Valley, why?"
Jet winked with a grin.
"Thanks
man. I saw him down on Joe Ward Fork Road while I was watching the
birds. Going past like a bat out of hell. Thank you kindly Jodie, if I
see you I'll buy you a beer. Jaguar out."
"Well I'll be getting into Stan..." Jet cut the channel.
Ruth was glaring, "That accent was awful,"
"My
own was too distinctive," explained Jet, a gleam in her eye. "I got
some truckers on civil band. One of them saw our cat three weeks ago,
near State Highway 378."
"Damn, that was lucky,"
"Yup," smirked the cyborg, "Sometimes you just happen to roll a natural three,"
And
plotted on a map, that'd give a general direction to search in.
Brilliant. When lady luck smiles, she smiles brightly. The duo spent a
few more minutes picking through the wreckage, Jet keeping an ear out
for more information. The skies above began to darken, a low cloud
rolling in.
A few spots of rain pecked at the van's windows.
"Can you fly in this Jet?" asked the Deputy.
A rumble of thunder answered from above.
"Lightning and cyborgs don't go well together."
Damn. For every boon, there had to be a bust. It was the order of the universe, wasn't it?
"Well, head on back to the inn, and we can plan for better weather tomorrow. And you can show me how to test those samples."
On the outskirts of Stanton, a lonely trucker waited in a lay-by.
"Yeah," nodded Jet, "That'd be the best."
An autumn storm had well and truly blown in by the time they reached Little Watch.
"Well, that's here for the rest of the day I reckon,"
Jet nodded, opening the door with her key. "I'd almost forgotten how annoying rain is. "
They
both rushed inside, chased by wind and rain. Water trickled off of jets
armour, pooling on the carpet underneath her feet. A message was
waiting on her Pad
>>From: alitagally@grunthall.fen
>>To: Juliette2@grunthall.fen
>>Subject: Kentucky Catnip
>>
Positive identification courtesy of Black and Red Riders. The cat mecha
is a Zoid, specifically >>a Zaber Fang(Sabre Tiger) model. The
truck appears to be a Gap Truck, based off of >>Command &
Conquer, which explains the disruption off the cellular network.
>>Black Rider will provide a device capable of neutralising the mech temporarily without
>>damage. They'll get it to you in approximately 36 to 48 hours.
>>-Alita
"We have a name for our Cat, It's called a Zaber Fang Zoid."
"Oh? What's a zoid anyway? Just a fancy name for a mech?"
Jet
shrugged, "Never heard of it. See what's on wikipedia about Zoids
tonight. We'll be getting some help in the next couple of days... if
you don't mind a few more fen dropping in,"
Ruth
chuckled "Nope, if they can avoid the DHS on their own. I don't think I
can get away with bluffing Smith again. Thou I figure he'll be keeping
his head down for a while."
"I'll
let them know... uh one moment," she held up her hand, before rooting
through the pouch attached to her hip, "Ahah!," she held up something
that looked like a watch, "A wrist-com, Mark 2 version. I don't need it
because my hardware does the same job, but I could be in the air when
they arrive, so you should be able to use this to talk to them, or me
securely."
Jet handed the device to a sceptical Ruth.
Ruth took it with a nod and looked it over. "Thank you."
"Just keep it out of the hands of the DHS, or any other danelaw, " she warned. "or I get the blame."
Ruth
nodded again, "I'll try." She slipped it into a pocket. "We should get
those samples tested." She pulled the sample bags from another pocket.
"Yeah.
The taster's on the table. You put the sample on the tray and close it.
Push the button, it'll make a mad-scientist's laugh and give you a
colour code, and a level. It's not exactly CSI."
Ruth
nodded and picked it up to carefully put the first of the samples in
the tray. She closed the tray and pushed the button. After the rather
creepy laugh she checked the results. "What the?"
"Oh, it gives you six colours, and the strength of each colour... as sea states because it's a wave. Get it?" she smirked.
The
cop gave her a dubious look "Yes," she glanced at the readouts.
"Yellow; Fair. Red; Tidal. Magenta; Heavy. Blue; Choppy. Cyan; Stormy.
Green; Becalmed."
Jet thoughts. "Makes sense for something that big and mechanical."
"I still don't understand what it means,"
"Uh...
the colours correspond to different effects and imprints the handwavium
has. Yellow is for engines and stardrives, red is for materials
alteration, magenta is for computer enhancements, blue is life support,
cyan is mechanical enhancements and green is for biomods."
The deputy paled. "Biomods!"
"Don't
worry, "Jet reassured, "If the reading's right, you'd need to
practically fall into a tank of this stuff to get a strong mod from
it," Or drink a pint or two of it, she remembered her own origin.
"Right... I'd rather not get a set of cat ears thank you very much,"
"Don't worry," repeated the cyborg, "it's pretty hard to get a mod."
After
that it was a case of lather, rinse and repeat. A few samples came up
white... meaning they were clean, though most matched the original. All
the handwavium used came from the one batch. Was the whole think waved
in one go then?
Next,
a map of the county. With Ruth's assistance, Jet marked off the two
places where there had been sightings of the Cat, and taking a ruler,
traced a line along the map extended in both directions.
"How
can we be sure it followed this line?" Ruth asked the obvious question.
"I mean, that runs along the valley for a bit, but it also runs over a
couple of ridges.,"
Jet
shrugged her metal shoulders, "As good a place as any to start though.
Especially if there's anything substantial under there."
"Nothing
but a few farms and a lot of tree cover. But nothing I know of big
enough to hide that that uh... zoid. There's nothing anywhere near
there big enough out there."
"The photographs were taken a week before the first raid, am I right?" Jet said.
Ruth nodded, "Yes."
"So
it was up there already before the raids started..... I'm guessing that
means they aren't repositioning it, but operating from somewhere near
here. It's a bit of a hunch... but they've hit places further away
before hitting Campton, which is closest." a pause. "That's pretty
shaky reasoning," she chuckled to herself.
Ruth
shrugged, "Better then nothing, also not a lot of places to hide it
under cover. Even using a plane search would take a good while if they
where just parking it outside somewhere."
"Well
it's a good first place to look. After that... maybe the forest... uh,
Daniel Boone national forest... here," she put her finger on the map,
"Since it's in the centre of all three sites, and is...well... where
I'd hide it."
Ruth looked at the map, "Yea, but they could want us to look away from where they actually are."
"Who
knows why. But if they are down there, it'll save me a lot of work. If
they aren't, we're going to have to find a way to trace them after
their next attack... if there is one." An idea "Or I have to get up in
the air as soon as it happens and visually spot them. Landlines still
work during the raids, don't they?"
Ruth nodded, "Yes."
"Brilliant,"
beamed Jet. "Right, as soon as the call comes in, call me using the
wrist-com or hotel phone if that doesn't work. If I can get up quick,
and get high enough. I might be able to see them without being seen.
That'll be plan B. What do you think?"
"Should work."
Jet answered with a very satisfied, "Grand so,"
"Well,
it's getting late Jet... I better get going and let you get some rest.
At least we're lucky the weather's keeping them out of the sky too,"
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow morning. And don't forget to train the watch to your voice,"
"I won't. Goodnight Jet,"
The door closed behind her. Jet checked the map, and the sample information noted down, then started typing on her pad.
>>From: [/url] Juliette2@grunthall.fen
>>To: alitagally@grunthall.fen
>>Subject: Kentucky Cat
>> Newest Developments. Chances are the people we're dealing with are just ordinary
>>squishies. They're not using power armour, and cybers are unlikely dirtside unless they're
>>bringing people in from above. That's a bit of a limiter. I can't fight them... you know what
>>Panzer Kunst does to a human body and we need them alive.
>>Weather has closed in for the night. I can't fly in a thunderstorm so my reconnaissance flight
>>has
been shelved until tomorrow. There's been some chatter about Cat
sightings on the civil >>bands and I've been able to narrow down
the search area quite a bit. If it's not down there
>>however, things get nasty. There's the big Daniel Boone national forest right smack in the
>> center of all three sites. That could take days to search by air. There's a plan B, but it relies
>>on there being another attack.
>>We
found paint traces and metal scrapings from the zoid. The samples are
small enough that >>my armour could contaminate them, so I've had
the deputy I'm working with test them with
>>the taster. The results are attached. As you can see, this thing's got enough computer
>>enhancement in it to probably have developed an AI, along with the mechanical and material
>>enhancements you'd expect. The low biomod trace is reassuring. Yellow and Blue traces
>>suggest it might not be spaceflight capable either.
>>I've also loaned that Wrist-Com to the deputy I'm working with, so she can contact me
>>securely. Don't worry, she's trustworthy and it works well with my comms. Plan B is for her to
>>contact me using it as soon as a robbery report comes in, and for me to get in the air and get
>>a visual fix on them as they escape. Hopefully it's radio won't be affected by the mobile
>>disruption. If it is, landline phones aren't, but will take much longer.
>>The frequency hasn't been changed if the delivery team need to contact her directly. They'll
>>have to dodge DHS, so coming through an airport is out of the question.
>>Tomorrow, weather permitting, I can conduct a search flight over the Mountain Valley area.
>>Once we find it we can begin planning how to take it and it's operators down. I may need
>>assistance to handle the meat aspect of this. What's the policy on involving local law
>>enforcement on this?
>>That
can be a last resort, depending on what's available. I'd prefer to keep
‘danelaw out of >>this as much as possible. Right now we're still
at a deniable level. A deputy who may be BBI,
>>and the State Governor knows fenspace is involved in this, and that's about it.
>>-JJ
>> P.S. Any chance of getting the latest motorball scores. Can't get the site from down here.
--->>
Unknown, Kentucky
"We're going to move the time table up, word has come down from the
boss that we have a snoop about. He is really happy with the haul from
the banks so we're all getting bonus." The man raised his hands silence
the cheer then pointed to one of the others in the room. "Go get the
puppet ready for the closing act." He then pointed to two others, "Go
get the weapon ready for our toy, I want to see the puppet taking down
anything that flies during the closing act." The three picked left the
room. "The rest of us get to start tying up lose ends. Most of our
current marks haven't finished making use of their samples." He clapped
his hands together, "So lets be about it."
_______________________________________________________________
Characters
[url=http://www.fenspace.net/index.php5?title=Sabre_Fang]Sabre Fang
Dakota
Little Watch Inn
Near Frenchburg, Kentucky
Jet
left her pad running overnight on the desk, beside the phone. When Ruth
saw her through the window, she assumed Jet was awake. The cyborg sat
upright, dead still on the chair. The bed was clearly unslept in.
Did she even take her armour off?
Ruth knocked on the door. No answer.
"Jet!" she called. "Miss Jaguar, you awake in there?"
No
answer. She glanced through the window. Jet hadn't moved. There was
something so unnatural about her position. Both arms on the armrests,
feet planted firmly on the carpet and her head upright.
"Jet!" she banged on the door, starting to get a little worried.. "You alright?"
A moment.
"Yeah. One sec'"
She
saw Jet stand up, as if she'd been wide awake the whole time. It was
still eerie. She answered the door, looking as fresh and rested as it
was possible for her to look. "Mornin'" Jet said. "I Haven't gotten a
response yet. That could take a few days."
"Hadn't
expected one," Ruth shrugged, "I know you've got bigger problems up
there than a few bank robberies in the so-called ‘danelaw."
"That's why I was ordered here."
"Oh?"
"We
need to be sure there's no connection to the Boskonians. And if there
is, we need to know what it is. After Osaka, and SerenityCon, nothing's
being ignored,"
Jet's expression was harsh, and strangely cold.
"I heard of what happened at Osaka and SerenityCon. Hope you guys are giving them as much hell as you can for that."
"We're
trying," sighed Jet, "SerenityCon was the largest Boskonian attack of
the war. They tried to take out most of the fen leadership... we just
about held ‘em back." a pause. Jet snapped her fingers with a metallic
clack as she remembered something. Her expression brightened. "And I've
got to tell Janet what I found about her son, can you wait a few
minutes."
Ruth guessed it was good news. "Yea I can wait in the van."
"Great, this won't take too long."
Jet
found Janet still asleep. Not wanting to wake her, she just left a note
under her door, stating that Roy was alive and well, and doing CAP over
Helium city on Mars. Ruth had the van's engine running by the time she
got back.
"Feels good to deliver good news, Jet?"
"Yup. There's been too much bad news lately."
She still grimaced as she pulled the door behind her.
"Well every little bright spot of hope keeps us going. Going to head over to the Frenchburg robbery site"
Jet just nodded, and stayed oddly quiet for the rest of the journey.
Ruth
carefully pulled the van up to what had been the entrance to the bank,
stopping just before the police tape sealing it off. There wasn't much
around the bank, besides a store just down the road, most of the lots
around appeared to have been specifically cleared, like more had been
planned for this area. The bank itself, however was little more
scattered mounds of rubble... recognisable only by the remains of an
ATM, and the sign still on the ground.
"We
think they knocked all the external cameras out before they brought
that mech in. Given that they appeared to have picked someone up off
the roof in the video. Probably someone with a sledgehammer."
"Good reach," commented Jet, "Any sign they were using any sort of power armour?"
Ruth gave her head a shake, "Not that we know of."
"Damn," Using Panzer Kunst against ordinary people would be like using sledgehammer on an egg.
Ruth
pointed out some of the damage to the parking lot, "Foot prints from
it, a lot more all over the place compared to the other two. They
actually seemed to have gotten cleaner about their robberies."
"So they're still learning how to use it. Let's hope they fucked up then"
"I
really don't want to find out what happens when they become good with
it. They could flatten half a town before we can stop them and end up
flattening the other half ourselves doing it."
Jet thought.
"Worst
comes to worst, once I find this thing, you can call the airforce in
and blow it while it's outside the town. But I'd really rather we
capture people alive. Dead men tell no tales"
Ruth
nodded, "Yea, need to find out where that money is disappearing too.
More then money in those vaults, a lot of jewelry and other items that
hasn't turned up anywhere local."
"Well.
Can we wait until there's nobody around? I'd really rather as few
people as possible knew I was here,. Fox will have a bloody field day."
Ruth glanced at Jet, "Yea, but I don't know when the clean up crews will leave, they might have a night shift."
"Maybe they could do with a quick smoke break or something... somewhere where they can't see the bank."
Ruth laughed, "Well I could get out and just ask what their shift hours are...ere.... I don't think it will be a problem."
Jet
watched the deputy discuss it with the foreman, who seemed only to
happy to agree. The men packed themselves into a work truck and drove
off, leaving behind bits of equipment and a flatbed. "Odd time for a
break..." one commented, peering into the van. Jet was hiding in the
back.
She
was interrupted by the foreman, who just gave Jet a smirk through one
of the van's windows. He was wearing a small blue arm band, nothing but
a piece of cloth tied around his upper arm.
"Alright, all yours for half a hour."
Ruth just shook her head, "Figures."
Jet
double checked to be sure, using the traditional eyeball, and a more
thorough scan with her radar, and radio detectors. A pair of pilots
were talking about handwavium... but a quick triangulation put them at
about ten miles out, and heading away. Ruth watched the whole thing.
The cyborg stepped out of the van and stretched, looking glad to be out
of it, before both her wings swung up and locked into position. A pair
of stubby fins seemed to jut down... control surfaces the deputy
figured, until they started to move almost in tune with the antenna
hair.
"What the?" she murmured. Was she going to fly away or something.
"Radio's
clear," Jet announced with a thumbs up. Her wings snapped back into
place with a metallic click, almost on a thought. "Just some general
aviation, and the local pastor cursing fen to hell and damnation." She
noticed Ruth's expression. "What?"
Ruth gave herself a shake, "Just through you where about to take off."
"Nah, just making a quick scan. I didn't pick up anyone watching us so lets get to work."
It
looked like a demolition crew had been through there. The concrete in
the carpark was torn up, gouged by three-clawed paws. Chunks of
concrete lay impaled by bent re-bar, mixed with wood splinters and
paper.
"Has it rained since the attack?"
"Not that I know of, why?"
"Well...
if we're lucky there might still be handwavium traces... especially if
it scratched its paint on the concrete. It'll be like a fingerprint...
it'll stick to the people who're using it."
"Well,
there'll be water if God wills it," Ruth shifted through the rubble,
finding some trace amounts of yellow paint. She held up a piece of
brick to show Jet, "I'll take some scrapings of this as it doesn't
appear the work crew is using anything painted yellow."
"Don't let me touch them, I'll contaminate the sample. I'll see if there's anything around the vault,"
Nothing
but foundations, and more yellow paint scratches. Electrical cables and
ventilation ducts looked like they'd been ripped apart. There where
what looked like giant bite-marks on some of broken walls, scored with
what looked like silver traces of the metal the mech had been made of.
More samples to take.
"Wow," breathed Jet.
"Yup,"
Ruth put her hands in the pocket's of her brown deputy's jacket.
"That's exactly what I said when I first saw it. Scooped the whole damn
thing right out to take it who knows where."
"I've never seen anything like this," Jet said, putting one arm behind her head. "How long before the cleanup comes back?"
Ruth glanced at her watch, "About ten minutes or so."
"Right.
Time enough to get a few more samples, then on to the next bank. If
we're lucky we can be done before lunch," she smiled. "It's been a
while since I had fresh food,"
Just a few chips of concrete with metal traces on them was enough.
Ruth
nodded, "Can take you to the Stanton site and I don't think they've
started clean up there yet. The Campton site is still crawling with
people and reporters." Ruth headed for the van, "I know a little BBQ
place along the way, they do pick up orders."
"Great, Hope you don't mind me eating in the van. Be a bit of a shock for the locals if a Kunstler walked in the door,"
Jet
still looked uncomfortable sitting in the back seat. Ruth chuckled,
"Nope, just don't get it into the electronics we haven't even used in
years."
"Speaking of electronics. Do you know what a handwavium taster is?"
Ruth gave her head a shake. "Nope, is that like a food taster?"
"In
a way." Jet had to stop to think, "It's a tool for analysing handwavium
in a sample. You put a little bit of a sample in, and it gives off an
evil laugh before giving you a colour and level code. It's not hard to
use. I can't do it because my armour might contaminate the sample. It's
best if a wavium-free person uses it."
Jet deliberately didn't mention who invented it.
From
the evil laugh comment Ruth could guess, but chose not to. "Don't know
where I can get one at, much less the info on how to read it properly."
"I brought one with me, it's back at the motel. They're not hard to read."
Ruth started the van, "Alright, lets hit the next site then. I'll call ahead and order the BBQ and pick it on the way."
Jet licked her lips. "It's times like this that make me glad I can still taste."
Ruth
flipped open a cell phone and placed a order before she backed the van
out. Jet felt the signal disrupt her bodies systems for an instant. In
her mind, she was flexing her toes. In actually, she was adjusting the
exhausts on her thrusters. She listened to the deputy make the order,
not actually knowing what half the stuff she ordered was. Fresh food
sure beat the vitamin man.
After
Stanton, she'd show Ruth how to use the taster, then take an overflight
of the surrounding area for a few hours. Campton could wait until night
time.
One big question though. How do you stop a giant mech?
Stop whoever's piloting it. And if that's a built in AI?
The
barbecue didn't disappoint. Fresh meat... actual dead chicken parts
rather than flavoured tofu. Real potato chips, or ‘Fries', and a
crispy salad made with (reasonably) fresh picked vegetables.
"I have to admit, there are some advantaged to a danish lifestyle," said Jet with her mouth full.
Ruth laughed, "Yea I could see being near large sources of food as being a good thing."
"We have food. But what we get at Grunthall I think is for people who've lost the ability to taste,"
"I'll
bet," a beat. "So what are you exactly?... If you don't mind my askin'.
I saw you this morning sleeping in that chair, and then there are those
wings on your back. Does your armour even come off?"
"No"
said Jet, putting a piece of chicken down on a keyboard, "Long story
short, a few years ago it was just an armoured suit. I built and waved
it, and was kind of annoyed when it turned out a completely different
shape to me," she tapped the suit's chest, "Thanks to a quirk of the
handwavium. Sometime afterwards, I managed to accidentally fuse myself
to the suit,"
"So it's a part of you're body.... like a cyborg?"
"Yup," she smiled, freaking Ruth out a little.
"That must be awful,"
Jet
chuckled, "Everyone says that. Trust me, it's not as bad as you think.
The most annoying thing is the people who insist I'm female."
"But, you are a woman, aren't you?"
Damn. Jet grimaced.
"No. That's just how the suit was built, and my body was biomodded to fit."
Ruth just shuddered, "That's all kinds of disturbing,"
"It's not the worst. I can do some cool stuff. It can be pretty fun too."
On
question above all however, gnawed at Ruth's mind as she drove. Just
how in the heck did someone enclosed in armour like that go the
bathroom? It was a silly question, and one she could never ask, but it
bothered her all the way to Stanton.
The
Stanton site was more of the same. The same paw prints gouged out of
the ground. The same yellow paint scratches and metallic slashes. Again
Ruth took samples while Jet watched, careful not to contaminate.
The
destruction was much the same, the attackers seeming to have crashed in
from the east. The tornado shelter was still standing, bent a little
with the door burst open. There were thousands of dollars still on the
ground, coated with red dye when the ATM had been burst open.
It looked like blood.
The
vault was gone, scooped up out of the ground in much the same fashion.
Water had pooled in the foundation from a broken main. Jet kept an
antenna on the airwaves, looking for any signs they were being
monitored. She caught a civil band broadcast by chance.
"I
tell you boy, It was huge. A giant robot cat, right on down Mountain
valley three weeks ago. Must've been damn near twice the size of my
rig, straight across the road"
"You all full a shit Jodie. You been popping to many go pills or sommat. Giant robot cat my ass,"
Jet
spoke aloud as she radioed, "Jodie, Jodie this is," she chose a handle
of her cuff, "The Jaguar. You say you saw a giant cat too? Over"
Ruth looked at her like a madwoman, hearing only one side of the conversation. Jet just tapped her ears. ‘Radio,' she mouthed.
"Well hot damn lady Jaguar, I dang knew I weren't going crazy. You saw him too, a big yellow sucker? Over."
"Yup," she lied, "Where'd you see him man?" She tried to match the American accent. It came across a bit awkward.
"Mountain Valley, right by State Highway 378 heading northwest, where you see him Jaguar? Over"
She closed the channel. "Ruth, where were those photograph's taken again?" It was practically a demand.
"Joe Ward Fork Road, in Mountain Valley, why?"
Jet winked with a grin.
"Thanks
man. I saw him down on Joe Ward Fork Road while I was watching the
birds. Going past like a bat out of hell. Thank you kindly Jodie, if I
see you I'll buy you a beer. Jaguar out."
"Well I'll be getting into Stan..." Jet cut the channel.
Ruth was glaring, "That accent was awful,"
"My
own was too distinctive," explained Jet, a gleam in her eye. "I got
some truckers on civil band. One of them saw our cat three weeks ago,
near State Highway 378."
"Damn, that was lucky,"
"Yup," smirked the cyborg, "Sometimes you just happen to roll a natural three,"
And
plotted on a map, that'd give a general direction to search in.
Brilliant. When lady luck smiles, she smiles brightly. The duo spent a
few more minutes picking through the wreckage, Jet keeping an ear out
for more information. The skies above began to darken, a low cloud
rolling in.
A few spots of rain pecked at the van's windows.
"Can you fly in this Jet?" asked the Deputy.
A rumble of thunder answered from above.
"Lightning and cyborgs don't go well together."
Damn. For every boon, there had to be a bust. It was the order of the universe, wasn't it?
"Well, head on back to the inn, and we can plan for better weather tomorrow. And you can show me how to test those samples."
On the outskirts of Stanton, a lonely trucker waited in a lay-by.
"Yeah," nodded Jet, "That'd be the best."
An autumn storm had well and truly blown in by the time they reached Little Watch.
"Well, that's here for the rest of the day I reckon,"
Jet nodded, opening the door with her key. "I'd almost forgotten how annoying rain is. "
They
both rushed inside, chased by wind and rain. Water trickled off of jets
armour, pooling on the carpet underneath her feet. A message was
waiting on her Pad
>>From: alitagally@grunthall.fen
>>To: Juliette2@grunthall.fen
>>Subject: Kentucky Catnip
>>
Positive identification courtesy of Black and Red Riders. The cat mecha
is a Zoid, specifically >>a Zaber Fang(Sabre Tiger) model. The
truck appears to be a Gap Truck, based off of >>Command &
Conquer, which explains the disruption off the cellular network.
>>Black Rider will provide a device capable of neutralising the mech temporarily without
>>damage. They'll get it to you in approximately 36 to 48 hours.
>>-Alita
"We have a name for our Cat, It's called a Zaber Fang Zoid."
"Oh? What's a zoid anyway? Just a fancy name for a mech?"
Jet
shrugged, "Never heard of it. See what's on wikipedia about Zoids
tonight. We'll be getting some help in the next couple of days... if
you don't mind a few more fen dropping in,"
Ruth
chuckled "Nope, if they can avoid the DHS on their own. I don't think I
can get away with bluffing Smith again. Thou I figure he'll be keeping
his head down for a while."
"I'll
let them know... uh one moment," she held up her hand, before rooting
through the pouch attached to her hip, "Ahah!," she held up something
that looked like a watch, "A wrist-com, Mark 2 version. I don't need it
because my hardware does the same job, but I could be in the air when
they arrive, so you should be able to use this to talk to them, or me
securely."
Jet handed the device to a sceptical Ruth.
Ruth took it with a nod and looked it over. "Thank you."
"Just keep it out of the hands of the DHS, or any other danelaw, " she warned. "or I get the blame."
Ruth
nodded again, "I'll try." She slipped it into a pocket. "We should get
those samples tested." She pulled the sample bags from another pocket.
"Yeah.
The taster's on the table. You put the sample on the tray and close it.
Push the button, it'll make a mad-scientist's laugh and give you a
colour code, and a level. It's not exactly CSI."
Ruth
nodded and picked it up to carefully put the first of the samples in
the tray. She closed the tray and pushed the button. After the rather
creepy laugh she checked the results. "What the?"
"Oh, it gives you six colours, and the strength of each colour... as sea states because it's a wave. Get it?" she smirked.
The
cop gave her a dubious look "Yes," she glanced at the readouts.
"Yellow; Fair. Red; Tidal. Magenta; Heavy. Blue; Choppy. Cyan; Stormy.
Green; Becalmed."
Jet thoughts. "Makes sense for something that big and mechanical."
"I still don't understand what it means,"
"Uh...
the colours correspond to different effects and imprints the handwavium
has. Yellow is for engines and stardrives, red is for materials
alteration, magenta is for computer enhancements, blue is life support,
cyan is mechanical enhancements and green is for biomods."
The deputy paled. "Biomods!"
"Don't
worry, "Jet reassured, "If the reading's right, you'd need to
practically fall into a tank of this stuff to get a strong mod from
it," Or drink a pint or two of it, she remembered her own origin.
"Right... I'd rather not get a set of cat ears thank you very much,"
"Don't worry," repeated the cyborg, "it's pretty hard to get a mod."
After
that it was a case of lather, rinse and repeat. A few samples came up
white... meaning they were clean, though most matched the original. All
the handwavium used came from the one batch. Was the whole think waved
in one go then?
Next,
a map of the county. With Ruth's assistance, Jet marked off the two
places where there had been sightings of the Cat, and taking a ruler,
traced a line along the map extended in both directions.
"How
can we be sure it followed this line?" Ruth asked the obvious question.
"I mean, that runs along the valley for a bit, but it also runs over a
couple of ridges.,"
Jet
shrugged her metal shoulders, "As good a place as any to start though.
Especially if there's anything substantial under there."
"Nothing
but a few farms and a lot of tree cover. But nothing I know of big
enough to hide that that uh... zoid. There's nothing anywhere near
there big enough out there."
"The photographs were taken a week before the first raid, am I right?" Jet said.
Ruth nodded, "Yes."
"So
it was up there already before the raids started..... I'm guessing that
means they aren't repositioning it, but operating from somewhere near
here. It's a bit of a hunch... but they've hit places further away
before hitting Campton, which is closest." a pause. "That's pretty
shaky reasoning," she chuckled to herself.
Ruth
shrugged, "Better then nothing, also not a lot of places to hide it
under cover. Even using a plane search would take a good while if they
where just parking it outside somewhere."
"Well
it's a good first place to look. After that... maybe the forest... uh,
Daniel Boone national forest... here," she put her finger on the map,
"Since it's in the centre of all three sites, and is...well... where
I'd hide it."
Ruth looked at the map, "Yea, but they could want us to look away from where they actually are."
"Who
knows why. But if they are down there, it'll save me a lot of work. If
they aren't, we're going to have to find a way to trace them after
their next attack... if there is one." An idea "Or I have to get up in
the air as soon as it happens and visually spot them. Landlines still
work during the raids, don't they?"
Ruth nodded, "Yes."
"Brilliant,"
beamed Jet. "Right, as soon as the call comes in, call me using the
wrist-com or hotel phone if that doesn't work. If I can get up quick,
and get high enough. I might be able to see them without being seen.
That'll be plan B. What do you think?"
"Should work."
Jet answered with a very satisfied, "Grand so,"
"Well,
it's getting late Jet... I better get going and let you get some rest.
At least we're lucky the weather's keeping them out of the sky too,"
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow morning. And don't forget to train the watch to your voice,"
"I won't. Goodnight Jet,"
The door closed behind her. Jet checked the map, and the sample information noted down, then started typing on her pad.
>>From: [/url] Juliette2@grunthall.fen
>>To: alitagally@grunthall.fen
>>Subject: Kentucky Cat
>> Newest Developments. Chances are the people we're dealing with are just ordinary
>>squishies. They're not using power armour, and cybers are unlikely dirtside unless they're
>>bringing people in from above. That's a bit of a limiter. I can't fight them... you know what
>>Panzer Kunst does to a human body and we need them alive.
>>Weather has closed in for the night. I can't fly in a thunderstorm so my reconnaissance flight
>>has
been shelved until tomorrow. There's been some chatter about Cat
sightings on the civil >>bands and I've been able to narrow down
the search area quite a bit. If it's not down there
>>however, things get nasty. There's the big Daniel Boone national forest right smack in the
>> center of all three sites. That could take days to search by air. There's a plan B, but it relies
>>on there being another attack.
>>We
found paint traces and metal scrapings from the zoid. The samples are
small enough that >>my armour could contaminate them, so I've had
the deputy I'm working with test them with
>>the taster. The results are attached. As you can see, this thing's got enough computer
>>enhancement in it to probably have developed an AI, along with the mechanical and material
>>enhancements you'd expect. The low biomod trace is reassuring. Yellow and Blue traces
>>suggest it might not be spaceflight capable either.
>>I've also loaned that Wrist-Com to the deputy I'm working with, so she can contact me
>>securely. Don't worry, she's trustworthy and it works well with my comms. Plan B is for her to
>>contact me using it as soon as a robbery report comes in, and for me to get in the air and get
>>a visual fix on them as they escape. Hopefully it's radio won't be affected by the mobile
>>disruption. If it is, landline phones aren't, but will take much longer.
>>The frequency hasn't been changed if the delivery team need to contact her directly. They'll
>>have to dodge DHS, so coming through an airport is out of the question.
>>Tomorrow, weather permitting, I can conduct a search flight over the Mountain Valley area.
>>Once we find it we can begin planning how to take it and it's operators down. I may need
>>assistance to handle the meat aspect of this. What's the policy on involving local law
>>enforcement on this?
>>That
can be a last resort, depending on what's available. I'd prefer to keep
‘danelaw out of >>this as much as possible. Right now we're still
at a deniable level. A deputy who may be BBI,
>>and the State Governor knows fenspace is involved in this, and that's about it.
>>-JJ
>> P.S. Any chance of getting the latest motorball scores. Can't get the site from down here.
--->>
Unknown, Kentucky
"We're going to move the time table up, word has come down from the
boss that we have a snoop about. He is really happy with the haul from
the banks so we're all getting bonus." The man raised his hands silence
the cheer then pointed to one of the others in the room. "Go get the
puppet ready for the closing act." He then pointed to two others, "Go
get the weapon ready for our toy, I want to see the puppet taking down
anything that flies during the closing act." The three picked left the
room. "The rest of us get to start tying up lose ends. Most of our
current marks haven't finished making use of their samples." He clapped
his hands together, "So lets be about it."
_______________________________________________________________
Characters
[url=http://www.fenspace.net/index.php5?title=Sabre_Fang]Sabre Fang
Dakota
Warning:
Dihydrogen monoxide
Containment Vessel
Dihydrogen monoxide
Containment Vessel