Rodrigo ‘Tex’ Silvershot moved through the halls of the island compound with his hand on his revolver. He was in full gear, with a repeater strapped to his back and spurs ringing lightly with every step. Appearance was half of identity, and he was well aware of that fact. He played fully into his image. Especially after his little sister threw a fit when he used to just rock whatever he wanted.

Tex dipped his cowboy hat low to a passing maid carting a tray of food. She blushed slightly, and pulled into a broken curtsy just behind her cart. It looked like something she’d seen on the TV once and tried to imitate without actually practicing it ever before.

The merc rubbed his eye lightly as the scanner cut off. She was clean. The only weapon she had on her, unless more were hidden beyond the range of his scanners, was the butter knife on the tray of food. Still, he watched her for a moment longer before turning on his way. Something wasn’t quite right, but he couldn’t put his finger on what.

He continued his patrol route through the complex. Technically, he should be right next to the client and not move without him. Tex couldn’t stand the insufferable man, though, and patrolling was a good enough excuse to get away. He had another well-known merc next to him anyway, and more were set to arrive tomorrow.

‘Sides that, there was another reason to patrol. Something was off. There was tension in the air, and the guards scattered around the place constantly glanced at each other as if waiting for the other to move. They were subtle things, though little escaped his senses.

Tex wasn’t sure if it was a mutation, Kinetic ability, or just some kind of freakish part of his brain, but nothing escaped his eye. His kid-sister called it All Knowing Eye Of The Demon King, though that was usually after he grounded her for klepping stuff again. He simply preferred Observation.

Something didn’t feel right. He paused mid-step, and instead turned back to the dining room. He knew about the stream and the planned attacks tonight, naturally. That wasn’t a concern for him. Let them come. He’d put them six-feet under just the same.

His concerns were over something much more sinister—a betrayal. He’d felt it coming, and his instincts had been screaming ever since he first saw the small army that the councilman helped Dorrin hire. More numbers were swell, yeah, but that also meant it was all the easier for a traitor to slip in.

Not to mention the way the guards moved about this place was ever so slightly off. It was like they were isolating Dorrin into a small section of the complex away from the rest of Tornado’s security. A quick walk around the mostly empty complex only confirmed his worries.

Tex slipped through the double doors of the dining room, and spotted Mr. Gale picking at a vast assortment of food. The meal was excessive to a gluttonous fault, and yet the CEO only picked at stuff without eating much. That changed when the maid from the hall approached and pulled off the platter cover, revealing a lasagna.

Tex moved around the hall, and nodded to the other merc standing on guard duty. Cole Carson, or something like that. The two worked together once before, so it was nice to have a friendly face around.

”Ah, Tex. Finish your little patrol?” Dorrin lazily asked as he poked at the lasagna. “Finally decided to come back and join us?”

”Just keeping you safe, sir.” Tex bit the words out.

“Sure, sure.” Dorrin stabbed the food, and slowly started to eat. “Why are you so worried? I’ve hired several hundred guards to protect me.”

”That’s what I’m worried about.” Any number of them could turn traitors. There was a reason even the security manager okayed having most of them posted elsewhere. Five million wasn’t a small sum. Twenty million was even bigger.

“You worry too much.” Dorrin went back to eating. About halfway through the meal, the fork slipped from his fingers.

“Something wrong, sir?” Tex took a step toward the client.

“I—I dun’t… feel…” Dorrin slumped forward, and fell face first into his food. In the corner of Tex’s HUD, a popup of his client’s vitals showed them crashing.

”Damnit!” Tex rushed over to Dorrin just as he started to convulse and carefully pulled him onto the ground so he wouldn’t injure himself. His revolver snapped into his hand, and he checked back on the other merc. “Didn’t you check for poison?”

“It bypassed my scanner!” Cole grabbed an emergency kit, and rushed over to them. A moment later, he slammed an injector into Dorrin’s chest. The convulsing abruptly stopped, though he was still unresponsive. Cole quickly attached several scanners to the client.

“Medtech on their way?” Tex asked. Dorrin had the highest package with the megacorp, so a Medevac should’ve been sent out even if he just sneezed wrong, let alone being poisoned.

“Negative.” Cole tapped around on a different scanner and injected something into Dorrin’s wrist that made him breathe a bit easier. “Something’s blocking Medtech’s emergency ping from getting out.”

“Just see what you can do for now.” Tex backed away and let the other merc work. He was a shooter, not a medic. His focus shifted to the maid that’d delivered the food. She was already long gone by the time the poison started to act.

“Everything alright over there?” Fallout, a well-known Netrunner that’d been hired alongside him, asked. “Signal’s coming a bit choppy.”

“There’s a poisoner on the loose.” Tex glanced back at Cole desperately trying to save his client. Signal blocking and a poisoner? There was likely more to this assassination attempt. Of course there was. He shouldn’t have taken this job.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Explosions echoed down the hall, followed by the unmistakable sound of gunfire. Tex tightened his grip on his revolver, and listened closely. It wasn’t just a small firefight. There were easily dozens of guns opening fire.

“Shit,” The runner muttered, “a massive gunfight just broke out on the north side. How’d they get to us without being noticed?”

”They came from within.” Tex checked his ammo. He hadn’t disarmed for a single moment since arriving in this city, so he was still fully ready to fight.

“It looks like there' s a wave of guards headed to you.” The Netrunner spoke quietly. “I… they’re coming here too.”

Tex sighed. He knew it was coming, but to come at a time like this? They couldn’t move Dorrin to a safe room easily with him incapacitated. Carrying him there would be suicide if—when a firefight broke out. “Fuck.”

”Yeah… I’ll get the jammer down, but then I’m ghosting,” Fallout said. “I’ll plug back in when I’m somewhere safe.”

“Good luck.” Tex had no illusions that the runner would return to help. He spun the cylinder of his revolver, and prepared himself for what was to come. Until they got out of here, he’d assume every other person on this island was a traitor. Protecting the client came first and foremost.

”You too.” With the final words from the Netrunner, an alarm cut through the entire compound. The emergency lockdown activated, shutting down the entire island as a massive wave of unknown assailants approached.

— — —

“This part of your plan, Shiro?” Saint sent me a feed from one of my many Dragonflies patrolling around the island. They were just small enough not to be noticed as long as they kept a certain distance away from the island.

“What’s going on in there?” I watched the feed, and felt my stomach start to roll uncomfortably. The entire building complex went into lockdown, and heavy-duty shutters dropped over every window and door. Moving through there would be incredibly difficult.

“I—I’m not sure,” the man replied through the Packheart Ring. He was with Luna at the relay tower just in case something happened. It was just me and Mira going in. “Looks like someone started the party without us.”

This… no, wait, this actually might be better for us. “Skip phase one. Let’s immediately go onto phase two.”

Mira tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned back to check on her. Like me, she was in full gear and ready to make our move. She pulled at the armor. Probably could’ve sized it better, but we were in a rush. “You sure, Shiro?”

I didn’t immediately say yes, and instead thought through things a bit more. Phase one was pretty simple all things considered. I’d strapped spotlights to several drones, and we were going to send them in just above sea level so they’d look like boats approaching. It was part one of the whole distraction plan.

The original idea was to make the guards waste ammo and resources on my drones. The mercs that’d be coming in later would have a much easier time making landfall with some of the heavier hitting weapons running low on ammo.

There was already a distraction started, though, so phase one was unneeded. With chaos already brewing on the island there was no reason to waste resources with that section. “I’m sure. Saint, start up the stream.”

Phase two was a bit more explosive. We needed panic and chaos for the plan to work. I checked my minimap, and settled down in the passenger seat next to Mira while she took over the controls. I’d taught both her and Luna how to fly at the same time. “Go ahead and get us in position.”

“Gotcha.” Mira flicked several switches, and the halo on her head glowed brilliantly. She’d barely passed my crash course. Thankfully, Luna should be taking over before we land.

”Luna, how we looking?” I focused on a Dragonfly watching over the two of them and pulled out my deck.

”Connection’s still stable.” Luna glanced up toward the Dragonfly with glowing blue eyes like she could sense my gaze. “R-ready when you are.”

”Then let’s fly.” I sent a command to a group of an-unmanned Roughriders hovering high above the bay. They instantly dropped altitude and slipped into detection range of the island fortress. I’d kitted them out with all sorts of stealth technologies though, so hopefully they wouldn’t raise any alarms. It’d be a bit awkward to have my proprietary tech caught as part of the attack.

Just as they got within range of the AA turrets, the flyers dropped into a hover. I hit another button, and mechanicals arm opened up dozens of bags and saddlebags strapped all over the vehicles. A dense array of Fireflies launched off the flyer like a set of carriers launching fighter jets.

For a moment, the sky above my hover bikes was choked entirely by the swarm of explosive drones. Even the dense rain pouring from above couldn’t get through. All at once, the swarm broke apart and dove down toward the complex far below. Their targets were already set, and Luna and I had full control of the swarm to target defenses.

My heart throbbed uncomfortably in my chest. I’d been stocking up on Fireflies, and all at once my stock was being used up. Those weren’t cheap, and they sure as hell weren’t fast to make even with Foundries focusing on them. Not to mention all the explosives I needed for them to work. My entire stock of crystalized fire was used up for this.

”Hope you’re ready, Saint.” I watched the drone swarm, and clicked over to his stream. Dozens of cameras were locked onto the base in lockdown, and his stream was filling up with more and more viewers by the moment.

Dragonflies that’d been spread out around the city watched the docks and dark waters of Aythryn City’s bay. Already, boats were constantly departing under the cover of the heavy rain. Flyers flashed through the sky constantly, only to be met with resistance from heavily armed defenders. As if it’d been agreed on beforehand, mercs flocked toward the island one after another.

Mira leaned over and checked on the stream. “We’ll have quite a bit of competition for this one.”

”It was bound to happen anyway.” I’d just planned around the competition this time around. They’d ultimately work in our favor. The more eyes were on the island, the better off we were.

The main view of the stream changed, and focused on one of the metal panels of the locked down base. A beat later, a bright burst of thermite exploded against it. The chat danced wildly, and I caught a few messages for just a moment.

| I’msuffering6767: What was that?

| Tornadofan: END STREAM END STREAM END STREAM END STREAM

| Cyber2020: blue as far as the eye can see

| Cyberpunk_blue : ADMIN! ZOOM IN! We can’t see!

| DistinguishedGentleman: My friends, the world’s about to be a happier place. Let us all rejoice.

| Tornadofan: @DistinguishedGentleman I’m going to kill you, fuckface! Where do you live!?

| Fakefan: WHAT IS THIS CAMERA QUALITY WHAT IS THIS CAMERA QUALITY

||| ADMIN: User Tornadofan has been permabanned. Death threats violate the terms and conditions.

| ShadoWalk: W admin

| 2077Historian: @Admin nice shooting

The Dragonfly zoomed in further, though it was a little grainy. I made a mental note to work on better cameras for my drones, and checked on the progress of the Fireflies. Any moment now.

The zoomed camera erupted into a spray of fire. One Firefly couldn’t do much damage on its own. Dozens, though? They turned the entire security shutter bright red. Molten metal and thermite mixed, dripping into the fortress. That was just the first hit. All across the island fortress, more and more explosions rocked the place. The swarm had finally arrived.