The Rising Dawn, #13— "War on the Shop"
- David Parker
- Oct 2, 2023
- 5 min read
The Rising Dawn # 11— “War on The Shop”
[Short stories. Images generated by hotpot.ai]
Grego, known as Trainer, along with Beacon, knew there were Low Men stalking the so-called Outliers both inside and outside Freedom Tower. There was evidence of an inside threat in the tower, somehow beneath the notice of Baker, Jayf, and Hoarder, his best canines for rooting out subterfuge. But slowly, Grego and his dogs were finding and cornering Low Men, the rank and file of The Shop, an unofficial branch of the nominal US Federal Government. Both accosting them and capturing them was illegal, but Grego was not alone.
Mech was able to unleash several bolts of projectiles that induced paralysis, and Wraith’s attorneys were able to keep The Shop’s litigation at bay. The bolts needed to be recharged upon use, and currently the lawyers maintained that Mech wasn’t human, and so could not be held accountable under the laws as they currently stood. Therefore, the Sentinels would simply accompany her as she dragged them into captivity.
However, in kind, the New Marines, the super-soldiers concocted by The Shop, therefore could be deployed against her, as she represented a strategic threat.
In answer to this, Mech was accompanied by the battle-oriented Sentinels— Pointer the telekinetic psyker, Erin Veil (the Wraith), and Sir Gallant the Defender.
Pointer’s ability was invaluable, because he couldn’t legally be prosecuted for using it. Sir Gallant, an armored super-soldier enabled to fly, was effectively impossible to subdue, in no small part because doing so would be a PR disaster. Wraith was able to use a technique called Shroud, which temporarily made her a phantasmal entity, and along with her training and her gear, was virtually impossible to capture.
Grego used Hoarder to track the Low Men in the surrounding area, able to track the scent of the peculiar and sinister eminence of The Shop’s operatives. Baker could detect lying, and was useful in interrogation. Jayf would confirm which Low Men were dangerous, which was nearly all of them. Gring and Cooper were not legal to set on their enemies, along with the other dogs, but after wounding Paro with a bullet, Grego threatened desertion unless the perpetrator was tortured in captivity.
Far from keeping it a secret, The Trainer personally delivered footage of what he did to the man who attempted to murder his dog, and also uploaded it to the internet. Though the Dawn Society wasn’t unanimously in favor of it, they closed ranks to defend Grego.
The Shop’s administrators and personnel were nearly paralyzed with rage, and tried to send the municipal police to capture Grego. But with the growing number of Outliers (Gifted) as well as Sentinels, along with several other salient reasons, the police turned a blind eye. Rook City was riddled with crooked cops, who belonged to the Mob more than anything else, and were even antagonistic to the Feds, meaning if The Shop wanted an Outlier, “—they can do it themselves!”
Soon, The Shop was unwilling to send anyone within 300 meters of Freedom Tower, though they still had some kind of foothold inside the building, still undetected.
Whoever, or whatever, this insider was, s/he was able to lay a trap for the Sentinels, planting misinformation about an Outlier under threat of capture in a slum, relatively nearby.
Laying in ambush were forty New Marines, usually called Guns, the shadow agency’s super soldiers. The Trainer was not with them, and so Gallant, Wraith, Pointer and Mech did not detect the ambush until suddenly a hail of ether missiles (called Blue energy, by The Shop) bombarded them from all directions.
Pointer’s training as a telekinetic enabled him to produce a temporary force-shield with split-second timing. However, the shield, against all the ‘whacks’ (the ether guns), could only hold out for about 15 seconds. After that, Pointer’s psi energy was spent, he was struck, and he was taken out of the fight.
This 15-second grace was used by Gallant, Mech, and Wraith to great effect. Using her computer-guided defense software (& hardware), Mech began evasive action and deployed her charged bolts (which induce paralysis), as well as her guns. The bolts subdued a handful of the Guns, but with their armor, she could only take out one with her standard bullets. From there, she employed her saber, made of metal forged in a laboratory. She was struck by a whack, and didn’t manage to fight much more until the next few subdued her as well.
Wraith used her Shroud ability with advanced reflexes, knowing exactly when trained combatants would time their shots. She had a number of darts and grenades, some lethal, some not. These she employed with dextrous, timed, and strategic mastery, managing to subdue and/or kill another ten before her gear was spent. Upon this, she used her Shroud ability to escape, no longer having much that could neutralize armored super-soldiers.
Gallant and his armor, his prowess as a super-soldier, along with his ability to fly, was used to great effect; yet much of the whacks were aimed at him, and he endured several shots before he needed to use a secret weapon concocted by Voodoo.
She had promised him that when the Equal Amulet was activated, he would win whatever battle he encountered, but as a sacrifice to activate his power, he would be weakened for three weeks, unable to fight and with recurring nausea.
Overwhelmed, he activated the Equal Amulet. With astonishing speed, the remaining Guns collapsed, either unconscious or dead, determined by the will of the amulet. Gallant fell instantly to the ground, his armor absorbing the concussive blow.
He vomited on the inside of his helmet, his pain nearing excruciating. But he was able to activate a distress signal.
Wraith found him a short while later. He was still nauseated and laying in his own filth.
“I can’t move my armor,” he said, “I need help!”
Wraith began removing his armor, and quickly fired a dart of morphine to ease his pain. Its effects were limited, as this was a Curse, not a sickness.
“Gallant, as always,” said Wraith.
“We’re too late,” he moaned, “more are coming.”
“Nonsense,” said Wraith, “I sent the signal as soon as the battle started.”
Accompanied by the baying of his dogs, Grego arrived with a small army of his canines. They were outfitted in body armor, and special helmets customized for them. Along with the Trainer came Nightshift, Gamer, Yahtzee, and an as yet unintroduced Sentinel named Brawler, who along with Nightshift provided sufficient combat security.
“Beacon is providing a distraction in the Ares projects,” said Nightshift, “He doesn’t have much time. What’s the 411?”
They were all as one able to return to Headquarters, but their strongest Defender and leader would be incapacitated, and The Shop would be sure to take advantage of it.
*-------------------------------------------*
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