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Necro-Knight -> RE: =WPC 2024= Field of Sand (1/24/2024 23:06:37)
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It was a dark night, or as dark as the flickering neon holo-signs would let it be. Rain fell in sheets and was illuminated by the onslaught of advertisements, news broadcasts and the latest music video to hit top ratings. All this visual input did was make the shadows darker, hungrier. Like living predators poking out of their dens to eye possible prey, each dark alley shadows laid beneath the neon signs with talon-like shapes. To some, this would be discomforting, perhaps even terrifying. To Ryuk D’vorak, they were comforting. A welcome ally during operations.
Harsh solar radiation through a patchwork atmosphere made daytime missions difficult, even with his high-tech exo-armor adding an additional layer of protection. Combined with sensitive eyes he’d not been able to protect fully due to a lack of funds for tech upgrades, Ryuk was relegated to night time ops, which suited him just fine. Disivia City was a different beast at night. Assailants and victims alike prowled colorful streets and sought the latest rush, clubs became powder kegs waiting to ignite and every type of contraband was smuggled in the most creative of ways.
One of these types of smuggled goods was Ryuk’s speciality; bio-technical contraband. Organs, implants and other modified biological parts that could be hidden away within the human body. While not being the most profitable form of crime in Disivia, Ryuk had noticed that it was rapidly becoming one of the most active as conditions within the city worsened. Medicine was becoming more expensive with every week and people, more desperate to escape their ailments. Desperation that often led them to becoming part of the following day’s news broadcast as a statistic for some politician to forge a platform from.
Ryuk flicked pearlescent eyes up to the radiation monitor in the top-left of his mask’s crimson visor, raindrops running down the exterior surface in clean lines. Still sitting at comfortable levels. He never doubted his VAMPRE suit’s ability to monitor and manage the natural radiation being produced from his bones, but suddenly realizing he was at risk of poisoning mid-operation was something he’d rather avoid. With a quick flick of his eyes, Ryuk peered down at the streets below as the twin-antennas on his helmet pulsed an inquisitive echo out and over the existing communication frequencies.
“Nothing,” he said, voice low and relaxed. Getting nervous this early into a shift was a good way to irradiate himself with no activity to show for it.
“Just because you’re not getting anything doesn’t mean something isn’t there, just means they’re not running on the frequencies we know. At the speed crime is evolving in Disivia, yesterday’s codes are already ancient,” a voice replied over Ryuk’s own private communication network. His Operator, a woman now in her mid-thirties going by the name of Serena, monitored and tracked the young agent’s operations every night and had done so for nearly the past five years. Where Ryuk was hands-on with retrieving the designated contraband and apprehending ( or eliminating ) the criminals responsible for its trafficking, Serena was his eye in the sky. He’d yet to witness a security system she couldn’t crack or a virus she couldn’t counter, but it was like she said. Crime was evolving, not just becoming more frequent. The Operators were having to evolve faster and were sacrificing much to make it happen, Ryuk knew. As she appeared in the top-right corner of his visor’s display, he noted how the four screens Serena was working with only highlighted the dark circles under her eyes.
“Is that why you’re working yourself into an early grave?” He said, eyes moving back to the streets below his perch on a dark skyscraper. Office building, illegal to advertise on its primarily glass walls, so it was a usual observation point for law enforcement.
“Ey, these bio-harvesters aren’t sleeping either and they’re getting better at hiding their tracks, creating false organs for us to chase. We waste even one night of operation hunting down a dupe carrier? The real thing is half-way to the moons by then. We gotta stay one step-ahead somehow, so I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”
“We get anything on the latest perps? Last transfer surgery I busted had some form of private military on duty.”
“Job getting too dangerous for ya, kiddo?”
Ryuk snorted, corner of his mouth raising. Sass was as abundant in Serena’s veins as blood and was likely even more vital to her health.
“No, just worried this will escalate. We work in the shadows, like a laser-scalpel excising a tumor, but typical law enforcement doesn’t have our resources or special talents. If the gangs start bringing in actual military units for protection…”
The pouring rain and near constant drone of advertisements was the only sound between them for a long moment, before Ryuk finished his Operator’s thought, a frown furrowing his brows.
“...then Disivia City is going to turn into a warzone. Do we have anything in the handbook for urban warfare?”
“We’re special ops, Ryuk, not assault ops. If things blow up, we’re-!”
Serena suddenly disappeared from Ryuk’s heads-up display, though her voice still barked over his communications network, the sound of her old-fashioned mechanical keyboard fighting the rain for dominance in his ears.
“We’ve got a signal, three blocks down from you. Citizen’s vitals are all wrong and they’ve got muscle with them. Looks like the same private military you dealt with previously, so stay sharp.”
“Always am.”
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Serena’s description left a lot to be desired, Ryuk thought. The target didn’t so much have muscle as they did a full military convoy. Wild vital signs flared from within a high-class pedestrian vehicle, while a pair of armored trucks formed a barrier from the front and rear. Oddly, Ryuk was unable to detect the vitals of the operators of said military vehicle.
“Nothing at all?” Serena asked, taking a brief moment to appear on his HUD, emerald eyes locked in a genuine look of confusion.
“None. The trucks could be remotely controlled, that isn’t impossible, but that’s some heavy hardware to leave in control of a navigation AI.”
“Even then, I’d be able to identify the software. Most of the military corps use similar code… if you’re getting neither vital signs or software signals, this is something new. Move in, we need more info, yesterday.”
“Copy,” he said, already moving from his observation point on the street corner. The convoy was currently stopped at an intersection and as the bright crimson street-lights holding them in place cast the sheets of rain in a scarlet color, the agent made his move. Hidden by the scarlet of the light above, the powerful radiation bolt that arced from the nearby corner was all but invisible until the point of impact.
Lifting his extended arm a few inches as the energy poured from his palm, Ryuk directed the almost-wild energy downward into the street, sending asphalt flying in chunks. Moments later, the intersection exploded into light as the condensed particles found a powerline buried beneath the street, sending an eruption of sparks and blue electricity leaping through the air.
The convoy skidded to a stop, as expected, and Ryuk was already moving towards the civilian vehicle, his presence hidden in the new shadows created by the hungry energy biting and flailing at anything within reach. Within a few paces of the car, he broke into a heavy run and lifted his right arm, swinging his upper torso, suit hydraulics whirring with the motion as he buried his fist into the driver-side window, gripped the frame and ripped his arm outward.
Removed from the car with the swift motion, the door went flying onto the nearby sidewalk as Ryuk turned back to the interior. He froze, head tilting involuntarily at what he saw. Or rather, what he didn’t. No occupants looked back at him or tried to retaliate from his assault, only empty leather seats and the steady ding of the car alerting him that a door was open.
“Serena, am I missing someth-”
“Ryuk, on your six!”
The warning merely gave him time to brace as a massive hand gripped the helmet of his suit and drove him face-first into the doorframe, leaving a massive dent from the impact. The shock dazed him more than any actual pain and as his vision cleared, he found himself on the rain-soaked street, staring up at something that made him believe the strike to the head had done permanent damage. Massive beings, albeit not organic ones, stood around him dressed in military gear. The black of the leather and pouches contrasted heavily with their marble-like white bodies and featureless faces.
“Serena, what am I looking at? Some… new kind of drone?”
Even when out-of-sorts, his Operator’s voice was a comfort, a constant that he could always rely on being present. Now, he felt a chill that had nothing to do with the rain settling into the pit of his stomach as static was his only answer. Unknown assailants, lost communications with his Operator and a missing piece of contraband. This Op was rapidly heating up and Ryuk did not want to be here if it ended up boiling over.
Instead of trying to get to his feet, he simply twisted in place and swung an armored leg out towards the ankle of one of the faceless beings surrounding him. While not mech-grade, his VAMPRE armor did enhance the agent’s strength beyond that of a normal soldier, enough to rip car door’s free or bend metal when needed. Upon impact, his target barely even registered the blow.
Instead, it reached down and clasped its massive hand around his helmet again, lifting him up to eye level… or what eye level would be on this entity. Not missing the opportunity, Ryuk struck again, swinging a blow at the anomaly’s face. Its head was snapped to the side with the force of the attack, but no mark was left upon its pristine surface and it slowly turned itself back to him.
“Okay… that one usually works. I think I’m going to need a Plan D by now…”
Before he could try to wriggle free from the thing’s iron grip, its face suddenly split down the middle, as if on hinges, and a blinding light erupted from within. Sensors in his helmet screamed in unison with their owner who fought to tear his helmet from the increasing brilliance. Squeezed shut, it wasn’t enough to shield his eyes from the light that seemed to not just shine towards him, but consume him, engulfing him until his senses were no longer able to distinguish anything beyond its radiance.
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He was lost like this for what felt like an eternity, screaming and trapped in a world of endless light. Somewhere amid the blinding assault, he’d expected a sudden and swift impact and the sweet embrace of darkness. Instead, he felt himself land face-first on a surface that gave way to his weight as the light faded. Taking a moment to catch his breath as his HUD recovered from the overload, Ryuk slowly sat up and tilted his head again. Sand. He was wrist deep in a gray sand that seemed to twinkle back up at him despite the low light.
Noticing more sand was being added to the dunes around him, the bewildered agent slowly peered up at the layered pyramid blotting out the obvious light from behind it, more of the granular material casually running down its step-like design. A sudden fear set in at the prospect of him having been actually unconscious for an extended period of time to be taken to this… exotic location and his eyes flicked up to his now-restored vitals display. All normal, as if he’d just started an Op for the night, though every known communication frequency was currently beyond serviceable range.
“Great… I’m flying blind and alone.”
Standing, Ryuk shook the grains from his fingers and did his best to adjust his footing as he swiveled his head around. More sand, as far as his still-sensitive eyes could see. Ryuk began to wonder if he’d been dropped in a nearby desert when a booming voice that seemed to come from the land itself boomed forth and chasms soon opened up around the nearest perimeter of the pyramid, like gaping maws.
“Welcome to the Field of Sand. No Good can guide you further, no Evil can sweep you away. Prove yourselves worthy, Pawns, or perish in emptiness.”
He was about to have an internal debate on what Good and Evil meant in this place when he was caught up on another word of the announcement. Yourselves. Plural. There were others here and if this was a test of worth, they would likely be adversaries. He would need to be completely alone against an unknown number of opponents and likely need to come out victorious to leave this place. That was his hope, anyway, as he turned and made his way towards the Pyramid’s edge, hydraulics assisting him in moving up each step. Higher ground would only assist him, especially if others were yet to arrive.
This sudden objective of obtaining higher ground left the bio-contraband agent unaware of the neat, tidy symbol already fading from above where he’d been standing, eyes focused upwards towards the pyramid's peak.
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