| From: | "Brian E. Angliss" <ANGLISS@******.BITNET> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | maxim Raid, part 6 |
| Date: | Sun, 5 Feb 1995 15:50:11 -0500 |
The first thing you notice is the change of scenery. Where
before you were indoors, within Maxim's HQ facility, you are now
outside, on the grounds. With the changing perspectives, you can
see that the camera angles correspond to cameras hidden within
the trees and bushes of the perimeter as well as on the building
and roof themselves.
The second thing you notice is that there is no prayer that the
AJ rescue team is going to escape. There are at least 50-100
fully armed and armored troops standing around Hatch #6 and the
south door to the facility. This doesn't include the 10 ground
drones and the 6 rotodrones, or the tilt-rotor RPV that is
hovering overhead either. If Maxim wants them dead, they'll be
dead, and very quickly as well.
Over at the hatch, the Maxim troops, and they are true military,
not mere security, pop open the hatch and shine several large
spotlights down as well as covering the five runners within with
large amounts of weaponry. And you suspect that, although you
can't see in, the runners are realizing that they are caught.
And as they aren't truly insane regardless of what most people
think of shadowrunners in general, you begin to see weapons being
passed up as they surrender.
Over at the south door, a similar drama is playing itself out as
HtC, Slash, and Caine are also being captured and then escorted
toward the west side of the building, directly between the two
capture zones. Here you see something else extraordinary. Buzz,
Sabre, and Ripley, unbound but sitting under guard on folding
chairs alongside eight empty chairs. Before the 11 chairs are
two others, one a stool with AJ sitting uncomfortably upon it,
and the other a semi-plush rolling chair with Nicole Velli
herself sitting on it, with 10 folders sitting in her lap, one
open and being read. Beside her, however, are two very large
folders, one titled Caine, the other Alexander Jackson. Combined
the other 10 folders don't equal one of those two.
Looking up, she sees the approach of the rest of the runners, and
puts down her folders and stares at them.
Velli: Please, have a seat. And, please excuse the necessary
guards. I'd hate to have to trust myself to your safety,
especially now. I do have a predicament that you can perhaps
help me with. What ever am I to do with you all?
Slash: Give us AJ and let us go.
Velli: (laughs) While that would certainly remove your
difficulties, mine would only be beginning. You see, eventually
word would get around and Maxim's reputation would suffer severe
losses, and that would be bad for buisness. What would be
excellent for buisness would be for me to order your deaths.
Buzz: But you said...
Velli: Quiet! Excuse my manners, but I've told these
three(motions to Ripley, Buzz, and Sabre) my plan already and I
don't wish to spoil the suspense.
Shadow: You're playing with us. Why not just kill us and get it
over with.
Velli: Actually, my discourse with you serves a purpose, even if
I do kill you all. It helps me understand the mind of the
shadowrunner, something that I never truly understood, even when
I worked for the Tir and caused the deaths of Caine's old team.
Caine: You always seemed a little distant, Chameleon. Or is
Velli your real name?
Velli: It is my legal name, although my birth name was radically
different. As a CEO, I can hardly hide my identity, can I? But
what I cannot understand is your loyalty to such a creature as
this.(kicks AJ)
HtC: He is a friend, regardless of what else he is. Some of us
refuse to hold someone accountable for things they have no
control over.
Velli: And you risk all your lives for him? Why? Slash, I know
you, and I've read your dossier. You probably could have
succeeded where all of you failed. Why not try yourself?
Slash: Because to do so would have meant failure. You've read
my dossier? Then you know my history, and you know that I helped
design the security here. I knew all it's foibles, but I also
knew that my design had been something that I couldn't defeat
either, and neither could the four of us 6 months ago when Pete
hired us to break in here.
Velli: As you say....I feel you are mistaken, but no matter.
The result is that all of you are now my prisoners and I still
don't know what to do with you. If I let you go, my personal
reputation and the reputation of Maxim will fall, perhaps
irretrievably. But if I kill you all, each of you have enough
associates that I cannot succeed and survive in the long run.
And I intend to have a very long life.(looking at Caine) So,
what shall I do with you?
Caine: You have already captured us, Chameleon, and yet AJ still
lives. Obtain from us, on our honor, that we shall never again
knowingly set foot on Maxim property, and then let us go. Will
we be your enemies? Absolutely. But we all have enough honor to
not break our word.
Velli: Honor? Honor!(laughs) Oh, please. Runners have no
honor. But what you recommend intrigues me, as I had already
considered the option. And it indeed is the best option I can
conceive of. But, in addition, I shall give you something in
return. Alex here is slated to die tomorrow morning at 9. In
exchange for one of you to take his place, I shall release him
into the custody of the rest of you and then set you free. What
do you say to this?
Diana: Frag off and die.
Velli: Wrong answer, my dear. And I thought that you'd like to
have your father back...if only to deliver him to your group, who
wants him dead for the death of a ganger in Seattle. Or didn't
you know?
Irish: Like she said, Frag off and die.
Velli: If you do not accept my offer, you all die. Here and
now.
All around the little circle of chairs the guards take aim at the
heads of all the runners.
Caine: Wait! I accept your offer, Chameleon.
All the runners' heads turn to Caine, some relieved, some aghast.
Irish: No! You'll die!
Caine: Ever see the old Star Trek movies? The old Flats? Well,
the good of the few outweigh the good of the one, kid. And if
someone doesn't, we all die.
Irish: (turning to Velli) Take me instead! He has a wife.
Velli: Your honor does you credit, but no. To me, Caine is at
least as dangerous as AJ, who could be one of the most dangerous
people to me on this planet. Caine, I accept your offer. But
before I let the rest of you go, I must make one thing very
clear. If any one of you is found on Maxim holdings anywhere in
the world, you will all be hunted down and killed one by one. I
expect that, regardless of your so-called honor, concern for each
other and one's self will keep you away from me and my
corporation far better than any words given ever could. And to
show you my sincerity....
Velli pulls her Beretta from under her suitcoat and motions Caine
forward with it.
Velli: Kneel, my old friend. Your time to join your old friends
has come.
Caine: (smiling) Perhaps, but I shall see you to Hell before I
join you there.
Velli: I doubt it. Goodbye, Caine. You'll die better than your
friend did. It's more than you deserve.
And with her last word, she puts the Beretta to the back of
Caine's head and fires a single round. Caine, his mind and soul
already gone, bleeds what appear to be tears from his eyes for a
single instant before collapsing foward, dead.
Irish, seeing his friend executed before his eyes, surprises the
guards and leaps from his chair and charges Velli. Her speed,
obviously enhanced, spins her around and her movements expose her
cybernetic arms as she stops Irish with a single blow to the
stomach, then pivots and throws him back into his chair.
Velli: Escort them to thier vehicles. And add this...thing...to
the enterauge(as she kick AJ forward off his stool). Remember
what I said, everyone. And have a good life.
The runners, escorted by close to 40 military guards, advance to
where Irish's truck and the Phaeton are parked. Outside, on the
other side of the street, you see partially concealed behind a
hedge the Hudson with Roxey still behind the wheel, obviously
concerned.
Back at the circle, you pick up the last vestiges of the
converstation between Skulkin, VP of Security, and Velli.
Velli: Inform Interpol that they will be leaving Maxim property
in less than 5 minutes.
Skulkin: And the traced deckers?
Velli: Transmit thier coordinates and the tracking beacon
frequency to Interpol as well.
Skulkin: And what would you like done with the body?
Velli: Deliver it to Portland, to the Peace Force building. It
is my final duty to them, finally completed....
+++++End Maxim Download+++++]<<<<<
-- ? <**:**:**/**-**-**>
