December 19th

6:33 AM

Dreadwire

The morning light was inconvenient for further instigation, although I had culled many of their forces lurking around with Mirage's aid, that would not stop Muramasa from simply sending in more men externally. As our various operation centers grew and coordinated into a network for the assault, several ended up 'understaffed' from what Diana was telling me.

Still, a great majority of the strength was located here in this hospital. We remained unimpeded, those losses of mere officers would not change the tides of this war. I stood quiet by Diana's aid, many eyes trepidatiously meeting mine.

I could read into their fear and apprehension so easily, their wary caution about me being here. Topaz, on the other hand, went by unnoticed. Quartz was even more obvious as he became an ache to their perception, whereas Mirage remained hidden nearby. She dispatched her mind directly through the Net — observing the outer structures of the Prison's net architecture while Twilight would work from my head to strike from the inside.

Muramasa was not the only one planning a pincer attack.

We'd already managed some vandalism through piercing the Frames of those I'd killed. Twilight couldn't stop laughing about the new art, even as Mirage and I scolded her. The inner Ripley in me had said that was inappropriate to show in front of our daughter.

Starlight rolled her eyes.

I was already being questioned on my methods. The police didn't trust me — but trust would forcibly grow in their hearts once the looming threat of a flatline neared. A Sergeant Solomon looked at me incredulously. He was a Delver from the looks of it, his voice was loud and overcompensating. "How the hell'd you figure out so many of their locations? Their frames didn't have any data on them."

That was true. The ambush units were prepared in such a way that taking out one group would ensure the rest weren't compromised, even if you delved into their network. Their Frames had no data on them. Their Implant-coded memories, however, did. I saw groups being established, the inner layout of the prison unraveling, and many more observations of who was where.

But it was an incomplete picture — they weren't willing to send out men who were worth interrogating.

My mask hid my bored eyes as I addressed Solomon. "I have eyes where I need them."

"So you've got inside intel on 'Masa?" This critique came from Staff Sergeant Brinks of the Intelligence Department. Her mutations manifested in completely white eyes. "How 'bout you tell us how much they paid you?"

She was sharp, her instincts cleaving into my Shadow Tendency.

"It is not them who paid us, but rather… I have made dealings with specific individuals to make certain endeavors today less inconvenient. Rest assured, it is nothing that will directly harm your units." Mirage had told me one key thing. Not to lie.

There were Adapters here who could detect falsehood, whether psionically or an accurate reading of physical measurements. 'Be corporate' is what she said. Bladedaughter was making things easier for my life to remain sustained, but we made no bargain in regards to the police's safety.

I hated this. They were adamant to ask more, but Diana stood in their path. "Hey, let's keep on topic. We need to create an entryway."

Twilight poured from my head into a drone near us, flashing a hologram atop the other visual diagrams layered infront of us. The massive prison complex was built to house over 1,000 inmates — and was at 60% capacity when Muramasa took over.

Assuming a majority of them were somehow affiliated with Muramasa, that was an inane amount. Not considering hundreds of other Muramasa members who had filed in to prepare their not-so-hostile takeover of the prison — inside, it would be a death trap.

A full-frontal siege would be a mistake. The proper way to do things would be to send splinter cell groups to infiltrate and disable their defensive countermeasures. Of which, I was considered a specialist due to prior experience.

Twilight spoke over, lighting up several pillars and the outer wall. "All of these are sniper nests we've located under concealment. Anyone who gets in range of 500 meters will be dead instantly. We'll need to first-"

"Disable the sniper nests, yes, that's very basic." Solomon interrupted. "I'll deploy a team out and-"

"No." Twilight interrupted back. "Dreadwire will handle it. It's hard to hit a target that moves as fast as he, and besides, we've analyzed their weapons on-hand. Those stationed outside are largely crumple units designed to die and tire us out. Their weapons would kill officers, sure, but Dreadwire's made of sturdier stuff."

My armor was now reinforced with much of the same tech used by those Oni guards, and beyond that… my Armory had additional plating stored in the event I needed repairs.

"Yup!" Starlight pierced through the bridge between me and Diana into the drone, her form pulling up gun pieces and displaying their penetrative capabilities using my Warpweb Protocol. "Our estimation puts him at clearing out all snipers by 0700. We'll also request a few destructive charges to crumble their walls."

"Request a few…" Solomon sighed, his face the epiphany of 'not liking this'. "You want us to hand you explosives?"

"You hired me for a job." I took a step forward, my Arachnodyne crunching the air as it erupted out. "I don't get paid by the hour, so I want to get this done quickly. Elimination, access, and infiltration — Beta Unit can get in within the hour."

Solomon grumbled to himself, searching in Brinks for support… she had a contemplative look on her eyes before nodding at me, then turning to the Captain who had been silent throughout. "Clear out their sniper nests and rooftop guards, then we infiltrate from above. Aerodyne would be too risky, how many operatives are capable of flight?"

"Five." He answered without needing to look. "Diana Ulrich is one of them, but so far… hasn't exhibited much speed or control. Harper, Julian, Kesabel and Feather don't have the strength to carry another when they fly — unless…"

He turned to Diana, his voice unsure. "Do you know when… she gets here?"

"I've been told she's on her way." Diana didn't look happy about whoever they were talking about. "Apparently, she's having… certain complications."

"Is her flight impacted?" Anabelle Grazhe asked, to which Diana shrugged.

I planted my gaze on them. "Who are you referring to?"

———

I never expected a police operation with barricaded streets and shouting officers to halt at the arrival of a limousine. Out stepped a woman in sunglasses, wearing a thick mobile-assisting exoskeleton that supported her back and legs, as several more men came alongside her, clad in thick armor and carrying briefcases.

The woman… she was one you would have seen everywhere a decade ago, before she even got picked up by NeoCore. Her face was perfect for the cameras, her body showcased in many action Holo-movies as the epitome of female strength and her stoic face was akin to the toughened characters she played.

Alisha Noori. Archangel.

A Tier III Silver NeoCore Enforcer — and she was working within our unit. And supposedly the only one here capable of matching my aerial mobility… I suppressed my bitter laugh. Aerial Mobility? She barely even had ground mobility. A thick exoskeletal frame supported every step of hers.

As she entered, she waved friendly introductions to the rest of the working police members who either ignored her or were too awestruck by her appearance. There was no in between.

Approaching the command room, she paused as she looked up at me, caramel eyes poking from under her glasses as a smile curved on her lips. "Oh, you must be Dreadwire. Now that's an appearance made for the screen."

A drone buzzed in her face, Starlight. "Yeah, well, I'm his agent! You want him, you gotta get through me first!"

"Uh, n-no?" Alisha shook her head, confused. "He is supposed to want… me. To work with me, I mean. And as an agent, you're supposed to try and connect him to higher profile-"

"No one cares." Diana snapped her fingers, a crackle of light running out. "Alisha, get into your suit. You're supporting Dreadwire in eliminating their outer perimeter for our splinter unit to gain entry."

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"Wai- you're putting me to work? Already?" Alisha rubbed her face. "I- I thought I was just making an appearance here? You're actually making me fight?!"

Diana's face was trapped like it didn't know what expression to take, in the end all that came out was a dark laugh. "Oh yeah, Tusk said to me… do as you please with her. You're serving me right now, so get into your suit. Archangel."

"Okay…" Alisha put her hands in front of her face. "I think there's been a misunderstanding. I do not merely… get into my suit. It is a fully integrated Exosuit that requires a team of Operators to assemble and connect across my body."

"Great, you brought those guys with you…" — Diana's face twitched — "right?"

"No. These men are... well, bodyguards. A Neocore-affiliated Operator… will be available in another two hours, at the earliest. I assumed my appearance here would be for media purposes only. You know, a spokesperson!"

"At least tell me your suit still has combat functionalities!" Diana held back from a full shout, much to the amusement of everyone watching.

Alisha hardened at that, her expression growing cold as her human arm shimmered with light and a blade of glassy energy spawned from her above her wrist. "My suit and I are both ready."

"Great." Diana flicked her gaze onto me. "Dreadwire, get the suit on her."

My inner 'The Ripper' was trying to break out, but I simply nodded.

Alisha's gaze went over me up and down several times, as though trying to judge something. "You better be handsome under that mask. Fuck it, where's the washroom?"

———

Two of her bodyguards were stationed right outside the door and all the cubicles were empty as she oriented various briefcases of solid steel around us. With an uneasiness to her, she dislodged the thick exoskeleton connecting to her lower back, a painful wheeze running through her as she gripped my hand for support.

She almost fell immediately. Her lower body was completely paralyzed — something thought impossible for Tier III Adapters. Jaws clenched, she addressed me. "Yeah, blame your MAL for this — not like I like it either."

Wordlessly, I lifted her so she could support herself up by a sink. She tossed a Datacube over to me. On it were basic instructions of how to connect her suit to her. The deeper mechanisms were kept hidden, forming an Internal Link with an external Shardware was something seemingly easy to do on paper, but required massive amounts of neurophysiological expertise.

"You'll need to help me-"

"Change out of your clothes. I know." I easily knew the best way to hold her up. My mother suffered from much the same loss of support as I readied her on my arm and helped her take off her shirt. Her skin was perfect and unembellished, but I couldn't help but notice… the lack of nipples.

"Yeah, I put new ones on if a scene needs them — or a guy." She brushed past it, already knowing what I was thinking. "Just hurry on with it."

I helped her out of her pants next, noticing the way her skin… was entirely fake — capturing light and refelcting it in such a way to hide the metal running underneath. She was more machine than human.

I activated the first two briefcases. They enlarged and grew into greaves and legs as Archangel's skin dissolved away to reveal the shiny curvatures of her perfectly sculpted body underneath. I helped her foot in first, a protrusion in the metal sinking perfectly into the base of her sole, as I repeated the interlocking motion from various joints in her calf, thigh, and hip.

"Huh, you seem to be used to handling a person like this. Even my mechanics aren't so… gentle." She tried to make conversation.

"Shardware is a craft that requires meticulousness," I responded firmly.

"Meti- didn't know Dreadwire was a pervert." She scoffed. "Whatever, at least with that suit... you're sort of nice-looking."

Ignoring everything she said, I moved to the most intricate briefcases. It formed her back and chest. Many protrusions lined up with her spine, building into a thick plating that I moved to her naval, ribs and collar-

"Hey, don't touch too much!" She swatted my hands away, nearly falling over as she did so which only increased her discomfort. She growled as she looked back up at me. "You're lucky you even get to see this, you know how many people would die for it?"

"I don't care." I turned her back around as I grabbed the briefcase for her arms.

"Of course you don't," she reluctantly let me hold her arm in place, "You worked at that strip club. Oh, I bet you had the time of your life pushing mind controlling programs into the heads of vulnerable women. You only got a Gold out of it."

My grip tensed. "Ah, so you're envious."

"Envious…?" She chortled, a heavy tone of exasperation breathing out. "I'm not envious; I'm fucking enraged. I got my spine severed and you two get to prance around without a care in the world as you show off Implants worth hundreds of millions of Shardyne. Diana's basically putting herself in a noose with how many people are trying to pull threads on her, while you piss off every criminal or corporation possible! Meanwhile, my boss is on my ass to either be useful or he'll send me to an analytics team where I'll be forgotten! You want the truth? The truth is I'm hoping one of you dies today so I can-"

"I'll help." I strapped the metal onto her arm, fine rings forming around each finger. "I know a Shard Operator who will help, if you can keep discretion and have the Shardyne to pay."

"Help with what?" She spat out.

"To make you walk again." I got the second arm-piece onto her shoulder, sequentially clicking each segment into place. "To make you Archangel again."

There was a heavy silence from her, but I remained focused on finishing up the second arm before I grabbed the final suit-piece for her head. She sighed, pressing a button on her Frame that caused her hair to sink back into her head until the fake skin peeled off to expose a large input at the back of her head. I attached the first part of the helmet into it, before pulling various pieces to connect to her temples and cranium.

Finally, her eyes, human and caramel, spiraled inwards as metal to create the final inlets. They were hollow and black, devoid of life or meaning until I fastened her mask onto her, two spear-like segments drilling into her eyes to become one system. As the blue lights of her visor came to life, she spoke with a voice both steel and soft. "You're serious?"

"The real question is, are you desperate enough?" I said, not giving her a chance to speak before I gripped and tossed the last briefcase at her. She caught it without even looking, not from the handle — but the hilt. The block of metal quickly grew and shifted into a mesmerizing spear that had particles of energy floating around it.

My gaze focused on it, letting her know the price of my support.

Archangel took a step, it was slow and uneven, until her back whirred and azure wings formed from light and floating metal to guide her movement. The armor seemed to come to life as she made her decision, nodding. Systemic pulses rippled beneath the steel as if it were almost organic with Silver Blood.

With NeoCore engineering, who knows — it might be. All I cared about was that one day, I'd take it for myself.

———

As Archangel connected to our systems, I had to admit surprise as to how quickly the police were maneuvering their men around. Orders from Omen came and were exacted in clockwork as a complete outer barricade formed a circumference within the Precinct. Within six-hundred meters, tall walls and checkpoints of metal and electricity ensured no one could get out.

The issue came with others who wanted to get in. Among them were fans of Diana and Archangel, and among those were more than a few mercenaries who offered their support. There was a system in play to screen them, organize them, and evaluate how to best use them. The police wouldn't say no to more bodies, but they had to be careful as to not get double-crossed.

One man coordinated all of this information, from Muramasa's inner activity, to police organization, to outer media and civilian happenings. Staff Sergeant Morgan 'Omen' Kirrel. I hadn't seen him, but I was told he was inside this building. Likely hidden due to the prior assassination attempt made on him.

Archangel stood by my side in the morning light. Diana, Special Investigator Kim Liyung and several more Special Investigators stood on standby. As soon as Archangel and I cleared entry, we were to transport them one by one onto a secured prison rooftop.

Starlight, what's the status on the prison's defensive perimeter?

"Alright, from what I see about the prison's defense systems, even your invisibility won't be the most useful. They've got some weird high-tech field capable of scanning everyone's position constantly… but if we could get our hands on it then… Sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself. Fifteen sniper-nests, you'll be directly eliminating them while Archangel supports as you prepare the explosives."

Archangel rubbed her head. She was seeing Starlight too. I told her to keep away from Synchronization right now, Starlight was still able to tire out even as an AI. We needed her most for Bladedaughter.

Anabelle Grazhe got off from talking to one sergeant. I heard snippets about them arguing about her direct involvement in entering the prison — the Lieutenant argued her voice was better heard on their enemies than them. She gave a stern but respectable look to both me and Archangel, giving us the go ahead. "Commence with Phase One."

Archangel shot into the sky with a pulse of light, her body gracefully curving up and towards the Prison as my Arachnodyne reeled me across buildings. I saw a sniper form from the various segments of her suit, her covering fire would be instrumental to keep me from getting overwhelmed.

As I built momentum, I soared higher from each thread of my Livewire contracting, and like a clap of thunder they snapped back as I flew high above the prison walls.

An alert immediately sounded out, dozens of scattered groups around the walls turning their weapons on me and beginning to fire. As though the air was solid, I kicked off it with a thick pulse of kinetic force, my Claws digging into the steel of one sniper nest as they tightened and curved me onto its walls. I perched right underneath the sniper, a claw tip sinking into his neck that retracted to toss him all the way down to the ground. As I heard a blood splatter from them, the first explosive charge was placed.

More bullets came to fire on me, large turrets peeling off the sides of the walls. Archangel's shot came true, a bright lance of blue burning a hole through the turret and a second shot clearing my back. Like an assembly line, we moved to the next sniper nest.

———

Diana

Starlight provided me with a visual feed from Archangel's aerial view. I hated to admit it but she might be a better shot than me. She flicked and calculated her NeoCore Gungnir Rifle expertly, each shot exactly clearing the turrets off Ripley.

Except… he had to deal with more than just turrets. He'd certainly drawn their attention, and if it wasn't for his ability to outmaneuver them across the walls and scaffolding he'd have been overwhelmed instantly.

Archangel was taking good and precise shots…

But she hadn't shot any person, yet. It got to the point that Ripley exposed the blades of his Arachnodyne, skittering underneath one concrete nest and using pure strength of Shardware to obliterate a chunk of it off. As he launched off, a bullet went out and detonated the charge, the explosion so precisely calculated that concrete boulders and half of the tower collapsed onto the Muramasa guards.

From then, he only got more aggressive. Even in broad daylight, it was difficult keeping track of him, his shadowy body skirted around and curved like an impossible piece of darkness come to life. Any moment where a guard was near him ended with a limb lost or a bullet in their head. One by one, sniper towers fell and crumbled onto those beneath them, and he wasn't slowing down.

In fact, he was only getting faster. In less than ten minutes, half of them were cleared and Muramasa had no idea what to do as they tried chasing him down on foot only to begin bunkering within the prison buildings as shots from both him and Archangel rained down on them like the clouds were wielding guns. Someone on my side said they were falling back to prevent extra casualties…

Had Ripley become that type of person? The one you couldn't stand your ground against and fight?

Now, when he came knocking… you had to hide.

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