The Dark Edge Chronicles - Hardwire

Chapter 4: Storm Clouds

He was taking the door's handle in his hand when the Lilith abruptly spoke up.

"Regardless of the Brotherhood's attack, psionic, I'm holding you to our agreement.  You will let me taste your blood once the Brotherhood is destroyed."

Mordecai looked over his shoulder, his smile vulpine.

"I would expect no less.  You'll have that taste, vampire.  You have my word on it!"  And then he was gone through the doorway.

The Lilith gazed after the man in black for a brief moment, her own thoughts churning.  For some odd reason, she believed him.  And, considering the amount of power she could sense brewing in the man, the Brotherhood is in for a bit of a surprise when the man in black takes them on!  Then she was abruptly dismissing him as the building shook from repeated shockwave impacts.  There would be time enough to ponder the big psionic later.  Right now, she had to help her M'tada protect the stronghold!

Stepping out of the back of the vampires' stronghold, Mordecai found himself in a narrow alley, its mouth some five metres distant.  He quickly set out for it without a backward glance.  Psionics and vampires had been battling for centuries; the Lilith's people should be able to defend themselves sufficiently to avoid absolute destruction.

So that just left his own well being to consider.  And right now he had to get out from beneath the dampening field, or risk using his depleted resources in an attempt to create a bore portal, a type of teleportation that would cut through the dampening field.  Generally such a portal demanded a lot of psyken to accomplish and he was running with a half a tank as it was.  He could do it, but would then risk being without defense if he ran into trouble on the other end.

Those thoughts and others were tumbling still through his mind when Mordecai reached the alley's mouth a moment later.  Pausing slightly as he did a passive scan of the nearby area, he then leaned out into the road beyond to take a quick look either way.

He managed to snatch his head back just in time to avoid it getting taken off by the mass of shockwaves that hissed through the air where his head just was.  Their source was nearly a dozen movers that were hustling down the sidewalk towards his location, faces set with determination.  'Burn me to ash, a trap!'  Mordecai thought darkly.

It made sense: the attack on the front of the vampire enclosure to flush him out, with movers waiting for him to bolt.  All they had to do was close the jaws and he would be had.  The man in black's face tightened.  They would have to be a helluva lot faster to catch him like that!

Then, with abrupt speed, he bolted out of the alleyway and charged headlong down the street, tightening his shields along his back as he put it towards the advancing Brotherhood movers.  And he was immediately rewarded as he felt a number of shockwaves fold around him before his neuron armor and tight personal shields shed them off into the asphalt beneath his feet, the force of the transference making the tarmac buckle and crack.

Fortunately for the big man, he was moving fast enough to avoid being tripped up by the pavement's failure.  Still Mordecai was staggered.  As the Brotherhood movers got the range on him, their shockwaves were getting more and more powerful.

With a snarl of discharge and a roaring explosion, a section of wall right behind Mordecai erupted outward, ripped to powder by a shockwave of great power that just missed the sprinting hardwire.  'Fools!'  he silently raged, head down as he ran on.  'Even if they had swept the area clear of Normals, all this destruction is going to bring them back and down on us fast!  Perhaps it's time I think of making a stand and quickly bringing this confrontation to an end, low energy levels or no!'

Whether it was the whistle as it passed through the air, or the sensation of something large approaching, Mordecai had just enough time to skid to a halt before the city bus, held airborne by powerful weaves of psyken energy, screamed by just overhead.  An eyeblink later it was slamming into the building just beyond before dropping with a ground-shaking impact onto the sidewalk. 

Mordecai blinked slowly, staring at the bus and its newest resting-place, the hard impact twisting the ten-metre vehicle like a pretzel.  'Well!  Looks like they're getting a bit old-fashioned now, using objects to try and stop me!'  he thought darkly.  If he had gone only a dozen more steps, it would have landed directly on top of him!

Then he was coughing as the dust stirred up by the wall's destruction when the bus struck it, swirled around him, caught in the backdraft of the bus's passage.  'Better get the hell out of here!'  he thought, jogging around the wreckage to continue on down the sidewalk at a full sprint once again.

A quick glance over his shoulder revealed a car slowly being lifted off the street as the movers ran by it.  The next projectile, by all appearances.  Time to find that place to make a stand.

Again the missile's abrupt arrival was heralded by the concussive wave of sound as it was pushed brutely through the air.  And again Mordecai managed to come to a staggering halt to avoid getting it dropped on his head.  This time however, as the dust and debris washed around him, he could see that it was much, much closer this time.  The movers were beginning to anticipate where he was going to stop at the point of hearing the car come close.  The next one may very well find its mark.

With the car still shuddering from its abrupt meeting with the sidewalk and road in front of him, Mordecai made a quick scan, both with passive psionic senses and his eyes and ears, looking for that place where he could bring this whole thing to an end.  There!  What looked to be a dead end alley, with a rather large building standing at its back.  'Perfect.'  He thought darkly and, head down, sprinted hard for it.

Watching the renegade bolt across the road, the leading mover jerked his hand up, pulling the tight knot of Brotherhood psionics to a halt.

"Think he's making a break for it?"  asked the mover that staggered to a halt beside him, winded.  It was she that had launched the car and so was nearly drained by her efforts.

"Dunno," the lead mover replied.  "But the map says that's a dead end."  He smiled wolfishly.  "I think the renegade just made fatal mistake!"  Then, louder as he turned his head to address the others.  "Let's move in!  Keep your shields up tight and pull in as much energy as you can handle.  We're going to take this bastard out right now!"  And then they were charging en masse across the road, intent on the dead end alley's mouth.