Outrun - Chapter 460 - Outskirts Gas Station (Patreon)

I whipped my katana around, and felt the blade whistle through the air. Honestly, training with Yuki just hammered home how out of place I was with close-combat. I could at least swing the blade without shattering my wrist, but I lacked any finesse. The blade flicked, and slid back into the sheath at my wrist.

To be fair, my best moves were to get close and use my training from Swipe. Couldn’t exactly do that on Yuki, though. If I could just get through that mental block in my mind, and use the training for Swipe for something else, I’d probably be perfectly fine. It was kinda hard to use a Perk’s training for something outside of its intended purpose though. Probably had to do with the way they compressed time and memories.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Luna asked me through the Packheart Rings. 

“Not like I have much of a choice otherwise. The meetup is tonight with or without us.” I leaned back on my Roughrider as the vehicle zipped through the sky. Behind me sat Aythryn City in all its neon pollution. In front of me was an endless stretch of dunes. “Why’d they have to make the meetup outside the city?”

I didn’t like being out here. Something about the wide, open spaces made me a little nervous. At least at my overlook, I was close enough to the city to escape if something happened. Out here, nothing but the dunes would hear me scream… quit being so melodramatic, Shiro. It’s fine. This is totally fine.

A group of Hawks zoomed through the dunes below me. For some reason, the usually predatory nomads totally ignored a lit up gas station out in the middle of nowhere. It stood by itself without even a road leading to it. By all rights, it looked like a tempting target… and yet it was left completely alone. The heavy duty flyer and KairoTech drones circling the perimeter were probably why.

I ensured all my stealth tech was still working, and took manual control once more. I slowed down just outside of the area, and took a moment to look around. My cybernetic eye zoomed in again and again until the objects and people far below looked like they were right in front of me.

The androids stood outside the front door with rifles held in their hands. I wasn’t familiar with their model, but they looked super expensive. Just next to them, a familiar man smoked a cigarette. His cowboy hat was pulled low over his head, and he leaned against the sand-washed wall of the gas station. 

“What’s Tex doing here?” I asked softly. I was happy to see the man was alive, to be honest. I was a little worried I left him to die out in the water. Falling into the ocean was truly more survivable than face-tanking an exploding flyer, though.

”I take it we weren’t the only mercs hired for this one.” Vox shuffled around my side, and hung off the edge of the Roughrider with her magnetic paws. Her eyes glowed a soft blue. “This guy’s got some heavy security.”

”No kidding.” Every angle was being watched. It was all mechanical security and nothing biological, so I’d probably be able to get through it just fine. I was invited to this one, though.

I summoned out a Spectral Flock bird and set it down on the Roughrider. Vox hopped up onto my shoulders a moment later. “We’re jumping?”

”Unless you have a better plan.” I stretched out, and felt the black kimono I threw on over the armor sway in the wind. I custom designed it with glowing purple cloud patterns tied into my suit’s systems.

The Roughrider abruptly changed course and flew over the gas station. The moment it did, I dropped off the side. The kimono flapped wildly in the wind around me, and dry wind silently rushed up across my armor. I flipped onto my back a moment before hitting the ground, and the Drop Chutes abruptly caught me.

The microthrusters built into my armor adjusted my posture, and I smoothly slid onto my feet just in front of the two guards. Tex reacted faster than the bots, and already had a revolver drawn and aimed squarely at my head. He held it there for a second before slinging it around his finger back into a holster. 

“Well howdy to you, miss. You sure know how to make an entrance.” He slowly took a drag of his cigarette, though his eyes never left me. “Nightshade, I reckon?”

”Indeed.” I eyed the man. He was looking a little worse for wear than the last time I saw him. Why wasn’t he back in the south-central FSA? “Tex, chek? I take it this isn’t just a heist.”

I was obviously fishing for more details. Tex was a mercenary known for handling combat. There was no need for him to be here if this was a simple in and out heist… unless maybe he was insurance? That was always a possibility. 

“Don’t know much myself. The boss’s waiting for everyone to arrive.” The man flicked his smoldering cigarette out into the sand, and tipped his hat to me. “Say, have we met before?”

“I think I’d remember a face like yours.” I shook my head. Luna’s report on him was right–the guy had frighteningly good perception. I wasn’t quite sure how he could see through Master of Disguise and notice something familiar.

“Mhmm…” He eyed me suspiciously for a moment before tipping his head. “Must’ve been another gal.”

“There are billions of us, after all.” I let out a silent breath, and moved for the door. “Everyone here already?”

“Down three–make that two now that you’re here.” Tex smirked. “You like purple?”

I glanced down at myself. I maybe overdid it a bit with all the purple highlights accentuating my figure. I took the purple glow from the Panther’s Fang and ran with it a little too much. I ran a finger down a neon strip along my thigh. “Artisan got carried away with the design.”

“Artisan, huh? Don’t reckon I’ve heard that name a’fore.” Tex scratched at his cheek and shrugged. “Once this is over, mind introducing us? Been needing some new boots.”

“They’re picky. I’ll see, though.” Although my voice came out cool and calm, I panicked a little bit. Artisan was just a made up alias since Nightshade wasn’t supposed to be a crafter. Not like I wanted to make a ton of toys and gadgets for Nightrunners… it might be kinda fun?

Tex beat me to to the door, and held the door open for me. The androids on either side of it just stood there blankly like ornaments.  “After you, partner.”

”My, what a gentleman.” I dropped my hand to rest on the grip of the Panther’s Fang, and slid through the door.

The gas station had been totally cleared out at some point, and a table was set up in the middle of the room. Chairs sat scattered around the table, though no one sat down. Instead, the inhabitants of the place were spread out like they were claiming their own spaces.

A man in lacquered samurai armor leaned against the side wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Most of his face was obscured by an Oni mask with sharp tusks, though two glowing eyes peeked out from between his helmet and mask. Said glowing eyes locked onto me for several moments before the man slowly nodded his head.

I dipped my chin, and checked out the other guy. He wasn’t sitting in one of the chairs not because he didn’t want to—he couldn’t. The man, if I could even call him that, was an absolute behemoth. A familiar looking behemoth. His arm was almost bigger than I was without my armor. It took me a moment to remember where I’d seen him.

Yeah… yeah he was definitely one of Tornado’s experiments from back when I busted Mira out of the lab. He looked better. More… human, almost. His eyes actually had a hint of intelligence to them instead of mindless rage like back then, and he actually had hands instead of miniguns like some twisted war machine.

He also had on clothes, so that helped. His chrome peeked through a fitted black suit that somehow wasn’t busting at the seams. Whoever his tailor was had some seriously impressive skills. His attire, at the very least, suggested he’d been doing well for himself since the lab.

“Got problem?” The giant rumbled. His voice was incredibly deep like an earthquake running across the area.

”How’d you even fit in here?” I asked. Internally, I winced at the crass remark. It fit what Nightshade would probably do, though.

”Use big door.” The massive bulk of a man jabbed a finger toward a garage door set off to the side of the place. Looked like it used to be an attached mechanic shop, though the door had been blown off. 

“What did we say about inside voices?” Tex moved past me and grabbed a seat. He flicked it around so that his arms were resting on the backrest. 

“This inside voice.” The giant frowned, and rubbed at his jaw. He rasped out as quietly as he could, which was still somehow a shout. I definitely wasn’t here for a stealth mission, then. “Inside voice no good?”

“How about a whisper?” Tex shook out the sand on his boots, and the spurs went wild. “I’m not trying to go deaf.”

“Levi no kill before job.” The giant shook his head. Levi? Was that his name? Honestly, seeing him here kind of made me feel awful. I got Mira out and just abandoned the rest of the people in the lab to fend for themselves. Sure, I called in the Crusade. There was no telling how the Crusade handled them, though.

“Kill? Ah, no. I meant deaf as in–” Tex’s face scrunched up, and he just shook his head. “You know what? Nevermind.”

“What about after the job?” The samurai off to the corner asked. His voice was thick with a yukiyonnese accent. It was even thicker than some of the Jade Fang elders I’d been around.

“Got it.” Luna’s voice slid into my mind. “That’s Ronin. A Yukoto native, and sword master. Careful around that one, Shiro.”

From Yukoto? Why would he leave somewhere like that for the endless dunes of Aythryn City. I toggled my helmet so my voice wouldn’t go through to the others. “What’s he doing here?”

“Looks like he pissed of someone in the Dragon Gods. Not too sure.” I could practically hear Luna’s eye roll. “His life story didn’t pop up with the facial recognition.”

“After job… maybe. Levi no decide.” The giant shuffled away from the wall and grabbed a chair like Tex. The moment he tried to sit down, the chair shattered underneath his weight. Levi promptly sat on the ground like nothing happened. “Wait for boss?”

Tex chuckled, and dropped his chin onto his arms. Even in a totally unguarded stance, his hands never strayed far from his revolvers. “He said there were five of us and a runner.” 

“Then we’re waiting on just one more.” Luna’s digitized voice came from Vox’s speakers. The metallic fox jumped off my shoulders, and sat down primly in one of the chairs. 

“So we are.” Tex’s eyes darted between me and the metal fox. “You going to introduce your little friend, Nightshade?”

“Didn’t know this was a meet and greet.” I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall opposite Ronin. “The boss here already?”

“Naturally.” A new voice echoed through the room. The door on the far side of the gas station opened up, and a man stepped through flanked by a duo of androids. He looked every bit the corporate executive, down to the unnaturally wide smile plastered across his face. 

Honestly, there wasn’t much memorable about him aside from his smile. He had no chrome, no armor, and nothing that stood out. No, wait. There was one thing. He didn’t look intimidated or wary at all despite his apparent lack of protection. It was like he wasn’t concerned one of us might try to cash in on the bounty hanging over his head.

The man looked across each of us like he was checking off an inventory list. “Nightshade, Ronin, Behemoth, Tex, and Moonfall. At least most of you understand punctuality.”

“The cosmos wait for no man.” Ronin pushed off the wall, and moved to join the other two in the middle of the room. He chose a seat as far away from the other two as he could. After hesitating a moment, I followed suit.

“Well put, well put.” The Hound moved toward the checkout counter, and tossed a holopuck onto it. “Then we’ll go ahead and–ah! There he is now.”

A beat later, Luna popped one of my scattered Dragonflies into my HUD. A familiar shadow flew over the dunes and rapidly approached the gas station. Purple flames spilled out of a cylindrical jetpack on his back. My expression immediately soured.

The doors were thrown open, and Lavender entered the gas station with the same cocky stride that he had back then. His suit had been upgraded since I last saw the pyromaniac. Last time, I got him to back off by cutting his tubes. This time, the tubes were totally covered up in armored plating. 

“Oi, were you waiting on me?” Lavender chuckled. His tinted mask no longer looked like a prototype. Two pinpricks of lavender light swept across the room. “Hope I’m not too late.”

“We were just about to begin.” The Hound lifted his wrist and checked his watch. The unnatural smile never left his face. It was starting to weird me out. “We really must start. I’m already behind schedule.”

“Sorry, sorry. Forgot to fill up the old tank last night.” Lavender sat down right in the middle of the group. He seemed not to notice how we were all warily spaced out from each other, or he just didn’t care. My bet was on the latter.

“Remind me to make a micro-bug when I get back,” I muttered softly. There was no way I was going to let this bastard slip through my hands again. Not when he so conveniently strutted in like a peacock.

I wouldn’t do it now, though. I wouldn’t fuck up my first big job for a little revenge. After the job when we weren't teammates, though, was another story. The Crusade would be all too happy with me receiving an anonymous tip that led right to where the cockroach was hiding.

“Gotcha.” Her voice came through the Packheart Rings. Vox glanced back around the chair at me, and then focused on the front.

“You can wait to decide if you’re in or out till after you hear the plan.” The Hound activated the holopuck, and a subterranean pyramid appeared. A familiar pyramid… one that sat right in the middle of Aythryn City. “We’re hitting Mystech.”