Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 52 - The Power of Manipulation (Patreon)

Deep down, we all know that anyone who says they can solve all of our problems is lying. But it’s so easy to just surrender control, to let someone else take responsibility out of your hands. That’s why the Pacificians were successful. It’s just human nature.

Patrick Ward

My assault rifle was up in less than a second, and before they could take one step, I’d put the first one down. As he fell, I swept the weapon back and forth, shouting, “Back the fuck up!”

Surprisingly, they did just that. But Caleb demanded, “Why? Why would you do that?! He was so close!”

“To what? They’re not here to cure you,” I growled. “They’re just killing everyone and copying them. You can’t be this stupid.”

But I knew better. If there was one thing of which I was absolutely certain, it was the breadth of human stupidity. It was especially pervasive with the sort of people who wanted a bunch of aliens to solve their problems. I understood, and there was a part of me that sympathized with their situations. I knew just how insidious addiction could be – I had seen it firsthand – and poverty and food insecurity were just as bad. The draw was easy to see.

There was something else buried beneath that pity, though. Something that shamed me. I hated them for their perceived weakness. I knew it wasn’t all their fault. But I also couldn’t help the revulsion coursing through my mind. I shoved it aside, focusing on the task at hand.

“You,” I said, pointing my weapon at Caleb. “You’re coming with me.” I glanced at the others. “The rest of you, you can come too. I’ve arranged for transportation to somewhere safe. But I’m not going to force you.”

“You’ll force me, though?” Caleb demanded.

“Most definitely.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I made a deal,” I said. “Now, if you all stay…you know what? I’m not sure what’ll happen. But it probably won’t be good. The Pacificians are done on this planet. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But I’m going to kill every last one of those assholes. So, maybe don’t pick the wrong side.”

With that, I stepped forward and, too quickly for Caleb to react, grabbed him by the arm. I yanked him off balance, and he stumbled after me as I backed away. “So?” I asked the others. “What’s it going to be?”

They didn’t answer. Instead, as one, they surged toward me. I probably could have escaped, but I’d have had to leave Caleb behind. Even with him in two, I didn’t have to kill them.

But I wanted to.

I’d come to rescue them, and they’d rewarded me with aggression? I knew they had been manipulated, but in that moment, I didn’t care. So, I fired.

I didn’t even have to use any abilities. Just the weapon, my modifiers, and a mind full of anger, regret, and revulsion. They couldn’t stand before that, and in seconds, I’d cut the entire group down. It wasn’t even difficult, which probably should have been a little concerning. It wasn’t, though.

“You…you killed them…”

“And if I didn’t promise your sister I’d get you out of here, I’d kill you, too. Or I just wouldn’t have worried about trying to rescue a bunch of morons who joined a cult,” I said. I gave him another tug, which unbalanced him once again. “Now, come on. I want to rescue you, but I’m not so invested that I won’t tell your sister that you were dead when I got here.”

I was keenly aware that my initial goal had been to rescue all of them. Or was that just an excuse for my anger? I wasn’t sure. And I was in no position to think about it any further. Perhaps I’d tackle that issue once I escaped and was safe. To that end, I contacted Alistaris and said, “Got my package. I’ll be –”

I never got the chance to finish my sentence. Instead, I pushed Caleb to the side as I dove forward, narrowly dodging the blade aimed at my neck. I rolled, coming to my feet and firing at the man who’d just tried to kill me. I didn’t bother with witty repartee. Nor did I hesitate. I just fired, sending a barrage of bullets downrange to hammer into his chest.

He flew from his feet and skidded across the floor. I kept firing, then used Instant Reload before continuing with a second magazine. The bullets ripped into him, tearing his red jumpsuit to pieces and sending bits of faux skin misting into the air.

But I knew it wouldn’t be enough.

Because I recognized him. Or rather, I recognize the giant sword still clutched in one of his hands. It didn’t make sense, though. I’d watched him die. Alistaris and his Dingyts had killed him back on the moon, hadn’t they?

Clearly not, because there he was, struggling to rise even as I peppered him with a barrage of bullets. My magazine ran empty, and I didn’t dare use Instant Reload again. It would drain most of the rest of my Mist, and I suspected I’d need everything I had left if I was going to escape alive.

It was just the opening he needed, though. Even as I smoothly transferred one magazine into my arsenal implant and replaced it with another, he sprang to his feet and rushed me. Moving so quickly that it looked like a teleport, he was on me in less than an instant.

I ducked under a horizontal swing of that massive sword, then used Combo Punch to aim a pair of strikes at his ruined midsection. The first barely did anything, but the second pushed him backward. I followed up with another jab, building the power of the fourth and final punch – an uppercut that took him right in the chin. The impact lifted him off his feet and shattered his jaw.

If I hadn’t administered the blow with the Hand of God, I felt certain that it would have destroyed my fist as well. As it was, the nigh-indestructible cybernetic was completely unharmed.

The android couldn’t as much, and as he sailed through the air, I dragged the Dragon from my arsenal implant, used Explosive Shot, and let loose.

The massive weapon roared, ripping through him with a couple thousand rounds a minute. And with Explosive Shot enhancing each shot, the damage was devastating. I tore him to pieces, one round at a time, and by the time the Dragon ran dry, he was in pieces. But I didn’t dare assume he was dead.

So, I exchanged the Dragon for the BMAP, then reached down to grab a stunned Caleb by the hair before dragging him to the exit. Once I reached the sloping tunnel, I took aim at the collection of parts – they were still twitching, and unless I was seeing things, the pieces had begun to drag themselves back together – and let loose with Shatter Shot.

The round sailed through the air, hitting the pile of parts dead center and filling the room with a massive conflagration. By that point, I was already sprinting up the ramp and dragging a struggling Caleb along behind me.

As I outrun the ball of fire, I screamed through my Secure Connection, “Change of plans. Only one passenger. You ready for my pickup?”

“No!” he screamed. “The Pacificians had another…”

There was a massive explosion over the connection before he continued, “There’s three other gunships in the air! We can’t get to you, much less take that shield down!”

“Shit,” I growled. “Great intel.”

“I’m aware.”

“Am I on my own?” I spat.

“For now. Good luck,” he said.

It was all I could do not to roll my eyes. If I was honest with myself, I would’ve admitted that I should have expected as much. Alistaris had taken great pains to conceal his involvement, which meant that he couldn’t bring the full weight of his organization to bear. On top of that, he was so preoccupied with secrecy that it was always going to negatively affect the operation. In this case, he’d missed something he should’ve – and would have if he’d been fully focused on the mission – seen.

But it was fine.

I had a Plan B.

I just needed to cross the city in order to implement it. So, when I finally reached the end of the tunnel and burst free into daylight, I wasted no time before summoning the Cutter. I tossed Caleb over the seat, telling him, “You move, you die. Got it?”

He nodded, clearly terrified. I didn’t blame him. After the firepower I’d just showed, I would’ve been afraid too. But I didn’t have time to think about things like that because, just then, a pair of men in red jumpsuits and carrying giant swords burst onto the scene. The skidded to a stop, aiming their weapons at me.

“What the hell?” I muttered, my mind working overtime. With two more in my way, it seemed reasonable that I hadn’t just fought the same man I’d battled in the Lunar Station. Instead, there were multiple copies of the same – or a similar – man.

Which was absolutely horrifying.

I took off, the Cutter accelerating faster than either of them could react. Or that’s what I though until I was forced to skid sideways across the pavement just to avoid a thrown sword that ended up embedded up to the hilt in a nearby wall.

I righted the hoverbike, then sped off, thanking my luck that those powerful androids seemed to have a thing against guns.

The city blurred past as I left them behind, and soon, I was dodging between wrecked vehicles and circling fallen buildings. Behind me, Caleb let out a gasp, clearly surprised by the level of destruction.

In truth, it hadn’t been nearly as bad as I’d expected. Sure, there were dead androids scattered throughout the city, but there were plenty that had survived my carefully created Ghost. It was just evidence that, even in an ideal situation, it wasn’t a perfect solution.

Not yet.

But I still had a long way to go before I tapped all of my potential. On top of that, I knew that there were ways to get more power out of skills. Specially made cybernetics could boost all manner of skills. And finally, there was the issue of my skills. I refused to believe that reaching Tier-5 in each category was the end of my road. If it was, then my uncle wouldn’t have been nearly as powerful as he’d been.

No - I still had a ways to go. I just needed to keep going, and things would open up. I was certain of it.

I sped through the city until, I saw something that brought me to a screeching halt. “Shit,” I spat, looking at the blockade. There were seven red-jumpsuited androids, a dozen others in green robes, and a handful of hovercars stretched across the street. I turned around and tried to go around, but I quickly found that every other road was blocked – some by the rubble of fallen buildings, but others with heavy defenses including Mist shields – as well.

It was clear that they were trying to hem me in and force me to fight the men in red.

There was a part of me that just wanted to ditch Caleb and use Stealth to bypass them. But I’d made a promise, and even if I had failed to rescue any others, I wanted to at least get him to safety. With Observation, I could tell that there were hundreds of people converging on my position. I didn’t have time to look for another way out. I had no choice but to break through the blockade.

“So be it,” I said, pulling the BMAP back out. This time, I exchanged the normal ammunition for something even more destructive – at least to a bunch of robots. I slammed the cannister in place, then took aim with one hand while keeping my other on the hoverbike’s accelerator.

I sat there, staring at my enemies.

They stared back.

And then, I took off.

The Cutter was the highest-quality hoverbike I’d seen on Earth, and it was capable of truly blistering speeds. I used every ounce of its power as I tore down the street, swerving left, then right to avoid piles of rubble. And then, when I came into range, I used Shatter Shot before firing the BMAP’s payload.

The round traveled in a low, lazy arc before thudding into one of the cars. But it didn’t explode. Neither did the following seven shots.

I didn’t stop, though. A hundred yards away, the green-robed androids opened fire. I swerved, keeping to a zig-zagging pattern as I closed to fifty yards. Then twenty. When I was only ten yards away, I detonated the round I’d fired from the BMAP.

With a deep, reverberating sound, they discharged a blanket of Mist designed to disrupt cybernetics. The androids – even the ones in red jumpsuits – collapsed into seizures as I piloted the hoverbike through the blockade and to the relative safety of the open street.

The rounds were called MDGs – or Mist-Disruptive Grenades – and I’d gotten them special after getting back from the moon. They had cost me a relative fortune, and it was even more expensive to get them shipped down to Earth. But in hindsight, they were well worth it. The ordnance was largely useless in most situations, and against anything but androids, it would do nothing but briefly disrupt cybernetics. However, against robots and drones, it was reputed to be extremely effective.

Against androids as well, it seemed.

The rest of the way was easy enough, and soon enough, I arrived at my destination – the small hangar they maintained. Unfortunately, it too was guarded, though only by a single man. Predictably, it was an identical android to the ones I’d fought so far – right down to the overlarge sword clutched in one hand. He held it out to the side, with the wide blade stretching parallel to the ground.

“Get off,” I said.

“What?”

“If you’re on this bike when this goes down, you’re going to die. So, get off. If you make me chase you after I kill this asshole, I’m going to break your legs.”

“I thought you were here to save me…”

“You’re still saved with broken legs.”

He didn’t comment any further, and soon enough, I was alone on the back of the cutter. I knew good and well that the only reason I’d survived so far was because I hadn’t fought fair. The one that had ambushed me was the closest, and that had required me to empty my entire arsenal. But now, the Dragon was empty, and I didn’t have the Mist to use Instant Reload. I’d also used my entire stock of MDGs – probably unnecessarily, but I hadn’t wanted to take any chances – so I didn’t have my secret weapon.

No – if I was going to beat this latest challenger, it would be without any tricks or overwhelming firepower.

Which meant that I wasn’t terribly confident in my chances. However, I didn’t have much of a choice. I couldn’t go back. Even now, I was certain that whoever was left in the city was closing in on me. I needed to get to that hangar and get out with some alacrity, or I’d be overwhelmed.

So, I summoned my Pulsar, took aim, and used Empowered Shot. I fired a second later, but by that point, he was already moving. My shot still took him in the shoulder, spinning him around, but he quickly righted himself, and then he was on top of me. I fired without aiming, taking him in the chest. It knocked him off balance, and I took off.

The Cutter was fast.

He was faster.

And even as I tore off across the tarmac in front of the hangar, he recovered and closed in on me. I whipped around, drawing my sword at the same time, then accelerated in his direction. The move took him by surprise, but he still managed to block the swing that came only an instant later. It threw me off balance.

And then, disaster struck in the form of a giant blade slashing through one of the Mist vents at the bottom of my hoverbike. It exploded, flipping the Cutter into the air. I tumbled free, hitting the ground on my shoulder. Flaring Balance, I rolled, then dragged Ferdinand II from the holster at my hip. As I rolled to my feet, I fired blindly behind me.

I heard the rounds thud into my attacker before I twisted around, sword in one hand and pistol in the other. It was just in time to see him leaping at me and aiming a two-handed overhand attack at me.

I dove to the side, firing another shot in his direction. It went wide, and his blade bit deep into the concrete of the tarmac. I fired again, this time hitting him directly in the head. The round tore the faux skin from his metallic skull, but he was otherwise unaffected. So, I fired again. And again. Even as he turned and slowly walked toward me, I kept shooting until Ferdinand II went dry.

He smirked – a macabre sight, when half of his metal endoskeleton was on full display. I pushed it from my mind as I exchanged Ferdinand II for my assault rifle. I had just enough time to jam a new magazine into place before he reached me.

I tried to dodge his giant blade, but it was a feint meant to disguise his true attack. Even as I overbalanced to avoid the blade strike, he kicked out, taking me in the chest. I felt ribs break as I was sent flying through the air. I landed a moment later, then skidded across the pavement until I came to a stop.

Spitting blood on the ground, I looked at him only forty or fifty feet away. Then, I returned his smile with a smirk of my own before I said, “That all you got, big boy?”

Then, I raised my assault rifle and bathed him in a hail of gunfire. He darted forward, heedless of the barrage of bullets. They thudded into him, ripping his faux skin away as I charged.

And like that, our battle continued.