Public Circling The Drain

[Doc Painless]

Denon, District Nine
Water Reclamation Facility 9071-Besh​

The Doc stared through the pulverized doors of the water treatment plant and winced. Trannon must have come this way.

It'd been twelve hours since the massacre at Liberty Stadium, and so far, his friend had managed to stay ahead of corporate security. That wasn't actually all that surprising, even though Trannon's face had been plastered all over the newsnets planet-wide. For one thing, Trannon had helped build or repair a dizzying array of structures throughout District Nine, and he knew every service tunnel, maintenance catwalk, and access hatch in the local underground. For another, the stadium owner and team managers had been much more concerned about how to keep the game going than how to catch him.

Profit over people, as always. It was the same logic that had loaded Trannon up with experimental cyberware and caused all this.

If he'd had the choice, the Doc would've handled this one solo. Trannon was a friend, and the more people he brought in on this, the more likely that the guy would get hurt - or found by CorpSec, which would result in the same. But he'd seen what his old drinking buddy's new industrial-grade cyberarms and reinforced spine could do. Rated to lift - and bend - durasteel beams three times as long as Trannon was tall and twice as thick as he was wide, those arms could punch right through a person in a burst of gore without even slowing down... without even feeling it. And they had. Repeatedly.

The Doc couldn't be sure exactly what had caused Trannon to snap; the guy had been subjected to a dizzying array of enhancements even beyond his pair of ridiculously strengthened limbs, and any one of them might have caused the overwhelming neurological feedback necessary to turn a gentle family man into a killing machine. He was sure he'd be able to tell once he examined Trannon, but that was going to require subduing him, no mean feat. Which was why the Doc had reached out and hired some muscle to help with this little op. He just hoped he'd made the right choice.

"Okay," the Doc said, transmitting to Salvor King, "here we go. Somewhere down in this water treatment plant, probably past squatting junkie gangs and malfunctioning maintenance droids, is our target: my friend, Trannon Vark. I need you to get me to him, take him down without doing any permanent damage, and then get us out of here before CorpSec shows up to arrest him." He paused, hoping he'd made the right choice of mercenary. "If you have questions, this is the time. We've got to move fast. I'm sure the rent-a-cops are closing in."

 

[Muk Moadda]

I'm sure the rent-a-cops are closing in."​

Someone sure was.

Muk Moadda, Mon Cal black marketeer, scratched at the neck of his weatherbeaten cable sweater. The rain last night had something in it - a ship breaching its vents a couple miles up, maybe - and he'd been itching ever since. If not for the truly stupid amount of potential credits that this rogue cyborg (Tanno or Travvo or something) represented, he'd be at home taking a real bath and soaking up Mon Cala moisturizer. But again, truly stupid amount of potential credits.

Stealing a cyborg couldn't be much harder than stealing a ship, could it?

For about the fifteenth time, he checked the charge level on his trusty snubnose ion blaster. It was really more of a sawed-off ion shotgun, the kind of weapon one used to scramble blast doors and futz repulsorlifts. It ought to knock the average cyborg on his half-metal buttcheeks.

He scratched his neck again, this time with the ion gun's hacksawed muzzle, and sighed in relief. The first wavering dot showed up on his handheld motion tracker. Payday was dead ahead.

Doc Painless Salvor King

 

[Emraj Hosdole]

Denon Corporate Security HQ, Center District
​

Within the Investigation offices of Corpo Security, Emraj was tasked with finding this cybernetic freak that caught the attention of the executives that his whole face was plastered all over the planet. What an honor that was, for Trannon Vark to be the most hunted man in Corporate Space right now. Emraj was designated resources to assist CorpSec in tracking him down. Multiple security agents were in the surrounding area, a water treatment plant in District Nine. Emraj from the security HQ was eyeing the operation from a recon droid overhead with a monitor in on of the conference rooms showing the footage. If the tips he got from those runners were true, Trannon Vark was not one to be taken likely. Odds were, all the security personnel were going to die or fail to catch him as he was both crafty and savage. Emraj wasn't going to tempt fate with that monster.

"This is Lima, we've confirmed location of the suspect. Beginning encirclement." Said the squad leader, how Emraj pitied them. He was throwing himself into a slaughter. Emraj had prepared for this, he locked down the maintenance and service tunnels with extra security and had access to the cameras in the service and maintenance tunnels. As the security operatives began to close in Emraj stood watching.

 

[Gray Venasir]

"Crazy motherfetcher," said Gray as he watched another news article about the psycho who was who had massacred Liberty Stadium. The first time the news netowrk covered it, twelve hours earlier, Gray hadn't thought anything of it. But then it came again, and again. It didn't seem like CorpSec or CAD had any control of the situation. And that only meant one thing: Vigilantes had to deal with it.

It wasn't hard to track down the general direction the man known as Trannon Vark had gone in. The news had brought Gray on the trail, and then he only had to follow where he could see destruction. There had been no mention of why Trannon was doing this, only that he had cybernetic enhancements and was considered extremly dangerous. It wasn't unheard of enhanced people going crazy over something, and using their cyber enhancements to wreak havoc, but the reason for it was always donwplayed on the news. Their wife leaving them, being fired from work, brutally attacked by street gangs, stuff like that. But that was never the real reason, Gray was sure of it.

The smuggler arrived at a water treatment plant, where the trail had lead him. But before he could enter the building, he saw two men standing in front of the door. Er, where the door was supposed to be. "What the kriff are others doing here?" he silently asked himself. There weren't a lot of people Gray knew that would willingly persue a situation like this. Without getting paid, that is. These two could of course be CorpSec, but they didn't look the type. Maybe friends of the psycho, or someone affected by his rampage, and seeking revenge for it. Anyway, Gray decided it was safest to not approach them yet, and rather stay in the shadows and follow them. Maybe they would lead him right to the cyber-wacko.

Doc Painless | Muk Moadda | Emraj Hosdole | Salvor King

 

[Cyran Vaas]

Cyran doubted, no, he knew that he wasn't the only one pursuing the bounty. Denon's most wanted had been publicized. Trannon seemed to have fallen to some kind of Cyber Psychosis with Liberty Stadium having become victim from it. At first Cyran figured that whatever bounty came from it if there would be one, was something he wouldn't wanna touch with a ten foot pole. He felt certain that they would be wanted dead rather than Alive. He'd leave that to other more blood thirsty "bounty hunters". Cyran wasn't an assassin. On very rare occasions he would take on a wanted dead bounty, and even then he would take them in alive, willing to compromise the bounty if it meant he could avoid having a death on his conscious.

However, the bounty Cyran picked up on made things considerably more intriguing. Since the condition was that they were to be apprehended alive. A homicidal cyber-psycho needing to be captured without lethal intent. Now that's rarity, and the price of the bounty reflected that. Also this would be one of the few bounties he'd take that didn't seem to be made by an official authority, since CorpSec seemed to have other plans for Trannon, that being the lethal kind.

Now this is the kind of thrill seeking drama that Cyran is looking for, could probably make for a really nice song too after he's done. A race to apprehend a lethal bionic killing machine in an ecumenopolis before their found and destroyed.

Cyran spared no expense on this journey. Arming himself up as well as he could and utilizing his mandalorian themed power armor to give him a greater physical edge. He seemed like he was going to need it.

Listening in on police chatter Cyran narrowed down the fugitive to a water treatment plant. Great. Not only was there a high risk of danger but now it seemed it would be in a very tight CQB environment. Knowing that CorpSec was already likely on the scene and trying to contain the situation Cyran needed an alternative route.

Using his powerful jet pack Cyran launched himself into the air before landing on the roof of the treatment plant. He figured Trannon was possibly underground, so Cyran needed to carefully make his way through from the top down but quickly as he was probably the furthest behind compared to CorpSec or possibly others who've taken on the bounty. Kicking in the maintenance door to the roof he drew his snare rifle, making sure he was using non-lethal force and made his way into the building proper, ready for whatever it may hold.

Doc Painless | Muk Moadda | Emraj Hosdole | Gray Venasir | Salvor King

 

[Muk Moadda]

The motion tracker got unreliable outside a forty-five-degree arc, so Muk made sure to watch his back. He noted two or three signatures near the exterior ( Gray Venasir , Doc Painless , and Salvor King) - and another one overhead in the upper floors, moving fast ( Cyran Vaas ). The sound of a kicked door percolated down. He gave it fifty-fifty odds: either that fast, lone signature was his target, or it was someone else going for the bounty.

Due to the fifty-fifty chance of payday, Muk went up the nearest stairs toward that signature, sawed-off ion gun in hand. The lighting in here was poor - inconsistent, flickering - but decent enough that he didn't need a flashlight. Big eyes darted around, looking for any visual cue that matched the motion tracker signature. He tucked the tracker away at about a fifteen-meter range so it wouldn't give off its quiet 'THERE IS A THING HERE' beep.

 

[Doc Painless]

Well, feth. It seemed that the Doc's chosen mercenary had been delayed. But the street medic could see that the situation couldn't wait; his augmented eyes and ears picked up at least three other contenders closing in on the location. He knew that he wouldn't be able to subdue Trannon alone - he was no fighter - but maybe the man would be lucid enough that the Doc could try to talk him down. No matter what, he couldn't abandon his friend to the less than tender mercies of corporate security. He had to try... even if it put him thoroughly in harm's way.

He just hoped that, if there were other hunters after this bounty, they remembered it was to capture Trannon alive.

As the Doc started forward, heading down the drainage tunnel and trying to keep his boots out of the filthy water, an alert pinged his HUD implant. Someone had just used a CorpSec code to take control of the cameras. "Feth me, they've moving fast," he swore, picking up his pace. He'd hoped there would be more time before the rent-a-cops closed in, but he was sure that they were already encircling the area, preparing to move in. Finding an exit strategy that wouldn't end with him and Trannon captured was going to be a hell of a job in and of itself.

There was a slam and the clattering of metal on metal from somewhere above him, and the Doc frowned. Was that CorpSec making their entrance, or someone else? It was impossible to know; there was too much distance and interference for even his augmented eyes to peer up that far. The whole water treatment plant was a maze of maintenance catwalks and access tunnels, dozens of floors stacked on top of each other from the roof down into the planet's infrastructure sublevels. Steam spewed from pipes and valves, filling the hallways with hot fog.

In short, it was hard to see five meters in front of you, let alone up through layers of duracrete flooring.

Trannon and the Doc had been drinking together almost since the Doc had arrived a few standard months ago, and the Doc liked to think he knew the construction worker reasonably well. More than that, he knew the way that cyber-psychosis tended to work. Cases could be diverse, but one common element was extreme paranoia and agoraphobia. Trannon would find the lowest, smallest place he could and hole up there, trying to make sense of the too-many inputs vying for control of his mind. The Doc called up a blueprint of the facility to his HUD.

There, he decided. It was a pump room at the bottom of this sublevel, a place with only one entrance - down a ladder. Trannon might feel safe there... though he wouldn't be. CorpSec could find him anywhere given enough time. Breaking into a jog, the Doc hurried past the drainage tunnels and sifter pools, heading for the access point. He soon found himself standing in front of the access hatch for the pump room. It had been smashed in with terrible force, leaving a jagged opening into the darkness below. Suddenly, being right didn't feel so good.

"Trannon? Trannon, it's me, Doc Painless." Somewhere down there, the Doc heard metal grinding. He swallowed hard.

Muk Moadda | Emraj Hosdole | Gray Venasir | Cyran Vaas ​