Tales of Kid Crimson: Issue #8 - [Comm-Links](https://api.star-citizen.wiki/comm-links) - Tales of Kid Crimson: Issue #8 Tales of Kid Crimson: Issue #8 ============================== Undefined Undefined Tales of Kid Crimson [Previous](https://api.star-citizen.wiki/comm-links/12828) [Next](https://api.star-citizen.wiki/comm-links/12830) Content ------- English Yellow lightning pulsed deep in the thick storm clouds. Rain turned the red dirt into slick mud. Hidden in the dark depths of the massive canyon, we waited. We ate stittle-bugs. The cold sank into our bones. She was close. That was all I needed. All the light and warmth in the world was here, in my arms. * * * * * My head bounced against a window. Real world again. The raindrops on the plastic turned the lights of massive buildings into streaks as they passed outside. It took me a second but it all came back: Hannigan, the plan, the bomb, the Advocacy Agent. I tested the shackles on my hands and feet, hoping for enough leeway to work with. No good, I was bound tight. The Advocacy Agent was up front, piloting, already looking at me in the rear-view. “For a second there, I was really worried I lost you.” She said. From her utterly dispassionate delivery, I could tell she meant every word. This was the first good look I got at her since the Covalex Shipping Hub. Her crisp spotless clothes and calm demeanor screamed prepared, professional. “I’ll bet.” I sat up but my head hated me for it. “So, the infamous Kid Crimson…” “Never heard of him.” My automatic response. She looked at me in the mirror, disappointed. “Really? You’re going with that? I feel like most of you guys can’t wait to get caught. Just so you can finally gush about how notorious you are. Hurricane Wilcox was just like that…well, until I shot him.” My mind tumbled. I had heard of her. Name was Raina Quell. She had quite a reputation as an uncompromising agent who punched out a couple serious players. Apparently after she pinched Hurricane, he had some of his boys try to break him out. She tore it up with all of them and was the only survivor. She took note of my silence. “So I guess I don’t need to introduce myself.” She said. “You’ve been on me since Covalex?” “Yeah.” “How?” “What do you mean?” She looked at me quizzically. “Were you there looking for me?” “I was following a tip about a cargo of slaves. That led me to you. You ran. I hunted you down.” She didn’t know about the drunk who originally transported the slaves. So the tip came after I boosted the cargo. That cloaked assassin fed me to her. Why? To force me to run? “I don’t suppose I could convince you that I was set up.” “I would but I’ve fallen for that one too many times before.” She watched me for several moments. I settled back in the seat and looked at the city pass. “I checked your ship. Where’d you deliver the slaves?” “I set them free.” “Right.” “They’re in Magnus. Defrosted on the Arshop Mining Installation. Check for yourself.” I looked right at her. Didn’t flinch. She didn’t have anything on me. Maybe Evasion of an Advocacy Agent. But most of my old crimes were sorted. “You knew I was on your tail and knew it would be too hot travelling with slaves so you dumped the evidence.” “I don’t traffick slaves. I came here for whoever does.” “That what the LR-620 was for?” I hate redundant questions so I kept quiet. She waited. “Who?” I saw the TU campus in the distance. The commencement was already underway. There goes that plan. “You ever hear of a man named Caro?” That got her attention. “You’re kidding.” “Got intel from one of the slaves, tracked it back here, and worked up the ladder. That was the name at the top.” “Caro’s here?” She said, still guarding her expectations. I weighed telling her. At the absolute best, maybe she’d believe me. More than likely, all I’d be doing is confessing to the attempted assassination of a UEE Senator. I opted to hedge my bets and shut up. She was on the hook though and kept pushing, “Who is he?” Outside, we passed the UEE Official Landing Yard. Presumably where her ship was. I looked at her. “Wait, where are you taking me?” “Local Police for processing then back to an Advocacy station.” “You can’t take me to local cops.” I said. A little urgency crept into my voice. This was bad. Really bad. “It’s protocol. Deal with it.” Quell thought I was rattled at the prospect of jail. “Look, the second you put me in the system, Caro will send a team of hitters to wipe me out.” “You’re talking about secure Advocacy channels. Caro’s connected but he’s not all-powerful.” “Think about it. How has he been able to elude capture, even identification, all this time?” “You tell me.” She said. I got no choice. Here goes nothing. “Senator Hannigan is Caro.” “Okay.” Quell said and turned ahead. “I’m serious.” “I’m sure you are.” “Look, take me anywhere; Advocacy HQ, your ship, the septic pits, I don’t care. I’ll tell you everything I know. But if they know you’ve got me, I’m a dead man.” She looked back at me for a second then disregarded me as just another criminal trying to weasel out of punishment. “I comm’d the station the second I shackled you.” Twenty minutes later, Quell pulled into the local Police station and dragged me out of the back. With both my hands and feet bound, I was as good as dead if someone made a play. I scanned for anything suspicious until she pushed me into the small station. There were three cops on duty inside. They looked bored, like they haven’t chased somebody down in the past decade or two. Quell parked me by the counter. The Desk Sergeant ignored me and stared at her. “Help you, honey?” Quell glared at him. It took the cop about thirty seconds to fold. “What can I do for you, agent?” “I need him processed and a comm-station.” “Yes, ma’am.” The desk sergeant hustled around to grab me. The door opened. A tall grim-looking hulk in a soaked long-coat stepped inside. Except for the occasional squeak of his shoe. He didn’t make a sound. In short, trouble. “Special Agent Quell.” The hulk said. “Yeah?” Raina eyed him warily. Apparently her instincts were firing like mine. The hulk stared at me. He might have been at the landing yard tussle. “I’ve got orders to commandeer your prisoner.” He flashed an Advocacy ID. “Under whose authority?” She laughed. “I’m afraid that’s classified.” He said, never breaking his gaze from me, until Quell stepped into his line of sight. “Right. Who’s your superior?” Quell said, never backing down. The hulk ignored her. His hand started to move. Quell was one step ahead. Her pistol was up in a flash. I had to hand it to her, the woman’s got speed. “Easy there, sport, if those hands disappear from sight, I will ventilate you. Copy?” Her voice didn’t waiver. The hulk grinned and put his hands up. “Sergeant, you mind grabbing our friend’s ID for me?” The desk sergeant hesitated, obviously angry at being brought into this. He slowly moved toward the hulk and reached inside his coat. The hulk just kept grinning, his eyes now locked on Quell. I glanced out the front window. Through the sheets of rain, I saw two forms advancing. They aimed. I pushed Quell to the ground half a second before a couple dozen rounds shredded the windows. The other two cops danced from the rounds punching through their bodies. The hulk didn’t even flinch. He snatched the desk sergeant and snapped his neck. Quell elbowed me in the throat, probably thinking that I was trying to escape. The hulk pulled a scattergun from the folds of his coat and flicked off the safety. Quell was quicker on the draw, she pumped four rounds into his chest. He didn’t go down and raised his rifle. She double-tapped his head. He got the idea and died. “Uncuff me.” I managed to say through the coughs, “I can help.” “You must be out of your mind.” She reloaded. Outside, the hitters continued perforating the building. From the sound of the battery cycling, it sounded like MaxOx P4’s, basically rapid-fire, energy-based room-brooms. Which meant that they weren’t going to run out of rounds anytime soon. Quell crawled over to the dead desk sergeant and grabbed the hulk’s ID. She dragged me toward the back. All around us, shots kicked up papers, punched through screens, and shredded a lamp. We ducked into the back hall where there were a couple empty holding cells. Quell kept moving. Someone started shooting through the back door. We separated, each pressing against a wall. A hitter with another P4 kicked the door open. He was surprised to see the barrel of Quell’s gun. She put him down and grabbed his weapon as she passed. We kept low and moved through the ships, hovers, and cars of the impound lot in the back. The hitters out front stopped shooting up the place. We heard them enter the station. We had a moment of quiet before we slipped away. “You believe me now?” I whispered. She glanced at me. I almost swore she was annoyed. “Let’s call it a conditional yes.” I’ll take that. . . . to be continued Gelber Blitz pulsierte tief in den dicken Sturmwolken. Regen verwandelte den roten Schmutz in glatten Schlamm. Versteckt in den dunklen Tiefen des riesigen Canyons warteten wir. Wir haben Stittle-Bugs gegessen. Die Kälte sank in unsere Knochen. Sie war nah dran. Das war alles, was ich brauchte. All das Licht und die Wärme der Welt war hier, in meinen Armen. * * * * * Mein Kopf prallte gegen ein Fenster. Wieder die reale Welt. Die Regentropfen auf dem Kunststoff verwandelten die Lichter massiver Gebäude in Streifen, als sie nach draußen gingen. Es dauerte eine Sekunde, aber es kam alles zurück: Hannigan, der Plan, die Bombe, der Advocacy-Agent. Ich testete die Fesseln an meinen Händen und Füßen und hoffte auf genügend Spielraum, um damit zu arbeiten. Nicht gut, ich war fest gefesselt. Der Advocacy Agent war vorne, pilotierte und sah mich bereits in der Rückansicht an. "Für eine Sekunde war ich wirklich besorgt, dass ich dich verloren habe." Sagte sie. Von ihrer völlig leidenschaftslosen Geburt konnte ich erkennen, dass sie jedes Wort meinte. Dies war der erste gute Blick, den ich ihr seit der Covalex Shipping Hub bekam. Ihre frische, makellose Kleidung und ihr ruhiges Auftreten schrien vorbereitet, professionell. "Darauf wette ich." Ich setzte mich auf, aber mein Kopf hasste mich dafür. "Also, das berüchtigte Kind Kid Crimson...." "Nie von ihm gehört." Meine automatische Antwort. Sie sah mich enttäuscht im Spiegel an. "Wirklich? Willst du damit weitermachen? Ich habe das Gefühl, dass die meisten von euch es kaum erwarten können, erwischt zu werden. Nur damit du endlich darüber nachdenken kannst, wie berüchtigt du bist. Hurrikan Wilcox war einfach so.... nun, bis ich ihn erschossen habe." Mein Verstand ist gestürzt. Ich hatte von ihr gehört. Der Name war Raina Quell. Sie hatte einen ziemlichen Ruf als kompromisslose Agentin, die ein paar ernsthafte Spieler auslöschte. Anscheinend ließ er, nachdem sie den Hurrikan eingeklemmt hatte, einige seiner Jungs versuchen, ihn zu befreien. Sie zerriss es mit allen von ihnen und war die einzige Überlebende. Sie nahm mein Schweigen zur Kenntnis. "Also muss ich mich wohl nicht vorstellen." Sagte sie. "Du bist seit Covalex hinter mir her?" " Ja." " Wie?" "Was meinst du damit?" Sie sah mich komisch an. "Warst du dort und hast nach mir gesucht?" "Ich folgte einem Tipp über eine Ladung Sklaven. Das hat mich zu dir geführt. Du bist weggerannt. Ich habe dich gejagt." Sie wusste nichts von dem Betrunkenen, der die Sklaven ursprünglich transportiert hatte. Also kam die Spitze, nachdem ich die Ladung hochgefahren hatte. Dieser getarnte Attentäter hat mich an sie verfüttert. Warum? Um mich zu zwingen, wegzulaufen? "Ich glaube nicht, dass ich dich überzeugen konnte, dass ich reingelegt wurde." "Das würde ich, aber darauf bin ich schon zu oft reingefallen." Sie beobachtete mich für einige Augenblicke. Ich setzte mich wieder auf den Sitz und schaute auf den Stadtpass. "Ich habe dein Schiff überprüft. Wo hast du die Sklaven hingebracht?" "Ich habe sie befreit." " Richtig." "Sie sind in Magnus. Aufgetaut auf der Arshop Mining Installation. Sieh selbst." Ich sah sie direkt an. Ich zuckte nicht zusammen. Sie hatte nichts gegen mich in der Hand. Vielleicht Ausweichen eines Advocacy-Agenten. Aber die meisten meiner alten Verbrechen wurden sortiert. "Du wusstest, dass ich hinter dir her bin und wusstest, dass es zu heiß sein würde, mit Sklaven zu reisen, also hast du die Beweise entsorgt." "Ich handle nicht mit Sklaven. Ich bin hergekommen, für den, der es tut." "Dafür war das LR-620 da?" Ich hasse überflüssige Fragen, also habe ich geschwiegen. Sie wartete. " Wer?" Ich sah den TU-Campus in der Ferne. Der Beginn war bereits im Gange. Das war's mit dem Plan. "Hast du schon mal von einem Mann namens Caro gehört?" Das hat ihre Aufmerksamkeit erregt. "Du machst Witze." "Ich bekam Informationen von einem der Sklaven, verfolgte sie hier hinten und arbeitete die Leiter hoch. Das war der Name ganz oben." "Caro ist hier?" sagte sie und bewahrte immer noch ihre Erwartungen. Ich wog ab, es ihr zu sagen. Im besten Fall würde sie mir vielleicht glauben. Mehr als wahrscheinlich, alles, was ich tun würde, ist, die versuchte Ermordung eines UEE-Senators zu gestehen. Ich entschied mich, meine Wetten zu sichern und die Klappe zu halten. Sie war jedoch am Haken und drückte weiter: "Wer ist er?" Draußen passierten wir den offiziellen Landeplatz der UEE. Vermutlich dort, wo ihr Schiff war. Ich sah sie an. "Warte, wo bringst du mich hin?" "Lokale Polizei zur Bearbeitung, dann zurück zu einer Advocacy-Station." "Du kannst mich nicht zu den örtlichen Polizisten bringen." sagte ich. Ein wenig Dringlichkeit schlich sich in meine Stimme ein. Das war schlimm. Wirklich schlimm. "Das ist Vorschrift. Kümmere dich darum." Quell dachte, ich sei verunsichert über die Aussicht auf Gefängnis. "Schau, in der Sekunde, in der du mich in das System gebracht hast, wird Caro ein Team von Killern schicken, um mich auszulöschen." "Sie sprechen von sicheren Advocacy-Kanälen. Caro ist verbunden, aber er ist nicht allmächtig." "Denk darüber nach. Wie konnte er sich die ganze Zeit der Erfassung, ja sogar der Identifizierung entziehen?" "Sag du es mir." Sagte sie. Ich habe keine Wahl. Hier kommt nichts. "Senator Hannigan ist Caro." " Okay." sagte Quell und drehte sich nach vorne. "Ich meine es ernst." "Da bin ich mir sicher." "Schau, bring mich überall hin; Advocacy Hauptquartier, dein Schiff, die septischen Gruben, es ist mir egal. Ich werde dir alles sagen, was ich weiß. Aber wenn sie wissen, dass du mich hast, bin ich ein toter Mann." Sie blickte eine Sekunde lang zu mir zurück und ignorierte mich dann als einen weiteren Kriminellen, der versucht, sich aus der Strafe zu befreien. "Ich habe die Station in der Sekunde, in der ich dich gefesselt habe, angerufen." Zwanzig Minuten später zog Quell in die örtliche Polizeistation ein und zog mich aus dem Rücken. Mit gefesselten Händen und Füßen war ich so gut wie tot, wenn jemand ein Spiel machte. Ich scannte nach allem Verdächtigen, bis sie mich in die kleine Station schob. Da drin waren drei Polizisten im Einsatz. Sie sahen gelangweilt aus, als hätten sie in den letzten zehn oder zwei Jahren niemanden verfolgt. Quell parkte mich am Schalter. Der Desk Sergeant ignorierte mich und starrte sie an. " Dir helfen, Schatz?" Quell starrte ihn an. Es dauerte etwa dreißig Sekunden, bis der Polizist gefaltet war. "Was kann ich für Sie tun, Agent?" "Ich brauche ihn bearbeitet und eine Kommunikationsstation." "Ja, Ma'am." Der Desk Sergeant eilte herum, um mich zu schnappen. Die Tür öffnete sich. Ein großer, grimmig aussehender Schiffsrumpf in einem getränkten Langhaar trat ein. Abgesehen von dem gelegentlichen Quietschen seines Schuhs. Er machte kein Geräusch. Kurz gesagt, Ärger. " Special Agent Quell." sagte der Hulk. " Ja?" Raina sah ihn vorsichtig an. Anscheinend schossen ihre Instinkte wie meine. Der Hulk starrte mich an. Er könnte beim Gerangel auf dem Landeplatz gewesen sein. "Ich habe den Befehl, Ihre Gefangene zu requirieren." Er hat einen Advocacy-Ausweis geflasht. "Unter wessen Aufsicht?" Sie lachte. "Ich fürchte, das ist geheim." sagte er und brach nie seinen Blick von mir, bis Quell in seine Blickrichtung trat. "Richtig. Wer ist dein Vorgesetzter?" sagte Quell und zog sich nie zurück. Der Hulk ignorierte sie. Seine Hand begann sich zu bewegen. Quell war einen Schritt voraus. Ihre Pistole war im Handumdrehen hochgezogen. Ich musste es ihr lassen, die Frau hat Speed. "Ganz ruhig, Sportsfreund, wenn diese Hände aus den Augen verschwinden, werde ich dich belüften. Verstanden?" Ihre Stimme gab nicht auf. Der Rumpf grinste und hob die Hände. "Sergeant, macht es dir was aus, den Ausweis unseres Freundes für mich zu nehmen?" Der Desk Sergeant zögerte, offensichtlich wütend darüber, dass er da hineingezogen wurde. Er bewegte sich langsam auf den Rumpf zu und griff in seinen Mantel. Der Rumpf grinste einfach weiter, seine Augen waren nun auf Quell gerichtet. Ich blickte aus dem vorderen Fenster. Durch die Regenschauer sah ich zwei Formen voranschreiten. Sie zielen. Ich schob Quell eine halbe Sekunde zu Boden, bevor ein paar Dutzend Runden die Fenster zerfetzten. Die anderen beiden Polizisten tanzten aus den Runden und schlugen durch ihre Körper. Der Rumpf zuckte nicht einmal zusammen. Er schnappte sich den Desk Sergeant und brach sich das Genick. Quell stieß mir in den Hals und dachte wahrscheinlich, dass ich versuchen würde zu fliehen. Der Rumpf zog eine Schrotflinte aus den Falten seines Mantels und schnippte die Sicherung ab. Quell war schneller beim Ziehen, sie pumpte vier Runden in seine Brust. Er ging nicht hinunter und hob sein Gewehr. Sie hat seinen Kopf doppelt angetippt. Er kam auf die Idee und starb. " Nimm mir die Handschellen ab." Ich konnte durch den Husten sagen: "Ich kann helfen." "Du musst verrückt sein." Sie hat nachgeladen. Draußen perforierten die Schläger weiterhin das Gebäude. Aus dem Geräusch des Batteriezyklus klang es wie die MaxOx P4's, im Grunde genommen schnell brennende, energiebasierte Raumzimmer. Das bedeutete, dass ihnen in absehbarer Zeit keine Runden mehr ausgehen würden. Quell kroch zum Sergeant des toten Schreibtisches und schnappte sich den Ausweis des Rumpfes. Sie zog mich nach hinten. Überall um uns herum kickten Schüsse Papiere hoch, stanzten durch die Bildschirme und zerkleinerten eine Lampe. Wir tauchten in die Hinterhalle ein, wo es ein paar leere Zellen gab. Quell bewegte sich weiter. Jemand fing an, durch die Hintertür zu schießen. Wir trennten uns, jeder drückte gegen eine Wand. Ein Schläger mit einem weiteren P4 trat die Tür auf. Er war überrascht, den Lauf von Quells Waffe zu sehen. Sie legte ihn hin und packte seine Waffe, als sie vorbeikam. Wir hielten uns tief und bewegten uns durch die Schiffe, Schwebebahnen und Autos des beschlagnahmten Grundstücks im Hintergrund. Die Schläger da vorne hörten auf, den Ort zu beschießen. Wir hörten, wie sie den Bahnhof betraten. Wir hatten einen Moment der Ruhe, bevor wir weggingen. "Glaubst du mir jetzt?" flüsterte ich. Sie sah mich an. Ich hätte fast geschworen, dass sie verärgert war. "Lasst es uns ein bedingtes Ja nennen." Ich nehme das. . ... wird fortgesetzt Yellow lightning pulsed deep in the thick storm clouds. Rain turned the red dirt into slick mud. Hidden in the dark depths of the massive canyon, we waited. We ate stittle-bugs. The cold sank into our bones. She was close. That was all I needed. All the light and warmth in the world was here, in my arms. * * * * * My head bounced against a window. Real world again. The raindrops on the plastic turned the lights of massive buildings into streaks as they passed outside. It took me a second but it all came back: Hannigan, the plan, the bomb, the Advocacy Agent. I tested the shackles on my hands and feet, hoping for enough leeway to work with. No good, I was bound tight. The Advocacy Agent was up front, piloting, already looking at me in the rear-view. “For a second there, I was really worried I lost you.” She said. From her utterly dispassionate delivery, I could tell she meant every word. This was the first good look I got at her since the Covalex Shipping Hub. Her crisp spotless clothes and calm demeanor screamed prepared, professional. “I’ll bet.” I sat up but my head hated me for it. “So, the infamous Kid Crimson…” “Never heard of him.” My automatic response. She looked at me in the mirror, disappointed. “Really? You’re going with that? I feel like most of you guys can’t wait to get caught. Just so you can finally gush about how notorious you are. Hurricane Wilcox was just like that…well, until I shot him.” My mind tumbled. I had heard of her. Name was Raina Quell. She had quite a reputation as an uncompromising agent who punched out a couple serious players. Apparently after she pinched Hurricane, he had some of his boys try to break him out. She tore it up with all of them and was the only survivor. She took note of my silence. “So I guess I don’t need to introduce myself.” She said. “You’ve been on me since Covalex?” “Yeah.” “How?” “What do you mean?” She looked at me quizzically. “Were you there looking for me?” “I was following a tip about a cargo of slaves. That led me to you. You ran. I hunted you down.” She didn’t know about the drunk who originally transported the slaves. So the tip came after I boosted the cargo. That cloaked assassin fed me to her. Why? To force me to run? “I don’t suppose I could convince you that I was set up.” “I would but I’ve fallen for that one too many times before.” She watched me for several moments. I settled back in the seat and looked at the city pass. “I checked your ship. Where’d you deliver the slaves?” “I set them free.” “Right.” “They’re in Magnus. Defrosted on the Arshop Mining Installation. Check for yourself.” I looked right at her. Didn’t flinch. She didn’t have anything on me. Maybe Evasion of an Advocacy Agent. But most of my old crimes were sorted. “You knew I was on your tail and knew it would be too hot travelling with slaves so you dumped the evidence.” “I don’t traffick slaves. I came here for whoever does.” “That what the LR-620 was for?” I hate redundant questions so I kept quiet. She waited. “Who?” I saw the TU campus in the distance. The commencement was already underway. There goes that plan. “You ever hear of a man named Caro?” That got her attention. “You’re kidding.” “Got intel from one of the slaves, tracked it back here, and worked up the ladder. That was the name at the top.” “Caro’s here?” She said, still guarding her expectations. I weighed telling her. At the absolute best, maybe she’d believe me. More than likely, all I’d be doing is confessing to the attempted assassination of a UEE Senator. I opted to hedge my bets and shut up. She was on the hook though and kept pushing, “Who is he?” Outside, we passed the UEE Official Landing Yard. Presumably where her ship was. I looked at her. “Wait, where are you taking me?” “Local Police for processing then back to an Advocacy station.” “You can’t take me to local cops.” I said. A little urgency crept into my voice. This was bad. Really bad. “It’s protocol. Deal with it.” Quell thought I was rattled at the prospect of jail. “Look, the second you put me in the system, Caro will send a team of hitters to wipe me out.” “You’re talking about secure Advocacy channels. Caro’s connected but he’s not all-powerful.” “Think about it. How has he been able to elude capture, even identification, all this time?” “You tell me.” She said. I got no choice. Here goes nothing. “Senator Hannigan is Caro.” “Okay.” Quell said and turned ahead. “I’m serious.” “I’m sure you are.” “Look, take me anywhere; Advocacy HQ, your ship, the septic pits, I don’t care. I’ll tell you everything I know. But if they know you’ve got me, I’m a dead man.” She looked back at me for a second then disregarded me as just another criminal trying to weasel out of punishment. “I comm’d the station the second I shackled you.” Twenty minutes later, Quell pulled into the local Police station and dragged me out of the back. With both my hands and feet bound, I was as good as dead if someone made a play. I scanned for anything suspicious until she pushed me into the small station. There were three cops on duty inside. They looked bored, like they haven’t chased somebody down in the past decade or two. Quell parked me by the counter. The Desk Sergeant ignored me and stared at her. “Help you, honey?” Quell glared at him. It took the cop about thirty seconds to fold. “What can I do for you, agent?” “I need him processed and a comm-station.” “Yes, ma’am.” The desk sergeant hustled around to grab me. The door opened. A tall grim-looking hulk in a soaked long-coat stepped inside. Except for the occasional squeak of his shoe. He didn’t make a sound. In short, trouble. “Special Agent Quell.” The hulk said. “Yeah?” Raina eyed him warily. Apparently her instincts were firing like mine. The hulk stared at me. He might have been at the landing yard tussle. “I’ve got orders to commandeer your prisoner.” He flashed an Advocacy ID. “Under whose authority?” She laughed. “I’m afraid that’s classified.” He said, never breaking his gaze from me, until Quell stepped into his line of sight. “Right. Who’s your superior?” Quell said, never backing down. The hulk ignored her. His hand started to move. Quell was one step ahead. Her pistol was up in a flash. I had to hand it to her, the woman’s got speed. “Easy there, sport, if those hands disappear from sight, I will ventilate you. Copy?” Her voice didn’t waiver. The hulk grinned and put his hands up. “Sergeant, you mind grabbing our friend’s ID for me?” The desk sergeant hesitated, obviously angry at being brought into this. He slowly moved toward the hulk and reached inside his coat. The hulk just kept grinning, his eyes now locked on Quell. I glanced out the front window. Through the sheets of rain, I saw two forms advancing. They aimed. I pushed Quell to the ground half a second before a couple dozen rounds shredded the windows. The other two cops danced from the rounds punching through their bodies. The hulk didn’t even flinch. He snatched the desk sergeant and snapped his neck. Quell elbowed me in the throat, probably thinking that I was trying to escape. The hulk pulled a scattergun from the folds of his coat and flicked off the safety. Quell was quicker on the draw, she pumped four rounds into his chest. He didn’t go down and raised his rifle. She double-tapped his head. He got the idea and died. “Uncuff me.” I managed to say through the coughs, “I can help.” “You must be out of your mind.” She reloaded. Outside, the hitters continued perforating the building. From the sound of the battery cycling, it sounded like MaxOx P4’s, basically rapid-fire, energy-based room-brooms. Which meant that they weren’t going to run out of rounds anytime soon. Quell crawled over to the dead desk sergeant and grabbed the hulk’s ID. She dragged me toward the back. All around us, shots kicked up papers, punched through screens, and shredded a lamp. We ducked into the back hall where there were a couple empty holding cells. Quell kept moving. Someone started shooting through the back door. We separated, each pressing against a wall. A hitter with another P4 kicked the door open. He was surprised to see the barrel of Quell’s gun. She put him down and grabbed his weapon as she passed. We kept low and moved through the ships, hovers, and cars of the impound lot in the back. The hitters out front stopped shooting up the place. We heard them enter the station. We had a moment of quiet before we slipped away. “You believe me now?” I whispered. She glanced at me. I almost swore she was annoyed. “Let’s call it a conditional yes.” I’ll take that. . . . to be continued Links ----- No links available. Images ------ 1 image/jpeg [ ![](https://robertsspaceindustries.com/media/zcrgqkm79nm2fr/source/MysterySerial_FI_3Crop.jpg) ](https://robertsspaceindustries.com/media/zcrgqkm79nm2fr/source/MysterySerial_FI_3Crop.jpg) MysterySerial_FI_3Crop.jpg [Details](https://api.star-citizen.wiki/comm-links/images/113) Last Modified 12 years ago Size 1.19 MB [Source](https://robertsspaceindustries.com/media/zcrgqkm79nm2fr/source/MysterySerial_FI_3Crop.jpg) [Info](https://api.star-citizen.wiki/comm-links/images/113) Metadata -------- CIG ID 12829 Channel Undefined Category Undefined Series Tales of Kid Crimson Comments 63 Published 13 years ago (2012-12-10T00:00:00+00:00) [RSI Article](https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/serialized-fiction/12829-Tales-Of-Kid-Crimson-Issue-8) [API](https://api.star-citizen.wiki/api/comm-links/12829)