Chapter 2: Sink or Swim

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The transmission from Barrington Stearns cut dead without warning, a total blackout to all recipients without warning or explanation.


Floating in the rough seas of The San Francisco Bay in the driving rain among a drifting heap of trash and debris was F.A.T.E.'s mobile, aquatic safe house. Barry had purchased, or promised to purchase, the house boat from Doc at the start of their life as outlaws. Currently onboard were Desmond Sands, Evander Radcliffe, Artemi Tarasova, and Dimitri who had stashed the safe house in what was best described as a trailer park in The Bay. Among the floating industrial, commercial and residential refuse were a variety of vessels ranging from driftwood rafts to a rundown modern barge, their inhabitants scrounged among the trash 'recycling' what could be salvaged and fishing the polluted waters to barely scrape by. It was the lowest form of life that could still be described as human, and it served as the ideal place for F.A.T.E. to stash it's vessel while operating in the metropolis. The main generator was shut down so that any scanners that might sweep the area would not pick up the heat signature or electrical current , backup power was sufficient to run the security equipment the agents required to monitor the operation on land. Desmond Sands was the only member above deck, disguised as a vagabond native to this trash heap so that he could provide live security on both planes. Evander was below deck in the cramped captains quarters piloting the ship and monitoring the various low frequency scanners and cameras that made up the ships security system. Dimitri was submerged in The Matrix, and he was solely responsible for the connection between Barry and the rest of the agents as well as keeping an eye on the groups digital security during the mission. Considering Barry's transmission had just been cut off something must have been going on in the Matrix.

Artemi Tarasova was a bit out of place aboard the ship, he was not a member of F.A.T.E. and legitimately had not been involved in any of their operations. However, he was more informed than he should have been and he had assisted the organization on numerous occasions to procure technology and perform implant procedures that were beyond Doc's skill. At some point during the investigation his name had turned up, he was not immediately taken into custody but it was clear that it was only a matter of time. Artemi had no means to contact the rogue members of F.A.T.E. and could only attempt a legal defense, which was most likely hopeless unless he had information to bargain with. Fortunately, Dimitri had discovered the court files and had informed Barry and Doc who used that information to extract Artemi and offer him safety. Artemi was a skilled medical practitioner and had his share of connections on the streets of CFS, but he was unquestionably out of place among the agents of F.A.T.E. All he could do now was sit and wait, the holo-projector that had been displaying Barry's meeting had gone lifeless and Dimitri remained unresponsively jacked in.

Mental communication between the agents aboard the ship was still possible and a short message from Desmond scrolled in text along the lower border of his field of vision; Artemi preferred a discrete intrusion from his cybereyes compared to newer, full field interfaces that were all the rage these days.

"Van, start the engine. I've got a bad feeling about this. Artemi, join me on the deck. I want to switch to full astral surveillance and need you to keep an eye on out."

Artemi got to his feet, picking the smartlinked Ares Predator IV up from the table and slipping it into a holster inside his lined duster jacket. He heard the dull hum of the electric engine start up as he flipped the collar of his jacket up to provide some protection from the driving rain that greeted him as he walked out the sliding door and onto the deck. Desmond nodded wordlessly to Artemi in greeting before turning back to look out past the nearby debris. Desmond was lucky, he had worn a hood, Artemi was forced to deal with the rain immediately soaking his face and body, vision over the water was murky. Somehow it seemed the sea was rocking the boat worse now that he was out of the shelter of the cabin. Fortunately the rain had forced most of the inhabitants of this community and the Bay into shelter, so spotting anyone trying to move in on them should be simple. If they are outside in this shit, they are probably trying to kill us. On the other hand, they had managed to wiggle their way into the trash heap deep enough to practically become a part of it, the larger objects that had merged into the sprawling refuse did as good of a job hiding them as it did blocking their view.

Artemi didn't hear it or see it. He felt a warmth spreading from his abdomen and a jolt that rocked his body. He placed his hand over the dull pain that had begun to spread with the warmth, looking down he saw the rain washing the red blood from his soaked gloves and jacket onto the deck of the ship. Then blackness.

Desmond spun when the first bullet ricocheted off the personal magical armor that surrounded his body, the contact of the bullet caused the field to shimmer blue. Desmond spun towards the source of the shot, having neither seen nor heard the shot. As he spun he saw that Artemi was already hit and blood seeped from his torso, before Desmond turned back he saw Artemi's head explode in a flash of gore as a second high caliber round found it's mark. Desmond ducked, but a second shot would have found its target too if not for the magical protection, this time the flash suppressor didn't hide the shot for his watchful eye. Immediately Desmond's summoned spirits began to materialize as he took cover behind the short wall around the boat's perimeter. Text began to scroll across the goggles that served Desmond instead of cybereyes, frantic messages from Evander down below.

"GO!" Was Desmond's only response.

Desmond popped his head back over the wall for a moment to cast his spell, both snipers had risen from their positions to encroach upon the ship. He let loose his powerball aiming for the area of trash between the two. The ship lurched to life and freed itself from the beached position Van had gotten it into to help conceal them. The powerball found it's mark, the explosion of kinetic energy was like a shockwave across the surface and knocked both sniper's in their wet, heavy ghillie suits prone. More effective was the unseen shockwave pulsating through the heaped refuse, immediately the structure that had formed started to break apart with debris sheering off into the water like an iceberg breaking into the ocean.

"Two naval cutters just blipped on the radar! What the fuck is going on Des?!" Van attempted to make contact with his lookouts above deck as he navigated the choppy waters of the bay. "Coast guard interceptors are popping up everywhere!"

Van attempted to navigate away from the multiplying threats, but the speed and maneuverability of the house boat was no match for even one of the other vessels. Best bet was to look for a hiding place, but they had just abandoned one after it fell under siege. Artemi's life monitor had flat lined before he knew what was going on and Desmond's responses were sparse, the sensors conveyed just how dire their circumstance was and left Van with no choice but to jump in and deploy what weapons systems they had.

Van's piloting had got them enough distance from the mass of debris that Desmond could take a moment to look around, visibility over the open water was still highly limited by the falling rain. His spirits were able to perform flyovers and report back, but information was still minimal. By the time Desmond saw the four response boats closing in on them from behind they were well within firing range, before he could cast a spell the hull was hit with a spatter of bullets. Desmond's summoned air spirits descended down upon the boats, but the prepared soldiers responded with force and the turret mounted heavy machine guns of the ships were unleashed. Desmond was able to knock the first turret down by stun bolting the operator before he was interrupted again by a message from Van and the small boat turning hard against the waves.

"Torpedo! Evasive... hold on to something!"

Desmond ducked back down behind the short wall that provided some measure of cover and held on expecting a significant impact, instead the boat barely bumped when the torpedo struck it. For a moment Desmond thought it was a dud, but he knew better and his suspicions were confirmed in a matter of moments. Desmond knew the EMP shockwave as soon as the device activated, he threw his now dead goggles off in disgust as their boat's engines died and the ship became little more than another floating piece of trash at the mercy of The Bay's rough waters.

The ship was dead in the water which left the systems Van was jacked in to essentially worthless and the weapons systems had shut down with everything else. Dimitri had still not regained consciousness, though at this point it wouldn't make a huge difference if he did. Van didn't have time to contemplate why they had bothered to disable the boat rather than just send it to the bottom of the Bay with a live torpedo, clearly they were not taking prisoners. Van grabbed his HK XM30 assault rifle and grenade launcher and hurried out of the cabin to make a last stand with Desmond.

Two of the coast guard response boats began to circle in close, the other two had been disabled or sunk in combat with Desmond's summoned spirits, but now the spirits had been defeated. The heavy machine gun turrets fired the occasional wide burst of suppressive fire when any movement was sensed on deck. Van dropped to the floor as he exited the cabin and a flurry of rounds pelted the fiberglass hull and whizzed above their heads, Van crawled to where Desmond was taking cover.

"Looks like we have them right where we want them..." Van attempted to deliver the line with some levity, but failed to convey anything other than impending dread.

"Yea. Let's back them off a bit." Desmond motioned one way to Van and put up three fingers.

Desmond paused for a moment before he began the silent countdown with his fingers until he held out a fist and briefly popped over the side. He held out a single arm and bolts of blue lightening lashed forth across the rough seas at the nearest coast guard vessel. Across the deck Van peaked over the wall, resting his assault rifle on the edge as he squeezed the trigger and sprayed bullets at a circling ship. Return fire followed immediately causing Desmond to quickly duck back behind the side while Van fell backwards to cover and haphazardly launched a grenade from the under barrel launcher as hit the ground. Bullets continued to spray the hull and whizz overhead, the explosion from Van's grenade was almost completed drowned out, neither agent figured it did much damage. The suppressive fire from the machine guns only intensified, and both men clung to the floor for safety, neither heard the concussion of the grenade launchers over the battle and the storm.

There was a short series of rapid, blinding flashes that accompanied absolutely deafening silences as complete disorientation struck both agents. A barrage of flash bangs had been launched and detonated in midair surrounding the vessel which hid the arrival of the flash packs that landed on the deck of the ship before continuing their assault on the F.A.T.E. agent's senses.

Four figures came over the side of the boat, emerging from the water and pulling themselves smoothly over the sidewall of the hull. The motion was effortless, smooth, and synchronized as they landed in a crouch and spun the Ares Alpha assault rifles from their backs and readied them with fingers on the trigger. As soon as the flash packs stopped they reached up and pulled the dark tinted, high tech goggles from their faces and let them dangle around their necks. They stood swiftly as they scanned the deck, they wore black padded dry suits that shed the water from The Bay as well as the rain that poured down from the sky. The two special forces agents towards the bow of the ship moved towards the cabin door, opened it and moved down into the cabin with military precision. The two towards the aft of the ship moved towards their helplessly disoriented targets, firing a narrow three-round burst. Two in the chest, one in the head.

The siege of the boat was put to an end in a matter of moments, even if the flash bangs hadn't disoriented both agents the scenario was so perfectly practiced and executed it likely wouldn't have changed the outcome.

The two special forces agents below deck found only a catatonic Dimitri still wirelessly logged in to The Matrix, they trained the barrels of their assault rifles on the young elf. After a moment's pause the first spoke through the muffled tone of the mask that covered his face.

"What do we do with him?"

The second agent pulled the mask down below his chin before he responded, "He's already taken care of. " The second agent slung his assault rifle back across his back and moved towards Dimitri, "You secure this level, I'll take the kid."