📌 Tags: Psychological Thriller, Urban Noir, Vigilante, Mature Themes, Serial Killer, Crime Drama
⚠️Authors Note - Mature Content
"This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, nations, corporations and events are products of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real events or persons is coincidental."
Date - 07th December
Character Name - Near
Location - Promise City, Ct
District - Promise City, BlueJet Administrative Building, Central District
Time - 2245 (1045 PM)
Near stood opposite the BlueJet Administrative Building, a sharp blue glass tower that stood atop the city skyline, one hundred floors above the rest of the city…. Well most of it. Opposite the megastructure stood BlueJet's rivals two other mega-towers.
Kodoma Corporation. The Japanese Megacorporation, the owner of Japan's infrastructure and half of America's.
LawGroup International. The single most powerful Megacorp in the world, richer than all but two countries in the world.
Christmas wreaths, bows and decorations lined the city streets below leading to the corporate fortress. Jumbrotrons reeled off the latest figures for the closed stock market, big wins for the stockholders.
He scanned the streets below, traffic filtered along the roads of the cityscape. Piled front to bumper all along the city's interconnected bridges, elevated highways and overpasses. Tonight was special, the city prepared for the next day, the Promise City Annual Festive Parade.
He looked below, he could see an armoured convoy of APCs roll into the BlueJet's subterranean garage. A structure attached to the tower, with its top floor being the entrance, then leads four stories downwards, with a winding concrete ramp.
VVVRRROOOOMMMMM
Their huge tanker sized wheels roared down the street. Their APCs were four times the size of an average car. Painted blue with the megacorps logo on their reinforced armoured sides.
None dared to block its path.
Corporate enforcers guarded the garage's entrance, and drones scanned the cargo with blue light.
'Blue-01. Cargo has arrived. Over.'
["Roger that Blue-Zero, Over and Out."]
The blue cameoed soldiers aimed their highly advanced rifles toward the rest of the gridlocked traffic.
One of the soldiers warned his men.
'Careful. Stay frosty. He could be out there.'
'He?' The newest asked his voice barely a whisper.
'The Vigilante. The Angel.'
'He's not that impressive.'
'I heard he kicked the Owl's crew's ass.'
'In the arena?'
'Is it real?'
'Oh, it's very real.'
'Well, maybe we need to lock down the tower prematurely?'
'We don't have prior authorization.'
'So.. Is it us or no one?'
'Basically. All the other boys are deployed. The cold war with the Kodoma is heating up.'
The troops conversed casually. As they patrolled the garage. Checking corners carefully.
It seemed like a routine night, but it was anything but.
Near had made his way into the garage, deep inside.
'There's no way he could be here. He is WAY too busy busting a drug den or somethin'...'
'Good point. He wouldn't waste time pissing off a Megacorp.. Especially BlueJet.'
Near's perspective
Near knelt in the shadows, perched on a steel beam that held the roof in place, he could see all six of the enforcers and the whirling security drones that circled below.
Two soldiers at the entrance.
One on the skywalk, scanning the empty carpark below.
Two inspected the APCs compartment.
And the final one, the newest recruit was just below Near.
"Sunohara. Hack their comms. Delay their response time."
["on it."]
FFWWWIIPPPZZZ
Near repelled down.
The young soldier jolted.
WHACK
A thunderous headbutt. Nears favourite way to keep things quiet.
He slumped forwards over the cold metal railing. Near doesn't kill and so-
With a swift motion Near pulled the young man's blue fatigue hood, dropping him on the metal grated floor. With a thud.
"HEY WHAT WAS THAT?!" a voice echoed.
"Could be another water pipe bursting."
"With BlueJets' budget? Can't be…"
"Hey one of you go and check on the pup."
"On it."
Near kept low. He looked upwards at the steel beam, his vantage point.
POP CRUNCH ZZZWWWWIPPPP
He fired his grapple gun.
He took to the air.
Then landed once again, perched on the ledge.
TAP TAP TAP TAP
Boots on metal approached.
'Hey kid, you alright?'
The trooper held his rifle low.
As he shook his passed out comrade. Then-
SLAM
Boot to the stomach and then…
THUMP THUMP
Elbow to the throat and face. Blood shot from his jaw.
'Ooofff….'
THUD.
'Ok that was way too loud'
'Let's find the others. REGROUP!'
The order crackled from the radios around him. The soldiers began to stalk the garage. They searched under cars and their own APCs.
'That was not a pipe exploding. He's here.'
'Who?'
'Near. He's here, the vigilante is watching us, now.' The troopers aimed their assault rifles at the shadowy corners.
The Vigilante watched on. With a slight sharp breath.
He dropped on top of the small group of four. Flicking a smoke pellet into the centre of the group, their nightmare had begun..
Tap tap tap pop
The pellet bounced along the concrete ground on the lowest floor. And then-
PPPSSSTSTTTTTTTTT
Smoke enveloped the group…
All four raised their rifles, they switched on their rifle-mounted lights with a flick.
SMACK
A punch to the jaw.
SMACK THUD
One down. Folded forwards.
Near was amongst the four remaining grunts. He grabbed the next by his body armor collar and headbutted with a CRACK. And then a swift powerbomb.
'OOOooooffff!'
The next soldier was laid out flat on his back, his arms spread wide, his assault rifle by his side.
'Crap! He's in the smoke with us!'
Another echoed throughout the garage.
RATATTATTATTATA
Their rifles recoiled as they fired thirty rounds in seconds.
Brass trinkled across the ground.
Near, cupped both gunmen's masked faces…and SLAM.
He slammed both of their heads together. Knocking them out from the force.
All the soldiers were lying on the concrete ground. In a circle of destruction. They were not dead. But they were out cold.
Now all that remained were the security drones. The pair circled above, their mounted machine guns active and trained on him.
VVRRROOOOMMMM RATTATATATATTATATATATA!
The machine guns fired a barrage of bullets, a hail of death. Brass rained like a painful hot rain.
Near lunged away, but still, he was caught multiple times.
Ggggrrrrr…
He growled as the rounds struck his shoulder, side and leg. They were like furious, powerful punches.
Blood ran down his arm. Leg. And side. It stained his black armour, holes were torn open. The pain he felt wrecked his body and mind.
He fought on, throwing himself behind a crate, which rattled furiously as rounds pounded.
'Sunohara. Drones.'
["On it."]
'Computer. Hack the drones.'
The drones were two meters in length and two in width. A sphere. A propeller on all four corners. Mounted on two wings were miniguns and a missile each. Painted on the undercarriage were the logo of BlueJet.
BlueJet Drones are on a different frequency sir.
The drone circled closer, firing its attached miniguns, the barrels spun, powering up. And then-
RATATTATATATATATTATATATA PING PING PING
Near used a barrel as a shield. The rounds reverberated off the metal.
He crouched low.
'Sunohara. Hurry it up.'
["I'm TRYING!"]
'TRY HARDER!' Near ordered.
With a quick press of a button on his gauntlet, a blade ejected from his broad bloodied back. An armoured knife sheath mounted on his back.
ZIMMMMMM
The knife sang as it was drawn with slow precision.
He then threw it like a boomerang.
FWWOP FWWOP FWOOP
The tanto circled and spun, slicing one drone in half. And impaling the second through its scanner and main circuit board, right in its centre. With a sizzle and flicker of its scanner it rotated to the ground with a CRASH and-
BANG
This was no longer a security incident. This was a breach.
Near stood up from the barrel, he brushed debris off his bloody shoulder wound.
He grunted with agony.
'You're becoming sloppy Yohei.'
["Sorry Near…I…I-Uh…I-dunno why but the system wouldn't work… my back entrance wouldn't work…"]
Sunohara apologised while loudly typing on his keyboard.
'It's fine. I dealt with them the old fashion way. Computer, give me the floor plan for the BlueJet Administration Tower.'
Nears comlink illuminated a blue light as it projected the floor plans for the tower.
Analysing now sir…. This building is over 1,600 ft tall…. 177 stories tall…. Construction began in 1995 and finished in 2010…
'Good. The floorplanning suggests there's a closed elevator shaft. Tut tut tut… BlueJet never fixed it… I guess that happens since they became a bureaucratic juggernaut.'
Near turned to face a half open door, cordoned off by hazard tape. And a big sign saying 'Caution. Hazardous drop.'
Snow piled outside the broken doors, it had blown in from the open garage entrance above. The notice of reported fault flapped in the wind.
'Sunohara. BlueJet's cybersecurity is strong. No more communications until I exit. Understood?'
["Understood."]
'Keep track. I am going in.'