“Are you ready?” Flock stood in the door of the large transport drone, her own small ones buzzing anxiously around her, a perfect reflection of her mood. Ellis took a deep breath and nodded. He moved his shoulders a bit. The gear Shakes had armored him with fit, but it was very different from what he usually wore. Sure, it had only been a few weeks, but he’d mostly been wearing the easily identifiable Black-62 sets. Flock tried not to think about just how well those fit him, too. But now Ellis looked like a drifter, an unnamed mercenary. Someone unimportant but competent. They’d even rubbed a little grime on his face to make the whole thing look more authentic.
“As ever,” he said with a cheeky smile, but there was a trepidation to him Flock hadn’t seen since they met. He was strapped with weapons he wasn’t very familiar with, Shakes’ last-moment drilling notwithstanding, and he fiddled with the straps to make sure he wasn’t going to lose his footing. The mercenaries, Tore once again in front, walked into the hangar behind him, and he hopped into the large cargo drone next to Flock. For a brief moment, his hand touched hers, and she softly squeezed his hand. He returned the gesture with another brief nervous smile before finding himself a spot in one of the seats that lined the walls. The inside of the shuttle had been retrofitted with buckled seats, and he dutifully strapped himself in. Flock couldn’t help but smile at him before she turned around to the assembled mercs.
“This is him?” Tore asked, looking right past her at Ellis, who was trying to become invisible through sheer force of will. Tore’s expression was neutral, in the same way that a loaded cannon was technically speaking neutral. “This is the one she got captured for?” Flock looked at the giant mercenary. She seemed to be capable, powerful even, despite her age, and had the detached look in her eyes shared by many mercenaries. It was hard not to imagine the extent of her relationship with… the other Tore. “He better be worth it,” Tore said, and climbed on board.
“He is,” Flock mumbled to herself as the mercenaries piled on, having to step aside for the overly large man, whose amicable grin seemed permanently fixed on his face. When everyone was inside, she turned to look at the motley crew again. Everyone was strapped in and the atmosphere was almost casual. None of them seemed especially worried, especially considering their destination, and if they hadn’t been vouched for by Tore, Flock probably would’ve given them a talking to, but she was putting her faith in the assembled mercs. She grabbed onto a bar at the ceiling and sent the signal to the drone, which took off with a jolt.
“We expecting any trouble, boss?” the large man asked. The two brothers seemed to be busy playing some kind of card game on the seat between them; the young woman in leather was cleaning a rifle of some kind. The robot sat perfectly still. Even the sentient ones were a little, well, inhuman. But their programming didn’t corrupt, so she didn’t worry about that one as much. The mechanic girl was listening while messing with a small device Flock hoped desperately wasn’t an explosive.
Flock took a breath. “Yes, we are. Not at first though. Every once in a while, one of the rich asshats up top requests something rare from down below. We don’t want to attract too much attention down here though, so halfway we’re going to stop for a paint job.” She spoke loudly and clearly, speaking over the loud hum of the engines. Those looking at her nodded, Ellis included. “From there, we go straight to the target building. A day at most. We’re going to go in hard and fast. Questions?” The mechanic raised her hand. Flock nodded at her, and then frowned. “Sorry, what was your name?”
“Hi! Mandy. Anyway, what kind of resistance are we expecting?” She didn’t really seem worried, more… curious. Flock nodded, it was a good question.
“We’re not sure. The place we’re breaking into had a lot of residual magic around it, so we didn’t get anything recorded in there. Expect heroes. Probably weird ones. Other than that, our distinguished upstairs neighbours love disposable bots, so bring the heavy guns.” Several of the mercenaries grinned happily at that. This was going to be quick if things went well, she knew, but it wasn’t going to be quiet. She was fine with that. With more and more heroes knocking on her doors in the past few years, it was as good a time as any to remind the upper floors just how dangerous the lower decks could be. The drone shook for a moment, and Flock tightened her grip to make sure she stayed upright.
A quick glance at her diagnostics assured her the flight continued uninterrupted. The cargo drones were sturdy and reliable, but even their programming only lasted for a few months. Their motherboards were easily and cheaply replaced, which was why drone traffic was still so popular. ‘Fly from A to B’ was hardly a complex command. Anything more difficult usually required a human operator. Flock suppressed a grin as she appreciated the gizmo in her head again.
“Question.” The robot had turned its head to her. She nodded at it. “There was mention of a second target, a human android named Tee. If the primary extraction target is an acquaintance of Tore, how does the second fit into this scenario? What priority?”
“Highest,” Ellis growled from his seat. “You’re here for them. Tore’s ex-girlfriend isn’t why you’re all here, Tee is. If you have to choose between the two of them, choose Tee.” His demeanour made it very clear he wasn’t messing around. Flock was impressed. Ellis had immediately managed to hold his own against the personalities gathered in the cargo hold of the drone. He withstood several glances that would have made a lesser person cower.
“How do the two of them relate?” the robot asked, seemingly either unaware or uncaring of the relationship between fake-Tore and real-Tore. Mandy’s hand shot up enthusiastically, and her smile was dazzling.
“I can answer that one,” she said. “The two of them are close.” Flock and Ellis turned to the small mechanic, Flock raising an eyebrow. The girl seemed to be completely oblivious to the question that hung in the air, unasked but demanding attention nonetheless.
“Close… how?” Ellis asked, and Flock detected an edge to his voice that hadn’t been there before. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the girl, who still didn’t notice any of this.
“Oh, even when I first met them it was clear the two of them had a thing for each other,” she said, happy and bubbly while everyone’s attention turned to her. She babbled happily about the first time she met Tee, and how she’d upgraded them. “Very soft lips. Good for kissing!” Ellis was grinding his teeth, and Flock couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Even if it had been a year, it was clearly hurting him that Tee seemed to have moved on quickly. “Anyway, I saw them both a couple times after that and they were very cute together. Holding hands and stuff.” Mandy clapped happily. “I hope they’re both okay. Love should always win.”
Ellis was now holding on to the straps of his seat so hard his knuckles had gone white, and Flock made her way over to him and sat down in the seat next to him, taking care not to sit too close. She had to navigate this with care and tact. “Fuck,” she said.
“Yes,” Ellis said.
“Maybe there’s more going on?” Flock hazarded quietly. Ellis looked at her, and despite him clearly repressing the urge to express some rage, his eyes seemed to be almost hopeful. He obviously wanted to believe what she was saying was true. He nodded softly. Flock desperately wanted it to be, because she didn’t know what it would do to Ellis if it wasn’t, and she cared far too much about him to let him just be hurt like that without consequences. They sat in silence for a long time, and several of the mercenaries had taken to napping while sitting up in their seats, and Flock wondered how they managed to relax that much.
“We almost there?” the woman in leather asked as she loaded glowing cartridges into several of her weapons before holstering them. She was the picture of a stoic mercenary. Flock couldn’t even see her face, but checked the drone’s path.
“About to hit the stopover point. We’ll have a few minutes to stretch our legs while the paintover happens, but we take off after five,” Flock said. The woman looked at her from under the brim of her hat and nodded.
“Efficient. I approve,” she said, and then went back to loading her weapons. Flock briefly considered asking her for her name, but decided against it. The woman’s glare was as good and bad as hers, and just as powerful. She didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it again, and Flock wouldn’t be the one directing the fighting if it came to that. She trusted Tore to be comfortable enough in a leading role to tell her compatriots and colleagues what to do. Flock sat back in her seat and leaned softly against Ellis, who didn’t stop fretting. After a bit, the drone settled down in a hangar, and everyone took their five minute to get some fresh air that hadn’t just been through a drone’s ventilation system while the crew they hired…
“Stickers?”
“Sorry boss,” the man standing on top of the drone said. He was slowly applying large stickers with logos on them to the top of the drone. “Couldn’t find the right paint in time.” Flock rubbed the bridge of her nose with exasperation. It was so, so hard to find good help, especially when you were trying to be all illicit about it. “We got good stickers from a recent haul though,” he continued, pretending he wasn’t smoothing out a bubble as he spoke. “Can’t tell the difference.” Flock just growled and went back inside. Stickers were going to have to do. She’d paid for a paint-job, one that would hold up under scrutiny.
After exactly six minutes and fourteen seconds, they were up in the air again, on the last leg of their journey upwards. The anxiety was coming off Ellis in waves now. The realization that they might be heading into actual combat soon seemed to be dawning on him, and the revelation about Tee and the other mercenary was most certainly not helping him in the slightest. She squeezed his hand softly. He didn’t pull his hand away, but he didn’t return the gesture either. That was fair. A little alert blipped on her retina, and she checked the flight tracker.
“We’re on final approach,” Flock said. The large man yawned and undid his buckles, then picked up his gun, a beast of a weapon almost as large as Flock herself. He’d picked it up with one hand. Flock shook her head at the sheer scale of them both. The other mercs also undid their straps and stood up straight, stretching and warming up their muscles. Flock followed their lead and ran a quick diagnostic on all of her weaponized drones. She’d worn a standard set of armour underneath a large layered coat that hid dozens of small drones. Sure, it was heavy as sin, but she wouldn’t run out of weapons any time soon.
The last thing she needed was her mask. She didn’t want to get recognized. If it came out that Queen Flock was on the upper floors, every hero in a twenty floor radius would, well, flock to her. It was outfitted with a more in-depth view of all of her active drones, and synchronized with her implant. She turned to Ellis. “You ready?” Ellis just nodded, and gripped his rifle tightly. Poor guy. I hope Shakes trained him well, she thought as she made her way to the door just as the cargo drone settled down on a pad next to the building they were attacking. In theory, it was out of the way, and it was in close proximity to a perimeter wall that was, in theory, close to where Tee and the mercenary were being held. They just had to wait for a little bit.
Flock tapped into the external feed of the drone, and saw the two guards on duty approach. They were dressed in ornate gear that nobody on 62 would be found dead in. Rich people. Ugh. “What,” the one on the left asked, “is this thing doing here? Did you know about this?” The other one shook their head.
“Nah, man. Nobody tells me shit. You think this is one of those weird ones? You think we should call it in?” They both looked over the drone.
“I don’t know, dude, you called in that weird bot last week and we both got our pay docked for it. I ain’t getting done for that again. It’s probably just waiting for someone or something.”
“I don’t trust it, man.”
“You don’t trust anything. Remember drinks last week?”
“We both had the shits! For three days!”
“Yeah, but you didn’t know that was gonna happen, did you?”
“But I was right, though!”
“I’m just saying you’re paranoid.”
“The paint’s coming off.”
“Hmm?”
“The paint. It’s a sticker.”
“What do you mean, the paint is a sticker?”
“The paint is a sticker. Look.”
“Weird.”
“Maybe we should call it in.”
“Yeah, maybe sh--”
Flock opened the cargo door and the two guards were suddenly faced with a cargo full of extremely dangerous people, and half a dozen gun barrels. “Hello, gentlefolk,” Flock said with a smile as she stepped down and stood between them. They were both frozen in fear. “Please remain calm and you’ll live through this.”
“Wh-- wh--”
“Shh,” Flock said as two drones hovered out of her coat and stung both of the guards with a sedative. “We’ll be in and out in no time.” The guards were unconscious before they hit the ground. Flock turned to the strike team. “Let’s go.”
Once again, this is my favourite story. God I love everything about these characters? Am I allowed to be gay for Flock because I am gay for Flock
It's honestly just So Good
I don't know why you *wouldn't* be allowed to be gay for Flock lol
Ellis was now holding on to the straps of his seat so hard his knuckles had gone white, and Flock made her way over to him and sat down in the seat next to him, taking care not to sit too close. She had to navigate this with care and tact. “f*ck,” she said.
“Yes,” Ellis said
ELLIS MY GUY IT ISN'T WHAT YOU THINK! YOU ALREADY GAVE THEM PERMISSION... :( :( :(
Question: since Tore is being hired to break out Tee and Cass, what if in the end this Tore and the other android merc was literally just Tee and Cass. "So… you hired us to break ourselves out?" "Yes?" Edit: never mind, haha. Would have been a funny twist though, but I can see why you didn't go for it. Would have killed any of the tension in the story.
Flock doesn't seem like she really has to be here, but I'm glad she is.