The Breakwater Incident

From my post by the door to the exterior landing pad I scanned across the sea of extravagance and opulence that lay before me. This was fairly typical of the parties my boss helped organise. Lots of wannabes, currently-are's and has-beens all mixed together in one place for a worthy cause. Keeler had a sort of gravity that allowed for it.

This particular cause, a charity auction, took place at The Breakwater Hotel and was spear-headed by RepliClone's community outreach program. For those here this was probably nothing more than a good networking opportunity and a tax write-off. Out on the frontier planets this sort of thing helped ensure the workers could retire with all the body parts they started their career with.

Men and girls came and went like mothers among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. The undercurrent hum of conversation was punctuated by the occasional clink of crystal.

The highlight of the items being auctioned off, two cloned tigers, were currently prowling around in a glass fronted enclosure built into the wall furthest from the heavy wooden doors that served as the entrance into the hall.

My comm bead chirped in my ear and my glasses showed it was Keeler calling in.

"I'll be landing shortly Carter. Meet me on the pad if you would."

I pinged back an affirm signal.

A quick scan of the party showed my partner stood near to the food table where a banquet had been laid out.

Connecting with her comm I said, "Nails, just popping out to meet the boss. Everything still cool?"

She looked over to me and shrugged and gave me what for her was a typical response, "Nothing but a bunch of rich assholes eating bougie bullshit and discussing deals worth more than I could make in ten lifetimes."

I chuckled and said, "Back in a tick. Don't have too much fun without me."

As I opened the door to the landing pad a rush of warm sea air greeted me. The city below, the unimaginatively named Paradiso, sprawled out and down the side of the mountain on which it was all built. The Breakwater was placed near to the top of the city and offered a commanding view of the entire thing all the way down to the bay where numerous luxury craft sat, ready to be sailed to the various private islands that surrounded this area.

My glasses automatically dimmed from the setting sun casting its rays directly across the sea, painting everything in shades of orange and pink.

A low hum filled the air and began to grow louder as the boss's dropship descended from the sky. Before long, it touched down on the pad with a smoothness that only comes from the best of pilots. They had even managed to position the jets in such a way that all the wash was directed off the pad.

The side door slid open as I stepped up to the vehicle and Keeler stepped out along with a small entourage. As a person of a particular status, there were always minnows that followed.

As Keeler reached me, they extended their hand, pulling me in close and speaking quietly.

"I trust everything is good here?" they murmured, just barely audible over the still spinning down jets of the dropship.

I was a little taken aback at the closeness of the gesture but managed to keep it from showing.

"Just another night in paradise boss."

"Is Nails handling it well?"

I glanced back towards the party where she was almost certainly still surveying the crowd with a mixture of disdain and boredom.

"Maybe a little out of her element but she'll operate as well as any other time if need be," I said, turning back to face Keeler. "Boss, I have to wonder why we're here instead of a Gryphon team. Isn't this normally their sort of thing?"

For just a split second a look of concern swept over Keeler's face. "I just wanted the best for tonight and I am always satisfied with the best."

What was left unsaid had me on edge. "We'd best head inside then boss. We'll ensure a smooth night for all."

Keeler patted my shoulder as they walked past and led the small collection of people into the party. I followed behind them all, closing the door behind me as I walked in.

---

As soon as the door light switched to show it was secure I connected to Nails. "Just got a weird vibe from Keeler. I think you were right and there's going to be some action tonight."

She instantly started a walking patrol of the room. "Roger that. I'll make sure the Sentinel lot are ready to rock and roll if needed."

Outside of the room and spread throughout the hotel were guards from Sentinel, another arm of Peregrine. They were pretty basic in terms of equipment and ability but more than capable when called upon.

As I stalked around the edges of the room I could see Keeler working the crowd with a practiced ease. They moved effortlessly from group to group, charming guests and priming them to loosen the purse strings when the auction began.

I was just approaching the doors that led through to the hall where tonight's main event was to take place when my comm crackled to life again. "Carter, I just had a call from one of the Peregrine team in the security office. Their system is showing signs of a breach and the cameras are unreliable."

Stopping where I was, I replied with, "Patch him through to me."

A second name appeared below Nails on my glasses as a guard called Rourke was added to the call. "Security Office here. What do you need sir?"

"Give it to me straight. How bad is it?"

A slight hesitation from the other end preceded them saying, "Hard to say for sure but it looks like the cameras on the stairwells have been on a loop for the last half an hour. We've got people clearing them now and nothing looks out of place so far."

Before I could consider the implications of this too far Nails cut in saying, "We need to get these people into the auction room. It's the most defensible position."

Taking care to not spook any of the guests, I started making my way to Keeler who was currently deep in conversation with some of the RepliClone representatives.

Almost as soon as I started moving, the boss stepped away from the group and pulled their phone out. With a few taps the music changed and the lights started blinking in a pattern that moved towards the door at the end of the hall that were in the process of opening.

Everyone took the cue to start moving to the next room. Keeler looked directly at me and nodded before beginning to guide any stragglers through.

As handy as it was to have a boss be so involved at times as to keep an ear on our comms, it was always a little unsettling when they were so far ahead of us.

Not even half of the guests had made their way through when Nails spoke up. "Is it me or are there more catering staff than needed right now?"

Quickly scanning the room I could see a number of staff had just exited the kitchen holding trays of nibbles for a crowd that was leaving.

"Be ready for anything but hold off on the gunfire for as long as possible. We don't want people caught in a crush."

My comm chirped with a reply signal from Nails.

We both moved nearer to pillars while keeping an eye on the potential threats. They had moved into the crowd and spread out a little before realising all of these people were moving in a singular direction, leaving them in an ever sparser hall.

Without warning, one of the "catering staff" threw his tray to the ground, revealing a pistol in the other hand. The lead tango fired a round into the ceiling and shouted, "Nobody is to leave. This is-"

A 9mm round exited through his eye socket having started its journey from Nails pistol.

The rest of the assailants were still pulling their weapons and quickly finding that their hopes of an easy time on this operations were illusory.

Panic descended on the room and the guest's desultory lives switched into the singular focus of survival. Within a few seconds the majority of them had either cleared a distance between them and the attempted hostage takers or found suitable cover.

While this had happened, me and Nails had managed to bag a bad guy each as they were left in the open, still not quite catching on to the change in situation for them, leaving only a few more left.

One pair closer to me had flipped a table, sending the food on top scattering across the dance floor and ducking behind it. Unfortunately for them, my .45 ACP rounds ripped through the flimsy material and gave them their final lesson on why concealment isn't always cover.

Nails had managed to account for another which left the final two, who had managed to make their way to the end with the tiger enclosure and tuck in behind some pillars where they stayed, unmoving.

Neither of our weapons were likely to crack the glass but we were both hesitant to test that theory and a gunfight could easily send rounds behind us and into the guests.

With everything moving back to calm for the moment I figured we might have a chance of resolving this without further bloodshed.

I moved to the edge of my cover and shouted, "Hey there. Things don't seem to have gone the way you planned tonight. How about you drop your weapons and at least you get to leave here with your lives."

We were a little too far away to make out exactly what they were saying as they carried out a hushed but hurried discussion.

A couple of the Sentinel crew had moved up behind us carrying SMGs. At least we would have them out gunned and maybe be able to take out the tigers if the worst happened.

They finally finished their chat and one of them shouted, "I have a counter offer for you. You agree to our demands or my friend here gives the room a rapid redecoration."

As they finished speaking, the other stepped out of with their hands held high. The lights of the room danced off of the ball bearings being held in place on top of a series of charges attached to a vest. Wires led from the vest to a detonator in their hand over which their thumb was hovering with promise.

Nails decided to join in the conversation. "Given the amateur display from your late friends I'd be surprised if that even goes off. Wanna bet I can drop you before you can press that?"

The bomber screamed, "How dare you question our abilities! We broke into your precious party sponsored by a company of evil and attended by people only a half-step away from the devil."

I lowered my voice so only Nails could hear me across the comms. "Could you please not piss off the guy who woke up today intending to end it in dramatic fashion?"

She looked over to me with a smile I'd seen before many times. It was an expression that often preceded a plan both unorthodox and volatile. "Carter, I need you to trust me. Get him riled up and looking your way and I'll take him out."

There were only a few people I've worked with I'd trust to make that shot more often than not. Nails was one of them.

I raised my voice and directed it at the pair. "Okay, we can accept you have show a decent level of skill and will take you seriously. Why don't we start with names and then you tell us what you want? I'm Carter and my now staying out of this friend is Rowe."

The man behind the pillar said, "Our names are unimportant. What we want is for RepliClone to be exposed for the charlatans and liars they are. They harvest genetic material from the underclass and are building human cloning farms to replace them."

If these accusations were true, that would be a wild violation of several galaxy-wide treaties and the death of any company. I had only been working for Keeler for a year but that was long enough to know they would never have any part in a crime of this nature.

"Those are some pretty huge accusations. I'm assuming you have some sort of evidence to back it up?"

The bomber shouted back, "These barely human pieces of filth have wrapped themselves in secrets so deep that our actions are what was needed to expose them to the public. You have fifteen seconds to send out an executive with core file access or you'll be picking pieces of metal and bone from the bodies left in this hall."

I took a deep breath, readying myself for the barely sane plan Nails put forth that was left as my only option.

"Mate, were you born stupid or is it life goal? Do you really think we'd offer up guests to the slaughter?"

The bomber's face twisted in fury. He spat, "You will do as we say or suffer the consequences!"

As angry as he was, I needed to tip him over the edge a bit more and fully focussed on me.

"Let's be real here. Even if you do explode, nobody will know why. We'll make sure of that."

A roar of pure anger preceded the bomber taking a step towards the pillar I was behind. It was the last step he would ever take as Nails rounded her cover and started pumping rounds into his side.

The damage caused was certainly fatal but not fast enough to prevent him pressing the detonator.

Our only saving grace was that the barrage had managed to spin him enough that the majority of the blast was directed into the enclosure, turning the reinforced glass into more shrapnel and shredding the tigers contained within.

The pressure wave of the blast knocked Nails back around the pillar and threw whatever wasn't secured down around the room.

My ears were ringing hard when I managed to come out from behind cover and survey the scene. What I wouldn't have given for my combat helmet and its auto-adjusting volume had we known what was going to happen.

The hall was a mess and everywhere there were people with injuries from the blast but all looked thankfully minor. Nails was moving slowly as she recovered from her short trip.

My head was still clearing and my movements sluggish when I noticed the last remaining assailant making a run for the kitchen doors.

With no clear shot and the world still levelling out, I was left with no choice but to chase them down on foot.

---

I managed to barge through the doors to the kitchen, now decorated with a blood stained hand-print, just as the last terrorist was ducking through a door beyond the counters.

Navigating my way past the still cooking food left behind by the fleeing staff and the few items that had found their way to the floor, I passed through the doorway to find a corridor leading past the pantries.

Recalling the layout of the building from our brief, the elevators and stairwell were at the end. My gut told me they were more concerned with getting away than getting even.

Lifting my weapon up a little, I moved with purpose down the corridor. The side rooms were spared the smallest looks I could afford just in case.

Another stain adorned the door that unhelpfully did not offer a window for me to check the room beyond. Opening the door with my left hand, I lead into the room with my pistol.

The first thing to catch my eye was another stain on the exit to the stairwell opposite but as I continued rotating round, there was a second blood mark on the elevator button. A quick scan above the door showed it heading downwards.

I connected my radio to the security office again and said, "Carter for Rourke. I need you to shut down and lock all elevators."

It took a second for the response. "Roger that sir, they should all be stopping in place."

The display above the door changed over to display ERROR in bright red letters. "Appreciate it. Have you got the cameras fixed yet?"

"That's a negative. Whoever looped the system still has hold of it but we're working on it."

"Rog. Keep me updated."

With the car stopped, there would be a limited window to get this guy alive before he took the decision out of our hands. Left without an alternative, I figured that a trip down the access ladder in the elevator shaft was the only option available to me.

Scanning the room, I picked up the elevator designation and radioed security again. "Rourke, I need the 3B lift door opened where I am and a team send to whatever floor the car is stopped on. Tell them to be ready to give me access out."

A slight hesitation preceded the reply. "On it sir."

I had already pulled my jacket off and wrapped my hands before the doors opened. Leaning into the shaft, I could see the car stopped a couple of dozen floors below.

Swinging onto the ladder positioned just to the left of the door, I braced my feet on the sides and with the jacket protecting my hands started to slide down with speed. Smoke was beginning to come off of my jacket and boots as I approached the car and applied extra pressure to slow down, coming to stop a few rungs above the car.

Gently lowering myself onto the roof, I managed to make it to the access door without alerting the guy. Opening the hatch itself was a big worry but things were going in my favour and it didn't make a noise above a whisper as I lifted it out of the way and placed it to the side.

Below me the last remaining criminal was attempting to wedge the doors open with a large and unwieldly knife of the exact sort I would expect an amateur like these idiots to carry. He had managed to jam it between the doors and was putting his weight into it but with the locks engaged by Rourke, he wasn't going to achieve anything but wearing himself out.

From my vantage point I couldn't see the firearm he most likely still carried. I would have to make this quick and make no mistakes lest one of us ended up with this floor becoming our last stop.

As I began to lower myself down with care, he gave a frustrated yell and turned around, putting me directly in his eye sight. Our eyes locked for split second during which I finally found the pistol tucked down the front of their trousers.

They left the knife jammed where it was and reached for the gun. The time for quiet was over. I let go of the edges of the access door and landed, getting as low as possible. Using the back wall for extra force, I charged at him.

My shoulder connected with his midsection as I grabbed his arm, pushing the gun away from us. A single shot from the gun reverberated around the car, drowning out the rattle from our impact into the doors.

The bullet tore through a lighting panel in the roof of the car, spitting shards of plexi down on us. In the brief moment of distraction, I slammed his arm into the wall again, loosening his grip on the pistol and sending it careening off across the floor.

With the gun out of the equation for now, we started trading blows, the confined space amplifying the chaos of the melee. My training all but assured the win but it was never a good idea to count out an adrenaline fuelled opponent backed into a corner.

As we moved around the car I managed to open up enough space to deliver a solid kick to his knee. It buckled and I followed him to the floor, initiating a choke.

My hold wasn't as good as I hoped and it left him with a free arm that he put to use delivering a barrage of punches to my side. Each one was lessened by my armour but the relentless hits were wearing on me.

In a burst of strength, he managed to twist his body and break the hold momentarily. We scrambled across the floor, both grappling for control but neither managing to make anything stick.

I saw his arm lunge out for something and realised too late that he was going for the discarded pistol, which we had made our way to. In a frantic motion I kicked out at his hand as it closed around the grip but was unable to dislodge the weapon.

Acting on instinct, I grabbed his wrist as he brought the weapon to bear, forcing the barrel away from me. We struggled, the gun wavering between us as we both pushed with our legs trying to find somewhere to brace and get some leverage.

His foot found purchase first and with a scream he forced the gun back towards me and pulled the trigger. The shot was deafening in the enclosed space.

I felt a searing pain as the bullet grazed my arm, cutting a trough through my shirt. The scream from my opponent changed to a strangled cry and his grip weakened. Seizing the opportunity I twisted his wrist and the weapon clattered to the floor once again.

Rolling him onto his back revealed the source of why the fight has suddenly left. A patch of red was rapidly expanding across his shirt and the blood was beginning to pool on the floor.

The momentary relief brought by the end of the fight turned to panic as I realised our only live suspect was slipping away.

Tearing a strip from my shirt and pressing it to the wound, I opened the channel to Rourke back up.

"Carter for Rourke, I need that elevator door open now and med teams with me ASAP."

The doors started opening as his reply came through. "The team just got to your floor, they'll be with you in a moment."

Sliding out of the door I started pulling the suspect out as the response team arrived and helped lower him to the floor.

I met eyes with the team's medic and said, "This guy is currently our only lead on what happened here. Keep him alive."

The medic gave me a nod and dropped their bag to the floor, pulling another member in to help. The medic's hands moved quickly, a blur of practiced efficiency as they tore open packages and started working on keeping our only lead alive.

"Stay with us," the medic urged the suspect, his voice calm but clearly had an undercurrent of worry. The wound didn't seem bad but the amount of blood covering the elevator and now pooling in the hallway was alarming.

Another member of the response team pulled me aside and started working on my arm. It wasn't bad but it helped move my attention away from the activity on the floor.

They had just given it a spray with some anti-infection meds and steri-stripped it together when my attention was pulled back to the suspect by a shouted expletive from the medic.

They started pumping the suspect's chest with force. All other activity in the hall stopped as we watched the medic desperately try to salvage something from this catastrophe.

After a minute of pumping, the other team member intervened and stopped the medic going any further. It was plain to see that the suspect wasn't coming back.

Not wanting this to be a complete waste, I pull aside the team member who had been working on my arm.

Biting back any anger I felt at the situation I said, "I need you to get photos, fingerprints, DNA and anything else you might think of from this guy."

Moving to the medic who was in the process of packing away their supplies I put a hand on their shoulder and said, "I appreciate the effort. You good?"

They threw back a thumbs up and said, "Copacetic Sir."

I walked towards the second elevator and commed Rourke again. "Carter for Rourke, I need to get back upstairs. Any chance I can get this other elevator active?"

"Sure thing Carter. The car should already be on its way. Keeler wants a debrief as soon as possible."

Disconnecting the call, I kept watch as the response team continued collecting evidence and cleaning up what they could, trying to salvage something from this disaster of a night.

The ping from the elevator arriving pulled me from my thoughts. I walked into the car, leaving a bloody mark on the button for the ballroom floor as I pressed it.

---

As I exited the elevator I was truly on the come down from the adrenaline fuelled path that I had been on from the moment the first shot had rang out. With the ability to think beyond the next few minutes I started to list the things we needed to do in the immediate future to salvage something.

The kitchen was a flurry of activity as I passed through. Some wait staff and chefs were trying to bring the kitchen back to a useable state while other seemed to be filling jugs with drink for the guests that were still in the hall.

As I walked through in my ripped and blood stained shirt bearing some fresh cuts and bruises they couldn't help but stare.

Pushing through the double doors, the atmosphere that greeted me in the main hall was one of tense calm. Gryphon personnel were moving around the hall end tending to the injured while hotel staff helped those who were mobile through into the auction hall where refreshments waited.

Scanning the room, I spotted Nails and Keeler standing near to ground zero of the walking bomb, deep in discussion. Nails wore a hard expression and was clearly upset over something. As I joined them I caught the end of their conversation.

"...should have acted sooner," Nails was saying, frustration evident in her voice. "All those extra wait staff were clearly here to deliver harm and we delayed for too long."

"You did well," Keeler said as they put a hand on Nails' shoulder. "You both did. The guests were the priority and had we jumped the gun, so to speak, you may well have been having that gunfight in the middle of a crowd."

The frustration I was feeling bled through a bit as I said, "We were almost caught with our pants down due to a lack of intel."

Keeler's gaze shifted to me, their expression unreadable. "Unfortunately, although the Ravens knew of a possible attack tonight, they hadn't determined the scale or the vector. This is why I specifically activated you two."

Nails eyes narrowed. "Was there any particular reason we weren't in the loop on this?"

Before Keeler could respond I added, "This isn't the first time we've been left blind and things have almost gone completely sideways boss."

Keeler sighed, a rare sign of genuine emotion. "I understand your frustration but there is a bigger game being played here and the worry was that being too prepared for this attack would have cost us the opportunity to expose the people running this group."

Nails folded her arms and said, "With all respect sir, have we not earned our place at the table for exactly this kind of intel? I understand the Roc and Gryphon teams being cut out but we were hired specifically for things like this were we not?"

Keeler took a moment to process before nodding. "Point taken. I clearly need to re-evaluate my approach if I am not able to trust my Seraphim."

The tension in the air dropped considerably. As much as Keeler projected the image of a nigh omnipotent being, they were still human and prone to human faults.

Nails, never one to stand still for long, asked, "So what's next sir?"

Keeler straightened back up. "As it is right now, without anybody to interrogate in the immediate sense, I have tasked some Ravens with tracing the hacker who was interfering with the security systems. That was a task that clearly beyond the capabilities of the people we saw tonight."

The thought of hunting them down clearly appealed to Nails based on the look in her eye. "Just point us in the right direction and we'll deal with it boss."

With a raised hand, Keeler said, "As much as I understand your enthusiasm, I have another job that needs clearing first."

I straightened my jacket a little, still not completely placated, and asked, "What could be more important than supporting the follow on from tonight's events?"

Looking directly at me, Keeler said, "One of the guests here tonight has provided me with the location of something very valuable that they would like retrieved with all haste. It's only a few systems over and with two of my best agents already here already, I accepted. By the time the job is done and you have returned, we should have some actionable intel for you."

Nails buried one fist into the other hand. "Rock and roll boss."

Finally in a more agreeable mood, I asked Keeler, "Where can we gear up? We didn't really bring the kind of equipment we might need for this."

Keeler pulled an info-card from their jacket and handed it to me. "I have already arranged for a ship with anything you might need to be delivered to the spaceport nearby and my dropship can take you there whenever you are ready to leave. All the information on the job is loaded onto this card and there's a secure tablet on the dropship for you to use."

Taking the card, I followed Nails who was already on her way to the landing pad outside.