GuNNhead

A shadow passes over me as the intercom from the liaisons opens in static. I am only now informed that the pursuance may not have been entirely unjust. The Bodyguard. I lift my bike and start to get back on it when I am forced to dodge a direct aerial attack. It takes the brunt of the damage and flies back into a light pole while I roll and attempt to charge a Gravity Sphere as she circles back around. But she is too fast, and is able to pick up and throw a car into me, exploding it and sending me skidding face-first against the street. Still lifting my body, I see her lift another car, and slam it into me. Slowly standing and surrounded by wreckage and flames, once on two feet again, I look around for her, only for her to appear behind me, with yet another car, heaving it into my back; another blast propelling me back into the street, shattering it beneath my helmet. I am able to roll out of the way of her next attack, leaving her with talons full of roadway. As she ascends back into the sky, I am able to land a direct hit with a Gravity Sphere, destabilizing her flight enough so that I have time to rush back to my duocycle and get on it before she can fully line up and reach me again.

As I accelerate down the freeway she is right on top of me, through sharp turns and transitional jumps, she does not let up. I weave in and out of heavy, hurried traffic, barely dodging missile after missile until I enter a train tunnel. An oncoming train forces her to abandon direct pursuit in the tunnel and quickly pull up into a vertical climb on the outside. I continue through the tunnel on the second track, and soon see her moving towards me from the other end of the tunnel. She rushes through the air directly at me, talons focuses. I slide beneath the attack, and grab onto one leg. Peeling out in the opposite direction. She attempts to break free of my grasp, but cannot. I drive towards a rapidly approaching bright light, and collide all of us with that train, obliterating my duocycle and derailing the locomotive.

When I regain consciousness, I step out of the remains, and see the sub-city laboratory crew, they have recovered the angel’s body, she is alive, and they will fix her, figure out what went wrong. My cycle is already repairing itself. I am thanked, and my tactics are praised for selecting an automated freight train rather than a passenger train. With the task at hand completed, I turn and begin sifting through what is left of the front of the train for duocycle parts, the more I find, the faster repairs go. A few of the other intermediaries to the tower also remain behind. They say aloud that they’re looking for part of the bodyguard… that she was once their close associate, collectively. She had been altered to provide a better life for her family, but was unaware that her humanity would also be taken in the exchange. They had recovered her after our battle, and improved her, gave her back her mind. But did not anticipate that on her first assignment that she would relentlessly slaughter her all those involved. They are unsure if it was the programming or if she simply took revenge, as these were past close collaborators with to the late Executive, and she did specifically choose this mission. But when she attacked both Techrider and I, they were fairly certain it was the former.

There is a brief pause before they apologize for rambling, and thank me again for apprehending her relatively unharmed. As in, not torn limb from limb or crushed to death. I find the primary throttle ignitor I had been searching for, walk over to my duocycle and affix it. I get on and run diagnostics. 70% repaired. I activate it and increase the speed of the engine without moving a few times to ensure functionality. Satisfied with the thundering rumble, I drive off into the darkness of nightfall.

Jumping from offramps to buildings, I close in on the chase in progress, finally landing not far behind Techrider. Feeling the power augment from the duocycle, the velocity, and the vehicle’s connection to the ground, I move far faster than I could have while flying before. I am about to take aim with a Gravity Sphere, but before I can remove my hand from the controls, I become aware that the cycle can channel my abilities through itself.

[Weapon Systems Available::]
[Gravity Bullets]
[Gravity Sphere]
[Gravity Rush]
[…]

I focus on this new auxiliary interface, and choose my preferred attack for its simplicity.

[Activate:: Gravity Sphere]

As I will it so, the duocycle fires from below the headlight upon my target. Chunks of street explode as the Techrider swiftly dodges multiple volleys. It is quickly obvious that I need to adjust my technique.

[Activate:: Gravity Bullets]

A rapid-fire barrage erupts from spinning emergences on either side of the front wheel. These cause far less damage when they miss, with an added bonus of actually being able to land a hit the speeding cyborg, destabilizing his hunt for justice. Having done that, I find myself quickly staring down the barrel of his scattergun, finally dividing its attentions. Without looking away from his true target, he fires upon me, but with my current amplification and steeling my defense in preparation, the damage this time is mostly superficial. He proves it to be much easier to shoot the ground in front of someone when you are also in front of them, but I am undeterred by the highway fragments being flung at me or the newly created craters in my path.

Sensing the reprieve of being the target of attack, the golden angel dives into a tunnel beneath our roads. Techrider does not let up, smashing through barriers and driving along buildings to enter the same tunnel. I follow, as he climbs the walls and positions his path on the ceiling, I pursue. Out into the sun and up the side of the building the tunnel passes through, I ride ever closer. We both leap into the sky at the top of the tower, and for a brief moment I see more closely than I ever have, this hunted angel. Brief in that, in that exact moment, both Techrider and I are caught in a tremendous fusillade of missiles and energy bursts pouring forth from her golden wings. He takes the brunt of it and is sent crashing down to the deepest levels in a ball of flames, the sounds of crushed steel follow each concussive ricochet of his wreck against the downward structures. I, however, am not so lucky, and plummet only to the main highway near the tunnel’s exit. I see a golden reflection from the sky against the windows of the next high-rise this thoroughfare passes through. My duocycle lands beside me with a crunch.

Throughout the following days, the rise in activity grows, and I am faced with primary factions from across the grid. All with their own champions. Those with conflicting beliefs and overlapping goals united and attempted to unleash a virus to kill all life by invading a bio-facility. There were attacks on the Generator, and then upon the Power Generator for the Generator. Then, the Central Guard Company’s new suit got fused with a demon. After that, a building gone rogue. The next day it was a cybernetic magician providing cover for more low-rent burglaries, and, of course, the trouble with the Kyuryu Science Institute. but on this day I am called upon for a more interpersonal matter…

The short and tall ones have since taken up residence in Krokodopolis with multiple liaisons from the tunnels acting within the sub-city laboratory. They have been scouring the unimportant sub-systems of my craft, like scavengers going through cold storage. It briefly occurs to me that I could build this ship from the ground up in its original form, but I had not thought of it since it changed forms as I had. My musings are cut short by a panicked voice over the intercom: Techrider is back, and he has set is judgement upon them.

I arrive and see a a golden-winged angel dive-bombing from the sky in a rapid attack and defense pattern upon the city skylines, dodging blasts that are tearing up the city, She is a beautiful and dangerous lustrous vision, shock white hair, noble in face and determination. Then I hear the roaring engine of her pursuer. Shining Booster Techrider.

I am contacted by the Krokodopolis Labs team, they say to maintain my position, as they are sending something to my location. They have been discovering multiple quickrail systems tunneling beneath the city, many connecting the two locations. Pistons wheeze as a hatch opens up and a platform is raised amidst the smoke and steam. As I see the figure emerging, I am contacted, and asked if I knew about it. I was, but had not thought of it since before I changed, as it was no longer necessary. They inform that they have repaired it in secret, and it may be capable of amplification of my power while I am in its presence. Much as my craft was. Before me stands the basic shelf model of the standard ATV equipped on all Guiding Star model single-occupant exploration crafts, an integrated GS-Duocycle. It, too, has undergone changes since I became the Gravity Surge, though still bone white and chitinous as my original armor.

I tear off towards the conflict on my Duocycle, screeching tires against ground emitting a thick smoke. Sparks fly off the underside as I leap from overpass to overpass in highly stacked interchanges, dodging other vehicles driving on these floating roads closed in amidst monolithic skyscrapers. I keep my eyes affixed to the chased shimmering angel in the sky.

I regain consciousness hours later, and return to the tower to see what fate had befallen the city. But nothing is amiss. I head to the penthouse office and see that the damages are being repaired. Entering through an unfinished skylight, I am greeted by the tall one. I ask about the robot and this “challenge” I had lost. They say that it was really more of a judgement…

Shining Booster Techrider, Justice Enforcement Machine. Created by the engineers who designed the domed city, it is his home, his charge. He will stop at nothing to protect it. Until the internal barrier went up, he dispensed hard justice across the city, but since his Prison was on the outskirts of the city, he was shut down and his Fortress locked up and abandoned…

“But as far as for why he’s back, that info’s downstairs.”

When I step off the elevator, the short one spins around in their chair and shouts my name. They then inquire as to why it was so difficult for me to simply agree to not kill anyone in the city unprovoked. My lack of reaction prompts an explanation that those were the terms of the judgement laid forth by Techrider. He knew I could not be killed. They had shouted it after me, the words from his oration, but the sound of the duocycle must have drowned it out, though they assumed he would repeat them before the fight. I inform then that he did not. I had thought the stakes were much higher. There is a brief pause before they move on to talking about how he has returned.

This Techrider’s final outing was the night the inner dome was turned on. He was given crowd control duty, killing many. He was tinkered with for years in secret after its public shutdown. Augmented specifically to battle the Gravity Surge. Though the project was abandoned when the AI could not be hardcoded as a private assassin due to a fail-safe in the living brain within. According to the recovered files, they’re not the only secret project. The scientist must have activated it as petty revenge when they launched their escape pod. However, since the Techrider used to have a support team to control its outings, it’s now purely running of its own accord there is no way to know when it will appear again…

Beyond that, they say, there’s nothing to be done. They could search for how the scientist made their way into the Prison Fortress in secret, but that could take a while. Their current focus is on getting the city unified again, not only ensuring it’ll be ready to leave when my craft is, but also re-starting construction on the outskirts. The largest empires are glad to be a part of this new direction for the city, out from under the heel of The Executive. However, the return of Techrider has fractured public opinion even further, making what could be simple return to form into a dilemma. There are those who say I am a fake, and oppose the changes based on that, but then there are those who believe I am who I say I am, but also oppose the changes based on that, and all sorts of combinations. I tell the short one that the opinion of the masses is not my concern, and inquire about my craft.

The android rides off on their duocycle as I reform. I am informed that a challenge of some sort has been issued, and that I should follow that robot into the outskirts to battle them. When they begin to explain its motivations, I sprint after it. Steadfastly adhering to its trail, I follow it over rooftops, up and down the sides of buildings. We careen through curved alleyways along the wall. For a moment I lose it down a dead-end, but it bursts forth from a pile of debris and boxes, pinning me against a wall before peeling out, burning rubber across my armor, resuming the chase.

On the outskirts of the city, we reach a large clearing in a landfill of some sort and it slides to a stop. Staring at me, it gets off of its bike and stands still. A few yards away, I end my chase. For a moment, there is a pause to see who will strike first. A breeze floats scraps of paper and dirt around us. Breaking free of the standoff, I leap at it, firmly connecting a punch into its jaw. The machine takes the punch hard, sent rolling head over feet along the ground. It stands up as the dust clears, but asserts no fighting stance. For a brief second I glace at the scattergun in the holster of the duocycle, and am met with an equally powerful punch to the side of my head, flipping me over the bike and into the dirt. I roll into my momentum, and am quickly back on my feet, leaping over the bike to deliver another blow to the android. This time, however, it is not sent flying. It remains perfectly still, and grabs my wrist with one hand, pulling the scattergun out of its holster with the other, and fires both barrels through my chest. I fly backwards, landing in a pile of trash, but quickly rise to my feet.

[Active:: Gravity Sphere]

The heavy swirling orb is expelled from my palm directly towards both of them; the bike speeds out of the way, but the machine stands still, allowing the full force of the impact to land. It remains unmoving as the attack swirls and expresses its power to no avail. As it slows, this machine begins stepping towards me against the pressure of my attack. As it closes in, I fire another Sphere into the first one, exploding it in a burst of energy. I use this opportunity for another attack. With more focus, I am able to do considerably more damage, denting it and pushing it back towards the center of the clearing. We fight blow for blow, deftly scrutinizing power and fighting styles. It may have infinite energy reactors, but I cannot die. I do not let up, keeping it on the back foot until I realize that it is not even attempting to block my assault. It is only when I stop that I notice the bike has been circling us. I dodge as the robot attempts to grab me, but the bike collides with me. I regain my footing, and dodge the bike, but the robot’s attacks land. Again and again and again.

I lay on the ground, broken and unable to focus or gather power as the mechanical foe’s fist strikes my face repeatedly, cracking and busting pieces off of my continually shattering helmet. My healing cannot function if I am being constantly broken. It has no life that I am driven to extinguish. After a few days of this, I concede without knowing what I have lost. With that, the robot gets back on its bike, and drives off.