“How’s the extension of the walls going?” Yen Ching asked as he joined Mai on the walls of the inner compound.

“I miscalculated the cost in control points. It’s one control point for every pace of wall. I didn’t take into account that that’s also based on contours. So where I was drawing it as the crow flies, it also dips down towards Market Street, in places it’s a drop of as much as two paces per one pace forward.”

“And that means?”

“That means that I’ve not been able to beef up the defences in the way we discussed. I’ve got sensors on the further walls but haven’t been able to install them on these walls. I’ve managed to strengthen all of the buildings in the inner compound, but not those in the first or sound outer compounds.”

“Compromise. A bitter pill to swallow sometimes,” Yen Ching laid a hand on her shoulder. “You’ve done well and trusted your gut. I trust your instincts on this one. I also wanted to say that we’ve taken Dakota’s list and implemented it. You should see some newly minted NCOs and officers in the next couple of days. We’ve pulled them off normal duties so that they can complete the missions required to progress.”

“That is good news,” Mai grinned, relief flooding through her body. She hadn’t truly thought that they would go ahead and do as Dakota had suggested, but it seemed as though the rebel council had seen the wisdom of increasing morale. “I bet they’re cock-a-hoop!”

“They are indeed. It’s already seen an increase of morale around ten per cent and per rank gained it will see it gain a further two per cent,” he looked out over the city. “It seems quiet.”

“Almost too quiet. I don’t like it when it’s like this. There should be at least some shooting in the other areas. I know that missions are thin on the ground right now, but I’d have thought the factions would still be carrying out their own agendas,” Mai swept her gaze over the city. It was truly impressive, not as impressive as the Upper City, as the highest building down here was only around thirty storeys, but it had a character of its own.

“It’s good to see the buildings looking so neat,” Yen Ching pointed to the apartments and restaurants in their own walls.

“Good to see them without bullet holes, broken windows and fresh paint? Good to see lighting that actually works all the time?”

“Indeed,” he huffed, hackles rising at her unspoken criticism. “You’re doing good work, keep it up.”

He clapped her on the back, somewhat awkwardly, then walked off. Mai watched him leave, mind blank, just enjoying not thinking about anything in particular, then gave herself a shake and resumed staring back over the city.

Why the hells is it so quiet?

“Mai Xiao, report to the command centre,” Mai sighed as the message repeated in her ear. It felt as though she’d only just lain down to sleep. Rising, she sent an acknowledgment back and got ready as quickly as possible before making her way to the command centre.

“Yen Ching, commanders,” she gave a low bow to the assembled members of the rebel council. “Reporting as requested.”

“Thank you, and apologies for having you attend so late. We weren’t expecting this, but decided it was too urgent to leave until the morning.”

“Expecting what?” she tilted her head, only now taking in the serious expressions on the rebel’s faces.

“There’s another bounty. It’s two hundred thousand karma. Outsiders only. We’ve already had word of high-level outsiders arriving at the faction bases.”

Mai sat down, rear slamming into the chair as her legs gave way.

“Two. Hundred. Thousand. Karma?” she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, let alone saying. “That would see someone all the way to the ten-mile!”

“It would see them ascend,” Yen Ching corrected. “It’s a bounty that’s going to draw outsiders like moths to a flame.”

“What about the other bounty?” She choked out.

“Well, after you defeated the ambush, and then defeated and executed the traitors, you were deemed to be too hard a target. So they upped the reward. Seems that a lot of people want you dead.”

Biting her tongue, Mai didn’t voice her suspicion that he knew exactly who wanted her dead. Hells, she knew who would want her dead. Players, powerful ones at that. She had to give it to him and the others though, they played their part well. Some even looked worried for her.

“Not tempted to take the bounty yourselves?” she asked, readying herself to act if she saw even the slightest wrong move.

“We’re persona non grata, Mai. We couldn’t return even if we wanted to. We caused far too much damage to the City. Broke all the rules, written and unwritten” he sighed, eyes glazing for a moment at bitter memories. “The only way we’ll be able to return is at the head of an army. And the only way we can do that is if we take control of the city.”

“How soon until they attack?” She asked.

“That, we’re not sure of. No doubt they’re already scouting us out, probably under the guise of coming in to shop. Naturally, they won’t be able to get hold of the new stealth uniform, or the tri-barrels, but we have been unlocking a number of other items which will be of interest to them. We’ve got people watching, logging who comes in and when they go out.”

“And if they don’t leave? How long do we give someone before we think they’re up to no good?”

He spread his hands in a shrug.

“We could always enact a curfew. Have the shops close at 20:00, everyone has to leave our sector by 20:10. Anyone who doesn’t will be arrested and fined. Or killed if they decide to resist arrest.”

Mai growled, fist clenched, but there was nothing else they could do. The bounty was on her head, and she couldn’t have the shopkeepers and locals lose out on too much business or the faction’s reputation and control points would fall.

“Fine, she relaxed her hands. We’ll go with that, and I won’t venture out into the city. That’ll make it harder for them.”

Mai sat alone at the canteen’s bar, nursing a bottle of rice wine. Others sat around her, but all had picked up on her foul mood and were staying clear. Whether it was out of respect or fear, she didn’t really care as long as they didn’t bother her.

Reports had been coming in all day. Toll booth takings were up three hundred per cent and climbing every hour. Even raising the price hadn’t seen a fall in the number of people wanting to come through the gate. Estimates were that there were at least two hundred bounty hunters in the city.

Two hundred! How the hells am I going to combat that? She chucked down her rice wine, emptying the glass in one gulp, then filled it up. It wasn’t a good idea to get falling down drunk, but right now it seemed to be the only thing stopping her from curling up in a ball in a dark place.

Checking the time, she saw that it was 19:59. Curfew would be in place in one minute and all of the bounty hunters would have to vacate the rebel sector in eleven minutes. Hopefully then she could relax. At least the sensors she had been able to place on the outer walls would keep her safe.

Hopefully, sweat pricked her brow. She hadn’t been this scared before. Not even with the previous bounty. To know that at least two hundred players had travelled down from the Upper City to come and claim the bounty was overwhelming to say the least.

She hadn’t been able to keep any food down, being both sick and suffering from diarrhoea. Looking at the bottle of rice wine, she pushed it away. A wise move, although it was only wise because drinking it had been so stupid.

Ordering up a carafe of water, she set about downing that instead. It would help push the alcohol through her system and hopefully lessen the hangover she was sure to have the next morning considering how dehydrated she really was.

The next eleven minutes passed quickly. Sighing, she commed the gate.

“Mai Xiao here, all present and correct?” she asked when the gate commander asked.

“Negative. We have three unaccounted for. One urbexer, two military. Units are hunting them now.”

Mai’s mouth dried, tongue cleaving to the roof of her mouth. Instantly sober, she ordered the gates closed and sent a request to the guard commander for more patrols. No alarms as yet, the missing people could have made an honest mistake. Unlikely, but possible.

“Dakota, we’ve got three people missing,” she commed her friend. “Urbexer, and two military.”

“Dammit! I’m in the gym, want me to come over, wait with you?”

“No, thanks, finish your work out, I’ll wait in the canteen. See how things pan out here. It’s a long way from Market Street where I’m sitting. I’m sure we’ll find them.”

“Roger that. I’m off to kick the sergeant-at-arms arse,” Mail smiled as she heard the sergeant scoff in the background before the connection was dropped. Her friend had come a long way since they first met in the hangar, and Mai was both pleased and relieved that Dakota had decided to stick with her through thick and thin. Being a ganger, Dakota could have joined any of the other gangs, and with her culling score she’d have been welcomed with open arms. Given far more prestige than she had with the rebels.

Don’t look a gift tribike in the engine, she thought as she sipped more water.

“Two down! That’s both military down, repeat both military down!” came the report over the command channel. Mai was still sitting in the canteen, it was as good a place as any to wait things out. “We’ve got ten people down, five more wounded. Request ambudrones to marked locations.”

Mai covered her face. Another ten people dead because of her. Five more wounded. All this suffering because she was different. Because she was bucking the trend, not behaving the way her friends and family were supposed to behave. Were programmed to behave. And she still didn’t know if she was behaving the way she was because it was programmed, or because she had some semblance of freewill.

And that train of thought brought her back to her friend. Was Dakota staying with her because she was programmed to do so, or was it because Mai’s behaviour influenced the way that Dakota behaved? Was her friendship real?

Groaning, Mai nearly reached for the bottle of rice wine again. Her head throbbed, the thoughts she was having hurting her both physically and mentally. All she could do was keep on the path she’d chosen for herself. Keep pushing, keep stirring, and keep looking for someone who could tell her what was truly going on.

Once more she considered speaking to Yen Ching, but she didn’t trust him to tell the truth. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t had plenty of opportunity to just tell her, and she believed that he was secretly enjoying having her to himself. Telling her would risk losing her, and he was clearly enjoying the new found prestige that her efforts had brought to the rebel faction.

Bastard, fucking shit bag, bastard, she cursed on and one, exhausting her vocabulary before making up new curses, each one more vicious than the last.

An explosion shook her out of her reverie. Shouts of alarm filled the canteen as the rebels around her sprang into action. Alarms blared, lights flashing, retinal monitors popping up a mission.

SEARCH AND DESTROY – FIND THE ATTACKERS

DO YOU ACCEPT YES/NO?

Mai snarled as she stabbed the YES, tri-barrel sprouting from her arm, knife from the other.

“Dakota! Get to the armoury with the sergeant-at-arms, make sure it’s secure. We don’t know where this bastard is going to hit first.”

She activated all of her skills, even MOPPING, doing the mental version of slamming her hand down on a big red button. Of all of them, SPOT HIDDEN was most likely going to be the most helpful since it was unlikely the attacker would be brazenly striding through the base.

Unless they’re in a mecha, she thought. It was unlikely, but it still put the fear of the gods into her. A mecha would cause untold damage, and without bio-boost bottles, none of the rebels in the base would be able to form their own mecha.

Mental note, build a mecha station, she thought to herself as she strode out of the canteen and into the shelter of the wall covering the door. Slipping her weapon around the edge, she scanned the compound. Rebels ran in all directions, heading to their assigned battle stations.

Directly opposite was the command centre, and she smiled as she saw that the rebels guarding it were already in place and locked and loaded. A turret sat on top of the low building, crewed by three rebels. If they were able to spot the urbexer they’d be able to make short work of them.

Another explosion rocked the base, some four hundred paces away at one of the barracks. Calling up her minimap, Mai tried to see if anyone had spotted the intruder. They hadn’t. Blinking open another menu she cursed as she saw the casualty list.

I’m going to rip this bastard apart with my bare hands, she swore, making the age old sign of a crossed heart. Or die in the process.

A flash lit up the sky, flame leaping into the air as one of the towers was wreathed in fire. It was directly opposite the previous explosion, and rebels who had been running towards that skidded to a halt, clearly indecisive as to where they should go.

Yen Ching was commanding the effort to find the attacker and to fight the fires that were now raging inside the inner compound of their base.

Ambudrones raced in all directions, ferrying the wounded to the medical centre and Mai offered a quick prayer to the gods that they wouldn't see the medical centre destroyed as well.

“Yen Ching, recommend that we have a squad do a sweep of the medical centre and ensure that it’s not rigged to blow. We’ve got too many people in there to risk it.”

“Confirmed, third platoon, secure the medical centre. All others carry on with assigned duties.”

She phased his voice out as she continued to scan the area around her. The attacker had to be within the compound, it made no sense for them to have entered, planted the explosives, and slipped away. The confusion was perfect for them to try and find her.

All she had to do was work out where she thought the bounty hunter would think she would be. The command centre. Any outsider would think that she was part of the command structure considering the amount of influence she had. And in any attack, the command staff would make for the command centre, the most secure building in all of the base.

“Gods! Yen Ching, the attacker’s in the command centre, repeat they’re in the command centre!”

Springing from behind the wall she sprinted full pelt towards the bunker, not caring who saw her, risking everything on the fact that the attacker was within its walls and wouldn’t see her coming.

Shouting to the gunners on the roof, she tried to tell them to get inside the bunker, to help secure it when flames roared up out of the roof. Screaming, turned instantly into living torches, the gunners died where they sat as the flames turned first blue, then white hot, the heat making Mai shield herself even though she was still many paces away from them.

Bastard!

Skidding to a halt by the bunker’s door, she slammed her palm onto the security lock, slipping through as soon as the gap was wide enough before closing it behind her again.

Her would-be-assassin was good. They’d managed to work their way into the heart of the rebel base entirely undetected, plant explosives, and then had the rebels running around like headless chickens whilst they waited for their prey to come to them.

Muffled gun fire and screams erupted, the sounds blocked by the building’s thick walls. They were based on a concentric spiral, attackers having to work their way inwards, checked by walls, a mini labyrinth the centre of which held the actual command room. It was a good design, but only against external attackers. Once again the rebels had been defeated by someone already within their walls.

“Yen Ching, come in, Yen Ching!” she whispered as she made her way along the outward corridor, pausing every few paces to listen.

“I’m afraid that Yen Ching’s unable to come to the comm right now. He and the rest of the rebel council are indisposed.” The killer’s voice was androgynous, cold, dispassionate, yet she could detect a trace of pride in what they had done. “Why don’t you come and join me?”

“On my way,” snarled Mai as she broke into a run, weapons raised.