"In war, move swiftly as the wind, as closely-formed as the wood. Attack like the raging fire and be still and quiet like the mountain.
~Sun Tzu, The Art of War
___________________________________________
I hurt all over.
The dragon's roar had pummeled my whole body. Beneath my torn and bloodied suit, my form-fitting body armor had mitigated some of the worst of the impacts. My hands and face weren't so lucky.
My healing spell was holding under the force of my will, knitting tissues back together and regenerating the subtle injuries. The ringing in my ears dimmed, then faded away. I looked around my office, my mind still running down the plan I had begun concocting in the elevator.
"Rose, I need you." My thought voice reach out across the distance like she was in the same room. A blink later Rose, my first ally spirit, my oldest spirit daughter appeared next to me.
She looked like a young elf girl. The form belying the terrific power she possesses. "Father, you are covered in blood." There was concern in her thought voice. It was so easy to forget she was a spirit.
"It's okay, its mine." I started pulling off my ruined suit. "I want you to go out into the hall and elevator beyond. Destroy any and all samples of my blood there."
"Certainly, father." She strode through my door. I heard a startled yelp from the corridor.
The commlink on my desk chimed, the tune telling me that Aria was calling.
My tingling fingers found the answer button and Aria's face appeared in the holo, a worried expression plainly visible. "Tommy? Honey, Rose just vanished. Are you okay? I can't see you."
"I've had better days." I said. "I needed her here for something, I'll send her home shortly. How are you and the girls doing since I left?"
"Don't you change the subject on me." The tone of her voice suddenly reminded me of her mother. I cringed.
"Sorry baby. I'll come home early today if I can." I pulled off my blood stained shirt as quickly as I could.
"Tommy. Let me see you." He voice had softened a bit. Worry was rising in her face.
Drek. I stepped around so the holocam could capture my image. I hadn't had time to wash my face yet and I could feel the blood sticking to my upperlip and taste it in my mouth. "Hi, honey." I said.
Aria gasped. I saw her face tense as her emotions ran the gamut from surprise to scared, worried to enraged before settling into a tense mask, a pale imitation of her mother's own expressionless working face. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm hurt but the magic is holding. I'll be okay in a few minutes, and cleaned up once I can get to the bathroom." I shifted from one foot to the other, suddenly very self-conscious. "I'm sorry honey, I didn't want to worry you."
"You come home, Tommy." Aria's voice was tense. I saw tears beginning to well up in the corners of her eyes.
"Yes, ma'am." I replied. "I love you, I'll be home as soon as I can."
"I love you too. I'll get the first aid kit out." She replied. "Should I call mom?"
"No." I answered quickly, reflexively. "No. I'm fine. I may call Crank tonight though."
"Okay, I'll have the grocery delivery send ribs then." A tear escaped and ran down Aria's cheek. "You come home to me, Tommy."
"On my way as soon as I can, baby." I told her.
My wife cut the connection, leaving me alone in the office. I grabbed my rucksack and pulled out my 'working' clothes. Replacing them with my bloodied suit. My thoughts continued to pile up around the plan fomenting in my mind. Rose drifted through my office door, materialized and sat herself on the corner of my desk.
"I have sterilized the blood samples, father. Your injuries are healing well." Her voice drifted comfortably through my mind. "Shall I do violence upon who ever did this to you?"
"No, thank you anyway baby-girl." My own thought voice reached her and she frowned. "I don't want you tangling with what did this. You're too important to risk and he's far too powerful."
"I can do violence, father." Rose's reply carried a hurt tone.
"I know. You are very powerful and I'm not making light of your abilities." I reached out and lay my hand on hers. "As strong as you are, this is more so. I won't risk your life like that."
Rose frowned at that. "You think I could be destroyed?"
"Yes, Rose. I think there is a good chance that this foe would defeat you and either destroy you or enslave you. I won't have either." I smiled up at her. "Don't worry. I think I have a plan."
*****
January 15th, 2061
1615 hours, Seattle Metroplex local time
I left my office and took the stairs to the landing pad on the 95th floor. The invisibility spell I had wrapped around myself hid me from the watchful eyes of the maintenance bots that prowled there. I took a running start, and leapt from off the east side of the landing pad, plummeting like a stone toward the pavement below.
I reached out into the astral plane, calling for the air elemental I had bound. I was soaring past the fiftieth floor when the elemental spirit manifested and arrested my fall. I soared away, carried aloft by the winds to my home. I landed in the back yard and let the invisibility spell unravel.
I closed my eyes and opened myself to Lily's senses. She was in the twins' room, standing guard over them as they were nearing the end of an afternoon nap. My perspective shifted suddenly as I peered through Rose's eyes and saw Aria in the kitchen, her face wrinkled up in frustration as smoke streamed up from the skillet in front of her. She had burned something and judging from the odor Rose was smelling, it had once been bacon.
I opened my eyes and my own astral senses and peered about the yard. I walked around the house, looking everywhere for any sign of astral surveillance. It must have looked odd, me walking around and looking behind the shrubs and up in the tree that grew in my backyard. I saw astral impressions of myself enjoying quiet, peaceful moments; old impressions of the prior owners and summer bar-b-ques with their extended families; spectral bloodstains marred the scene, the aftermath of my escape from the arcology; and vivid impressions of Violent and Jasmine laying in the fall leaves, giggling up at Aria, Rose and Lily.
It was beautiful.
The astral surveillance I expected wasn't there. I was barking at shadows but told myself it was best to be careful. The security panel chimed as it recognized my thumb and retinal patterns, unlocking my back door for me. I walked in to the sound of Aria cursing, the smell of bacon burning, and the gentle waking noises of the twins.
"I'll get the girls." I said. I set my rucksack down, and darted through the living room and into the twins' bedroom. They were starting to fuss, each waking the other up with their little noises.
Lily, turned to me as I walked into the room. "Stinky material is appearing in the diapers. Prepare yourself, father, they ate peaches earlier."
I nodded knowingly as the first hint of foul diapers reached my nose. "Right on time then. Thank you baby-girl. Can you get new diapers for me, please." A whisper of power and a time trusted levitation spell lifted the girls from their cribs and onto the changing table. They were still defiling their diapers and were not amused by being moved yet. Violet began to cry and Jasmine took up the chorus with her. Lily laid a diaper next to each twin, then pulled out the wipes.
We did battle with a foulness the likes of which I cannot describe.
1625 hours
I tasked poor Lily with disposing of the diapers and emptying the pail. The fact that she has since forgiven me for having her do this speaks well of her capacity for mercy. Twins in hand, I walked into the living room. Aria was putting in a delivery order on her commlink while Rose was cleaning up the aftermath in the kitchen.
"I'm ordering in. I burned the bacon, forgot to defrost the chicken and forgot to turn on the oven so the rolls are cold." Aria, finished keying in the order and turned to look at me. "Well, at least you're not covered in blood anymore."
Jasmine pulled playfully at my ear while Violet's little fingers pinched my cheek.
"I'm sorry you saw that honey. I didn't mean to worry you." I said.
"Not now. Later." she replied. Aria walked over and wrapped her arms around me and the twins. The scent of honeysuckle and vanilla was comfort. Violet abandoned her efforts to pull my cheek off and grabbed two little fists full of Aria's hair.
"Now, now Violet, we don't pull mommy's hair, baby-girl." Aria told her.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon and early evening playing with the twins. Rose and Lily were vigilant, waiting and watching for trouble I was certain was coming. To my surprise and relief, no one tried to kill us.
That evening Rose and Lily stood watch over the twins while they slept. Aria and I had a long talk in the shower. The sound of the running water would help defeat any listening devices. Honest. Aria accused me of making up that excuse so I could see her naked. While she isn't wrong about a part of that, having conversations such as we had that night, under the cover noise of running water all around you is a great way to defeat and confuse directional microphones. You'll have to take my word for that.
*****
January 17th, 2061
0200 hours, Seattle Metroplex local time
Crank and Ratchet arrived in a Bakery delivery truck. Ratchet backed the vehicle up to my garage door and killed the lights. I opened the garage, and had an earth element conceal the truck and garage from outside scrutiny. It took us about fifteen minutes to unload the boxes into my garage.
"Angel says take this and get rid of your old burner. Something about its protocols being old enough to rise eyebrows." Crank said as he handed me a clear plastic back with a new (to me) commlink.
"New burner, sub-zero." I said. I looked up at Crank, "thanks, omae. I appreciate this." I pushed the fist full of credsticks into his hand.
"You going to need some help with that?" he asked.
"Yes, but where I'm putting it is, well, a bit out of the way." I glanced over at the plain cardboard boxes. They were labeled 'Cinnamon Rolls'. "If you don't mind the trip, I could certainly use a hand."
"Sure thing, same rate as usual though. Thousand nuyen a day, another thousand if I get shot at." Crank's response strangely reassuring.
"Good, we've got a deal then." I shook the big man's hand.
0505 hours, Seattle Metroplex local time
Crank was still cursing as he climbed into the back of the Ratchet's delivery truck. "I swear, I'm NEVER doing that again." He rang his fingers through his damp hair, cursing at the slime that stuck to his hands. "This is what magicians do at home?!?! Glad I'm just street muscle."
"Magically enhanced street muscle." I corrected him. "You've got your own edge, omae." I smiled as he glanced back toward Ratchet's sleeping form.
"Oi!" he raised his finger in front of his lips, shushing me. "Anyway, use the new burner if you need me. You want me to ditch the other?"
"Nah, I have plans for that one." I smiled at the thought. I think I saw Crank shiver.
"Okay, alright then." Crank fished around in his pocket and handed me a small blue plastic box with a pair of buttons and two small diode lights on it. "Remember to hit the right button, or you'll never have time to regret it."
The tiny box seemed so small, insignificant. There was a certain wonder to it as I contemplated just how dangerous it was. "Will do. Thanks, Crank."
"See you in the shadows. Don't get lit up." With that he pulled down the truck's door. I heard him roust Ratchet, listened as its electric engine whirred to life, and watched as they pulled away.
"Best hundred thousand nuyen I've ever spent." I said to myself.
I closed my garage door and dismissed the earth elemental. The twins were sleeping peacefully. Aria was awake, sitting at the kitchen table while Rose and Lily cooked. I smelled fresh coffee, bacon and what I suspected were biscuits.
Aria looked up over the lip of her cup and smiled at me. "Good morning baby. Did you get what you needed?"
"Sure did, we've got enough cinnamon rolls to last us a lifetime." She took my hand and smiled. "But that bacon smells like heaven."
"It will be done in a couple of minutes, father." Lily said.
"The eggs will take a few minutes longer. You have time to shower." Rose added.
"That sounds like a good idea." I stood and kissed Aria's cheek. "Be right back, honey."
******
0815 hours
I walked into my office and placed my rucksack on my desk. The old burner phone rested comfortably in my pocket. It was a little heavier than was normal, but I wouldn't be using it anymore. The commlink built into my desk blinked its green warning icon at me. I had a message waiting for me.
"Play message" I said. I pulled off my coat and hung it off the corner of my chair.
'You have, one message. From: Control' beep "Machine, when you get this I want you in my office asap." Samantha's voice carried a hint of irritation in it. The time stamp on it indicated yesterday afternoon.
"Call Control" I said flatly. The call feature rang twice before Samantha's secretary picked up.
"Machine, Ms. Goode wishes to see you." she said.
"Put me through to her please." I replied.
"Very well, sir."
There was a moment of silence before the line picked up. "Machine." Samantha said. "Come up to my office."
"Certainly." I replied. "Am I to expect to be beaten and bounced around the room again?"
"Don't be a child. It's unbecoming." With that she broke the connection.
I drew the slivergun from my shoulder holster, thumbed the safety and chambered a round. "Right, time to go to work."
*******************************
Thank you for reading my fan fiction.
I apologize for the delay in getting this latest part of "The Art of War" story arc released. I have been working to complete the final bits of Whispers of Persephone by writing and formatting in the backer reward pieces for those backers who had their names added as characters to the book and on the obituaries for the Fallen Heroes backers. It has been fun and very busy!
I also write and develop RPG material (not for Shadowrun though, unfortunately). So if you are a fan of Gary's game, I release a lot of material under the OGL. I am also developing an original role playing game, which Drip members will see in play test version in 2019. You can also support my efforts to create cool, original RPG content by subscribing to my Drip page. Subscribers have access to behind the scenes information, first glance at coming release material, play test material, and there is also a monthly PDF release for subscribers in the $3 and higher tiers. Check it out by going to my Drip page HERE.
I hope you'll join me next time as we conclude "The Art of War" story arc. Strap in and hold on chummers, its going to get dark in these shadows.
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