They never thought it would be like this. They promised us flying cars. Robots to do all of our dirty work. A whole meal in a pill that you only need to add water to. No, they never said it would be like this. In the late 80's, a war began that would spell the destruction of life as we knew it. A small country in the Middle East had gotten its hands on some sub-nuclear weapons. Instead of making idle threats to a government that they knew wouldn't listen, they launched them at the US. They struck four key targets. Los Angels, New York City, Miami, and, of course, Washington, D.C. All hell broke lose.
The United Nations began to fracture into two distinct groups. One side supported the US in it's right to war for the unprovoked attack. The second, formed the Nations Alliance. The Alliance supported the nations that had launched the attack. Feeling that they were justified and America was 'asking for it.' The two forces meet on the battle field. War raged across the planet. Spilling onto the US homelands for the first time since Japan attack Pearl Harbor.
Fearing for their own lives, neither side would employ full scale nuclear weapons. Instead, the majority of combat was fought man to man. However, weapons of sub-nuclear nature where used to level the landscape of the enemy. Leaving many countries in a peril. The US being one of them.
To save itself from collapse, the US incorporated themselves with major companies based on it soil. They called themselves, AmeraTech. AmeraTech set out to revise it's democracy. This brought the government to a rapid decline in an already failing system.
Now, after ten years of war, the world is in a fragile stalemate. Each side fearing what the other will do next. The effects are evident everywhere you look. Once proud people now live with the common trailer trash of the lower income. Only the people of the corporation are allowed to live in the grand cities of the City-States that were once great nations. Those of the lower caste, criminals, homeless, wanderers, people that refused to swear loyalty to the corporations now wander the out laying areas. Some still try to hang on the remains of a dead lifestyle. Others, however, have adapted to the new order of things. Adopting a 'Road Warrior' mentality. Living the lives of pirates and outlaws.
I am one of those people. My name is Syber. I am a road pirate. This is my story:
I watched as the three trucks rumbled over the hard packed sand of the Arizona desert. Each transported weapons for the AmeraTech armies in New Mexico, though you wouldn't know it from looking at them. The trucks were of post war AmeraTech production. Big sports utility vehicles painted black, as not to stand out from any other corporate issued vehicle.
"Well, Syber, looks like it's time to see if you have what it takes," a voice behind me spoke. It was Jy-Ryn. Jy-Ryn was the leader of the pirate group known as, The StarRaiders. He was a tall man with a thick chest. He wore his brown hair military style with a thin line cut around just above his ears. A ruthless man ready to see if I was ruthless enough to be one of his.
I turned to face him with a slow spin. His eyes watched as I did so. I didn't have anything to say. I knew what I had to do. I had to show this man before me what kind of man I was. Maintaining my silence, I walked to my car. A pre-war Nissan Skyline. I took one last look at the flawless red and white paint job, as I knew it wouldn't look like this after this was all over.
I walked around to the rear of the Skyline and opened the trunk. From inside, I grabbed my armored jacket, combat helmet, and my Beretta 1911.45. I pulled the armored jacket over the tattered leather vest I wore and fastened it up. I tied my black hair back to keep it out of my eyes as I slipped the helmet over my head.
I climbed into the driver's seat, placed the Beretta between the seats, and keyed to ignition. The six cylinders were quick to answer with a silent shimmy and steady hum. I reached over to the glove box and removed my sunglass from where they were stored. As I slowly placed them over my eyes, I turned to Jy-Ryn. "I'm ready," was all I had to say as I shifted the car into gear and started toward the caravan of SUV transports.
By the time the boys in the black trucks saw me coming, it was too late. I had already closed the distance between us and was preparing my Skyline for the initial attack. Almost as second nature, I swerved the four-wheel drive coupe into the path of the lead truck. I slammed on my brake and allowed the truck to slam into the back of my car. This brought the convoy to a halt. The rear doors of the back two trucks swung open and four armed men began to crawl out.
I shifted the Skyline back into gear and spun the wounded vehicle around to face my advancing attackers. I gassed it forward as I pulled the Beretta 1911 from between the front seats. They forced me to swerve off course as they open fired with the small submachine guns that they carried. I answered back with gun fire of my own. The 1911 braked hellfire as I squeezed the trigger.
One of my shots struck home as I watched the blood and gore fly from one of the gunmen's legs. His company was quick to let me know they were not going to take this laying down as the light ammo slammed into the armored sides of my car. A few rounds cut through the door panel with a skull splitting bang. One of them grazed me across the left shoulder.
I didn't want to wait to see what was going to happen next, and I had a job to do. With complete disregard for myself, I turned the car back toward them. As I dropped it into a lower gear, I slammed my foot onto the pedal. With a bone shattering collision, the remaining three men were wedged between the now defunct hood of my car and the side of the middle SUV. One man survived, crying from the pain of having his entire lower body destroyed.
I jumped out of the car and quickly advanced toward him. "Where are the weapons?" I asked as I place the warm barrel of my gun against the dying mans temples.
"What... weapons...?" His voice was weak and broken as he tried to speak through the blood that had begun to gather in his throat.
"The ones you and your little party boys here were transporting." I snarled as I gestured to the dead.
"We... weren't... carrying weapons... Only... the... "
The poor bastard never finished what he had to say. With a choke, blood began to trickle from his mouth as he slumped forward onto the hood of the trashed coupe. Frustrated, I began to search the vehicles for what they had, in fact, been carrying. It came to me as a shock, when I found it. In the first truck sat a young lady. She couldn't have been more than 18 or 19 years old. Dressed in the finest that AmeraTech has to offer to its corporate citizens. Her blond hair was long, pinned back by a small band across the top of her head. Her features were thin, yet dignified. I was speechless as her big, vivid green eyes fell on me. Her eyes contained more fear than any I had ever seen before.
"Please, don't hurt me. My daddy will pay you a lot of money for my return." Her voice was cracked with fear and anxiety. I could do nothing but stare into those big, petrified eyes.
My trance was broken as I heard the sound of Jy-Ryns Dodge Viper pull up behind me. I turned to watch as he got out and closed the door. He smiled like I had never seen the man smile. There was a certain spring in his step. It was almost like he was pleased with himself.
"Job well done, Syber. I do believe there may be a StarRadier in you yet."
"There are no guns. Only this girl."
"I know. The girl is what I wanted."