Running Scared

This story feels like it's going to be fairly long, sorry for those of you looking for instant gratification, no sex in this first chapter.

The following story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance between these character and events and any real person or events is strictly coincidental.

Do not reproduce or copy this story without the consent of the author.

The following story contains lesbian sex so if that isn't your cup-of-tea, I suggest you try another story. Thank you for reading.

~~~~~~~~

The girl slipped quickly through the crowd, sliding around droids and meats' with practiced ease, pausing by a display of cheap monotone hats. A shiv flashed and the security tag tumbled to the ground. By the time the shopkeeper's implant pinged a warning she was a hundred meters away and ducking through the packed street, her new gray hat cocked on her head, her filthy blond hair twisted roughly up under it.

Her breathing ragged, the girl slowed down, trying to blend her ragged cover-all into a sudden mass of off-duty office workers. Quick peeks behind her confirmed the worst. Six of Wheeler's goons were pushing through the crowd, scanning for her facial structure through their cybe-goggles.

An impatient businessman shoved past her, for a crucial moment, the girl was turned around, her startled face in full view. Acting on years of ingrained lessons, she whirled and ducked between the businessman's companions. Two thuds and a gasp sounded behind her as tranq-darts hit the meat behind her. Weaving, dodging hover-bikes and dense crowds, the girl cut to her right and sprinted into one of the dingy alleys. Running for all her worth, she threw herself headfirst past a corroded dumpster and into the pile of trash underneath a garbage chute'. In seconds she had wormed her way to the bottom and squeezed herself through a hole in the bottom of the dumpster. The girl crouched, shivering and struggling to control the adrenaline burning through her system. A minute passed as boots pounded the plascrete of the alley. Her heart jumped into overdrive again as someone slammed their glove against the metal. She heard the linkman, one of Wheeler's fronts in the district snarling,

"C'mon you stupid, fraggin' rejects. She's one goddamn little girl, where the fuck is she?"

"Aw Anson, little bitch was gone before the trace could lock on. Dunno what we wuz supposed to do-"

The girl shivered in sympathy as the alley echoed with the splat-crunch of Anson venting his temper. She knew that though the thug might have been hopped up on stim-tabs and armed to the teeth, none of that was a match for the cybernetic enhancements that Anson had. She'd seen him charming and flashing his razorblade teeth one moment and ripping some poor rent-a-cop limb from limb the next. A coppery tang filled the air as a body crumpled to the ground with a strangled moan. The girl bit back a gasp as warm coppery blood seeped under the dumpster and began to drip into her hollow.

Her heart was pounding so loud she was sure Anson would hear her any second and rip the dumpster to pieces. Muffled orders and responses touched her ears as the pack began to tromp back to the main dive, dragging the trashed thug. Relaxing by a micrometer, the girl allowed herself to breathe again. She shifted her legs uncomfortably in the heat that flowed from the generator vent she lay on top of. That and the interference generated from the big broadcast vanes half a klick away had concealed her against the infra-mag-bio visors she'd seen a few of them wearing.

Hours passed and finally, the girl wiggled out of her hiding spot. Thanking whatever spirits were watching over her for both helping her to remember the hidey-hole and for keeping it intact, she crept through the vast steel and plascrete jungle of New York II. Somewhere in the distance, a holo announced new models were in for the TG hover-bike line. Stopping to scrounge food from another pile of steaming trash, she made her way slowly through the chaos of Old Town.

~~~~~~~~

Camille Leung crouched, twenty meters above the busy street, scanning constantly, her jet-black eyes occasionally picking a face, a figure out of the crowd and compiling a quick profile. Businessman: searching for sexual companionship, Threat Level: 1.2, unarmed. Prostitute: advertising, Threat Level: 1.6, armed: shiv in synth-skin sheath. Yakuza Enforcer: off-duty, Threat Level: 6, armed: Gen-Tech series 2047 10mm in the shoulder holster, 2 Vulture throwing knives over the kidneys.

Most people would have long since grown bored and inattentive in the 2 hours she'd been keeping an eye on the street. Most people would have struggled to even identify the hair color of those walking below. Most people weren't Camille, one of the most elite Hunters in the Northern Hemisphere.

Very few who glanced her way had the ability to see beyond her pretty face and arresting gaze. Typically dressed in black synth-leathers and boots with half-inch heels, she appeared on first scan to be a woman in her mid-twenties with beautiful black hair usually tied back in a ponytail. The slightly more observant might notice how usually fit and toned her body was, or how she walked constantly scanning her surroundings, always perfectly balanced. Those in her walk of life would evaluate her and notice an entirely different set of features...such as the Armo-weave sewn into her clothes...or the ocular enhancements that gave her that devilish little twinkle...or the strength that was greater than any human had any right to.

Adrenaline surged as she sighted her target. Orion "the Rhino" was the biggest cybe she'd ever seen. The micro-computer build into the sunglasses she was wearing finished uploading its analysis, interfacing directly with the ultra-thin lenses over her eyes. As his profile scrolled across her vision, she frowned slightly. The terms of her assignment specified live and functioning delivery, always a tricky task when dealing with a cyborg. His specs included tranq filters in his major arteries, subcutaneous plates over his vitals and more built-in firepower than your average hover-tank. She was also reading EMP shielding over more than 80 percent of his system and an odd mass covering most of his back. Great. Can't tranq him because of those damn filters, EMP rounds were out, looked like he'd be able to laugh off even a point blank shot, and from the sheer amount of muscle she was looking at, he'd tear right through her bio-foam and net rounds. Groaning in resignation, she crept to an overhang he would have to pass under as she prepared to go hand-to-hand with a man at least 200 kilos heavier than she was. Her implant pinged a warning as another cyborg slid up against Orion from the side. A small explosion cut through the din of the crowd as he slapped a tiny shaped charge into the giant's side. With a bestial roar, the Rhino spun faster than should have been possible for such a big man and slapped the unfortunate Hunter. A crash shook her building and with a sigh, she ran a quick calculation and stepped off, dropping into the chaos below just as he sprang forward.

~~~~~~~~

Huddled against the wall, the girl tore eagerly into the carb-block. Having taken advantage of a short fight that had broken out to snatch some badly needed supplies, she hadn't made it more than a few blocks before an odd sense of rightness caused her to pause and eat. She hadn't known why she just had to eat at this spot, but since she'd been a child, her little "urges" had never led her wrong. Either way she couldn't really bring herself to care as the wrapper fluttered to the ground and she gnawed eagerly at the first sustenance she'd had in a week.

A slight hush crept up the street and her finely honed sense of self-preservation kicked in, sending her rolling to the side moments before a bulky cyborg crashed into the wall. With a strangled gurgle he expired, twitching as a variety of deadly implements rolling and bouncing all over the plascrete. Looking up, the girl felt her breath catch in abject terror. Charging towards her was a giant with an insane glint in his eyes. Scrambling back she was aware suddenly of a shadow dropping, falling directly towards the giant. Her hand came in contact with something, glancing down her eyes widened as her fingers curled around the Electro-Mag pulser.

Belatedly, she realized that all things considered, the charging giant should have stomped her into protein-mush by now. Looking up again, she gasped. The shadow she'd seen dropping turned out to be a young woman who clung to the man's back, pulse knives dug into his shoulders. The electrical storms they generated were apparently playing hell with his system as his arms twitched continually, though he appeared to have basic control. Roaring again, he flexed his back; like ripple through water, those huge muscles twitched, and suddenly rows of spikes paralleling his spine and tracing out his shoulders sprouted. With a curse, the woman flipped over to land a scant meter away from the raging behemoth. He made a futile grab for her as she went low and boosted him headfirst into the slumped Hunter from before. The impact caused the building to shudder as 350 kilos of rage and bloodlust smashed into it. Wide-eyed with amazement at the incredible battle, the girl had just managed to secrete herself behind a chunk of stone when an explosion sent the huge man hurtling right back where he came from.

~~~~~~~~

Camille's eyes opened wide, her implant already informing her to brace for impact because even though she had the reflexes to dodge Orion's tumbling body, her computer was projecting a 91.3 percent probability that shrapnel and debris would disable her if she did. With a thought she triggered anti-shock and stim drugs microseconds before he crashed into her and propelled them into the side of a parked hover-car. A moment passed as they both lay stunned, then with a mighty heave, she flipped him off of her, then froze as he rolled, groaning, to his hands and knees. The first Hunter had been impaled and crushed into pulp on his back spikes, but Camille was a veteran of the horrors of the battlefield. What stilled her movements was the sight of a bandoleer of grenades; she could see the blackened spot where the first had exploded. . . and her computer was screaming warnings at her to get the hell out of there.

"Oh shi-"

The entire string went off and any passersby who hadn't already fled were thrown back as the blast blew out every window and knocked down the already damaged wall. Camille's mind was working at light speed as she struggled to get her body to move. Shit, shit, shit, she thought as she cataloged the various grenades that had gone off. At least two EMP rounds, a flash-bang, a sonic-stunner, a stun-gas and another HE she thought, dazed and shaking. Normally she could have dealt with any three of those, but combined they were overwhelming her body's enhanced systems. Bit by bit her vision cleared; her limbs twitched as they began to regain feeling and bit by bit her hardware began to reboot. With a mental click she muted the screaming alarms in her head and triggered a round of pain-killers. The sounds of a heavy body moving about interrupted her self-diagnostic/repairs cycle and incredulously she was able to make out the outline of the huge man. 'Not possible!' she thought frantically, there was no way he should have been able to get moving before her! His harsh, menacing voice penetrated the haze she was shrouded in as she felt tremendous hands lifting her into the air,

"Bet ya weren't expecting me ta be so tough were ya? Betcha din't know bout' the last round of upgrades I got. Armor under muh skin means ain' nuthin' gonna stop me. Specially' not a little boom like that."

Fuck. So that was the unidentified density on his back. Sneering he raised one arm and after a moment of soft whrring, Camille found herself staring down the barrel of a forearm-mounted plasma shooter. Grimly she fought his implacable grip. No use. The Huntress fought to control a rising sense of panic as she saw a career spanning two centuries coming to an end, all because some damn amateur without the sense to include fail-safes in his munitions.

"Bye-bye bitch, see ya in hel-"

Suddenly the malicious light in his eyes died as his body was engulfed in a series of massive tremors. Visible bursts of electricity arced through him and with a final violent spasm, he sagged to the ground and toppled over. Stunned into silence, Camille cautiously stood, pacing around the massive hulk. Smoke and steam poured from the wound in his side where the first Hunter had applied the shaped charge. Out cold from the same energy blast that had saved Camille's life was a raggedly dressed girl, her greasy blond hair hanging lank about her face, a still smoking EM pulsar gripped in her fragile hands.