Review Summary: In a galaxy far far away...
[track 1] After a hefty kick Ala's lifeless body tumbles out of the smouldering emergency hatch. I haul myself out through the same opening and into the cool evening, savouring those first few deep lungfuls of fresh air. I know better than to linger here, a storm is rumbling close by while off in the distance I can just make out a hologram screen flickering into life. It appears we crashed close enough to the space port that the welcoming holo-message from Governor Potsy is still faintly audible. 'Welcome...welcome to City 17...' I glance down at Ala the poor bastard, the prison transit droids aren't allowed to carry weapons but in close quarters, and once authorised to kill, they can snap a man's neck with limited fuss - just as this one managed before I finally disabled it. [track 2] Surveying my options I quickly decide my best bet is to try and cross the roof tops heading towards the centre of the city, my advantage being my pursuers won't be aware that I've detached the droid's sensory cloaking equipment for my own use. There are only three 'civilians' I know of who would be able to pull such a trick, luckily one of them is me - well, I used to build the fucking things after all. From the vantage of the nearest rooftop I pause to scan the crash site for signs of activity - sure enough there they are, search lights in the darkness. The first siren sounds. It's now a race against time until they realise their drones won't pick up my life signs with the cloak activated.
[track 3] The cloak is running out of juice so I look around for a new means of cover. A construction Model TVC15 supervisor pod is parked nearby, the only chance I have to break in is to manually overheat my dying cloak battery to cause a small explosion and blow off one of its hatches. I run behind cover just in time to hear the blast followed by the shudder of metal as what's left of the hatch slides across the rooftop. I hop in, turn on the control panel and override its meager security settings. I'll be pretty conspicuous flying with no lefthand hatch, plus I'll have to keep low...once they realise I'm in the pod they'll be able to isolate the controls and I'll be forced to bail out. That means jumping. [track 4] Sure enough after clearing two grids the controls are locked down and I'm forced to plunge into the bustling commercial district. My cover is blown as a crowd gathers and I'm left with no choice but to push through the assorted shoppers and service droids. I rush past a hologram spouting more anti resistance propaganda...'Be wise...be safe...be aware'. I'm in trouble. I take a turn into the cyber red light district, there will be spies and surveillance here but if I keep off the beaten track I double my chances of remaining hidden. If I can just make it to the docks then there should be a container with everything I need waiting for me.
[track 5] My luck is in as somehow I manage to reach the container undetected. I quickly patch in the code and inside I find the diving skin and a little something else to make my journey a whole lot more comfortable. I put on the suit and haul a bag to the shore - I empty the contents into the water and decoys zip off in all directions. I wait 60 seconds before entering the water myself. The visor affords me perfect underwater night vision, automatically adjusting the brightness. In the distance I see them, the sharklike security drones are occupied gnashing after the decoys. I switch on the suit's propulsion and keep as close to the banks as I can. [track 6] I'm speeding through coastal waters to the rendezvous point, a small island thought to be owned by a rich backer of the Potsy regime but is in fact a resistance safe house. I emerge from the water and he's waiting exactly where I was told he would be. Agent Zakalwe gives me a nod but looks a little giddy, he's clearly drunk. 'I need to see what happened to my family'. 'Sure, but have a drink first'. I place the pill on my tongue and swallow; I'm instantly refamiliarized with the sensation. 'It's been three long years since I've been drunk' I grin weakly. Zakalwe forces a smile in response but then turns stony faced, 'Sorry Wainwright'. The hologram flickers on and shows my wife and two children inside a viewing chamber, while outside shadowy figures observe. I feel like throwing up, one of the men watching is Governor Potsy. He presses a button and I just know what's in the chamber. For a long time nano blight has been the regime's preferred choice of torture and from talking to inmates who'd lost a finger to it they'd maintained it was the most painful sensation imaginable. To be slowly executed using the technique...I'd never heard of it. Fuckers. Through tears I scream for revenge while Zakalwe tries to usher me towards a waiting fighter class LotusFlowerVX238.
[track 7] Zakalwe takes another pill and swallows before turning and offering me the same 'Time to sober up'. He keys co ordinates into the control panel and activates all stealth settings. 'No one's going to see us coming, if all goes to plan Governor Potsy will be dead in less than two hours'. The ship takes off silently before accelerating rapidly and it's not long before we've left the planet's atmosphere. [track 8] There isn't another spacecraft in the sky, clearly the Governor has called for a lockdown on all travel to and from City 17. We pick up a hailed message being broadcast indiscriminately on every available frequency:
'Remember this, I will climb up through your blood and sit beside you. I will look deep into your eyes... and drop by drop I will trickle my disgust into them like burning acid until...finally...you perish...'.
'Fuck you Potsy' Zakalwe chides 'we're coming to fuck you in the ass'.
[track 9] We close in on the Governor's fleet. It's an impenetrable looking target but it has a weakness, once every day the Governor's ship has its spent energy cells removed by a small cargo shuttle. This craft is nowhere near as heavily shielded as it isn't a permanent part of the fleet and the security risk is considered negligible as it's equipped with a cloak so only those high in command are aware of when it visits. Needless to say we've managed to 'acquire' those details. [track 10] Our plan, codenamed 'Operation BoneyKing', is to sabotage our own ship and make it self destruct close enough to the cargo shuttle so as to trigger a chain reaction of explosions that will take out half the fleet, including Governor Potsy's ship. We need to position ourselves just so, otherwise the cloaked cargo shuttle could smash straight into us. We will activate our escape pods at the exact same moment as releasing our ship's entire stockpile of decoy mines. The only problem is that for these two things to happen we'll need to disengage our cloaking device 10 seconds in advance of detonation.
[track 11] 'Ready?' 'Do it' With that Zakalwe preps the decoy mines while I seek to override the ship's energy cells to cause a fatal malfunction. 'That's it Doof dude, no turning back now'. We make our way carefully to the escape pods and each key in the same set of co ordinates. 'See you on the other side'. Zakalwe mock salutes in response. I lie back in the pod and feel my stomach lurch as it accelerates. Through the viewing panel I can see a huge explosion rip apart Potsy's fleet in an almighty chain reaction. Their chance to retaliate is foiled as our trajectory placed us directly behind the explosions and debris. [track 12] Speeding through deep space and out of the corner of my eye I can see something emerging in the distance. It's closing fast. To my left I see an explosion tear through Zakalwe's pod. Shit. Oh shit. I turn back to look at my pursuers only in time to see a missile arching towards certain impact. 'Potsy fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck'.
