"Everyone stay calm. We're here for the girl." He pointed a gloved finger her direction.
Rex leaned back, folding his arms above his stout belly. "Is that right? Looks like you boys are in the business. Nimrods?"
"That's right, old man. Don't get in our way and nobody gets—"
He was stopped by Rex's upraised finger. "I say who gets hurt. You see, if you're in the business then you know where you're at. This is the Watering Hole. You know what that means. Anyone who enters has asylum if the Proprietor lets them in. I'm the Proprietor, if you haven't caught on yet. This young lady is protected under the law of Presidium. You don't wanna go against that, son. There are consequences."
"Presidium can go screw. I never joined your little guild of rules and nonsense. She's a bounty head. We've been chasing her for weeks. You know how much she's worth, old man?"
"Don't matter. You want her bounty; you get it when she's off grounds. Until then you have two options: take a seat and order a brew, or leave. Make up your mind quick. I got drinking to do."
Cash leaned forward, squinting. "Beckett, is that you?"
Beckett shuffled uncomfortably. "No."
"Yeah, it is. You hang that trashy rosary from the barrel of every new gun you get. Nice gear, by the way. You buy it with all the dough you stole from me?"
Beckett tapped his helmet, raising the visor. The bearded man sneered, twisting the scar that ran down across the bridge of his nose, narrowly missing his eye. "Stole? You lost your share by being careless. I told you to trust no one in this game."
"I didn't think you meant yourself."
"Especially me. Look — no hard feelings. You just ain't cut out for this work. Still think like a cop. So yeah, I needed new gear and a new crew. You know — after you let the last one get cut to shreds."
Cash clenched his fists. "Is that what you told these guys?"
"Doesn't matter what I told them. Nothing matters but her." Beckett stared at Jinx, who glared back. He grinned. "Jinx la Fox, master hacker and thief. That girl is worth her weight in bulls. Ten times her weight. She's got a bounty on her head the size of Texas, and I'm aiming to collect. You boys outta be smart and stand down. Maybe I'll cut you a slice of this loaf."
Rex raised a bushy eyebrow. "And if we don't?"
Beckett looked back at his crew as if to reassure himself. His shoulders stiffened. "Get out the way or get rolled over. Either way, we're taking the girl."
Rex shrugged. "Your funeral. Bolts."
Beckett looked confused. "Bolts…?"
The confusion ended when the android pulled a pair of turret guns from behind the counter and opened fire.
Mateo dropped to the floor, covering his ears. The sound was so loud, explosive booms that shook the entire room. Debris rained in the air; glass, wood, sheetrock showered on his head and shoulders. He gritted his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut. The shooting seemed to last forever. Finally, the guns went empty with a whirring sound.
He slowly pushed himself up to a kneeling position as he took a cautious look around. Bolts stood behind the counter, smoking guns still in his hands. The building was shredded, bullet holes everywhere. Damaged lights flickered overhead. Water streamed through, driven by the ferocious winds outside.
Jinx crouched a few paces away, peering from behind the bar counter. He couldn't figure whether the custom piece of equipment in her hand was a weapon or gadget.
His eyes widened. "Hey, is that cy-gear? That's so cool!"
She stared at him as if he were crazy, putting a finger to her lips before pointing. He glanced over, realizing what she saw.
Beckett and his crew picked themselves up from the floor. Blue light flickered over their suits from the shields that activated at the threat of gunfire. The sheer force of the close-quarters impact had bowled them over, but they were otherwise undamaged. Beckett glanced down at himself, then back up at Rex, who sat in the same place, glass and debris dusting his hair and shoulders.
Beckett chuckled behind his visor. "Well, whaddya know. Looks like these cybersuits were worth the dough I stole from you, Cash. Too bad your friend isn't wearing one."
He nonchalantly shot Rex directly in the chest.
Mateo screamed. Adrenaline exploded in that instant, causing his vision to film over in red. Time seemed to stand still. He leaped to his feet, running forward. Snatching his arcsaber from his side, he activated the weapon. A slim rod of graphenite whisked from the hilt, a small ninety-degree angle at the end. An arc laser ignited from the sword hilt, connecting to the end of the angle. The blade hummed with galvanic energy with every movement.
Cash popped up from behind a fallen table, firing explosive rounds from his handgun. The mercenary crew took defensive positions, maneuvering to take on the new threat. To Mateo, everyone moved in slow motion.
Everyone except him.
His arcsaber slashed through the barrel of the nearest mercenary's plasma rifle in a shower of sparks. He never slowed, dropping low to cut the man's leg off at the knee with a sizzling sound. The merc screamed; a low-pitched gurgle that drifted from his helmet as though underwater.
Jinx leaped over the counter, yelling as she fired a charged blast from her Ion pistol. It struck Mateo's opponent in the chest, bowling him over
Mateo whirled, ducking under a point-blank shot at his face from another mercenary. Wrapping his arm around the woman's shoulder, he twisted, flipping her over into one of her comrades. They both toppled to the floor. Mateo spun, driving a kick into the next merc's midsection. His following attack with the arcsaber struck a photon shield that sprang from the man's gauntlet. Blinding light flashed when the opposing energies clashed; the scent of burning ozone filled the air.
Bullets and energy rounds zipped across the room, impossibly slow. Mateo didn't pay the chaos any attention. The only thing that mattered was the foe in front of him.
He let the arcsaber glance off the merc's shield, dropping to smash his boot into the side of the man's knee, buckling it. And the man stumbled, Mateo rotated to his blind side and raised the arcsaber for the killing strike.
The laser winked out just before the blow landed. The metallic brace struck instead, dropping the mercenary to the floor. Mateo blinked at his weapon in confusion before realizing a similar outcome was affecting the mercenary's cybersuits. Their function panels and ops systems crashed unanimously, rendering them vulnerable.
Mateo glanced over at Jinx. Her expression was triumphant as her fingers worked the cy-gear controls. The nearest mercenary's arm lifted, aimed her rifle at her partner.
"I can't stop it," the merc said in a panicked voice, using her other hand to try to force her arm back. It was pointless. Her weapon fired a shot point-blank in her partner's chest.
"Shit. We've been compromised. Lose your cyber-skins!" Beckett hit a button on his control harness and practically threw himself out his suit as it unzipped. Reaching in his jacket, he extracted a frag grenade. Rolling it toward the middle of the bar, he simultaneously hit the EMERGENCY EXIT button on the wall.
Cash's voice was barely audible against the howling wind that shoved into the room, but Mateo knew it was something about finding cover. He leaped to the back of the room, helped by the billowing squall that shoved him even further. There was so much lightning and thunder that he didn't see or hear the grenade detonation. Rain sparkled in the light like newly polished diamonds, illuminating the destruction as whatever was left standing was shredded by frag shards or knocked aside by the monstrous wind surge. Mateo covered his face, shielding himself from the debris.
Then just as if someone flicked a switch, the noise died. Bright sunlight streamed in from the windows and the bullet holes in the walls, thick clouds of steam lifted from the floor, and humidity filled the room like an invisible wet blanket as the storm passed as quickly as it arrived.