John stuck his head out into the hallway, trying to get a grasp on what he was getting into here. The hall reminded him of the byrinth of back passages he had moved through on the Parrax 3 station in Infinite Frontiers, all dark grey metal and dim lighting. He didn't see anyone, so he chose to go to the right, which should lead him somewhere above the main door.

  He stalked down the hallway, staying as silent as he could in hopes of hearing someone. He didn't have a lot of hope with that, as his ears were still ringing from all the autocannon fire from earlier, but he didn't want to waste more of his mana on a heal spell unless he actually needed it.

  "Just what I need, to bring back tinnitus to DEN with me." He mused to himself as he approached the end of the hallway. A typical apartment building stairwell met him there, leading both up and downwards, with a sign simply stating 3F on the wall. He took a step down the stairs, then paused, hearing a commotion coming from down below.

  "I tell ya, I 'erd gss shatterin' up there!" A voice with a harsh Gallic accent said.

  "And? Did you see the front of that thing? I wouldn't be surprised if the pilot were half-dead. Actually, with the average age of the guards, I almost guarantee he was half dead. The mechwarrior obviously just walked into the building by accident. If we just stay quiet, they won't even know we're here. When the princesses' unit gets here tomorrow, we will be fine." Another voice said, this one with a more Germanic accent.

  A bit of an evil smile grew on John's face, hidden under his helmet. "HEY! Bke needs you morons to come up here and give him a hand. We captured an infiltrator!" He shouted, sliding his sword back in his scabbard.

  "Huh? Who is that-"

  "It's Johnny, you idiot! Did your momma drop you on your head one too many times or something? Now get up here and help us restrain him! He is one big mother fucker."

  "Ahh...be right there!" The Germanic-accent guy shouted, followed shortly by footsteps coming up the stairs.

  "Eh? Wasn't the boss outside?"

  "Well, obviously, he isn't now, else why would he need us?"

  "Why indeed. Hey catch. Dig!" John said, casting his spell on the ceiling above the pirates as they ascended the stairs. A brick of concrete and metal came crashing down on top of one of them, snapping the man's neck instantly. John followed that by throwing himself over the rail and nding on the other pirate, using the man’s body to cushion his fall. The pair of them slid down the stairs, and John gave the pirate a haymaker with his left arm to finish him off.

  "Ah, crap. I guess I am not getting answers out of this one." John said, realizing he just killed the pirate. He got up off the man's chest, the combined weight of his body and his armour having shattered most of the pirate's ribcage. As he dusted his armour off, he paused, realizing what he had just done.

  "When in the hell did I get durable enough to do something like that? My shoulder hurts a little, but otherwise I feel fine." He questioned. Was it his new endurance stat? His barrier spell? All those eroge bonuses that were added to his muscle and skeletal density?

  He didn't know, but he suddenly felt invincible. He grabbed the pirate's shotgun, a weapon that closely resembled an Ithaca M37, unloaded and reloaded it, then searched the body for any extra shells. Now armed, he started making his way downstairs, hunting for his next target.

  "This is all just a bad dream." She said to herself.

  That's what it had to be. The manifestation of an irrational fear, a superstition, a nightmare.

  The god damn Boogeyman.

  Whatever it was, it tore through the pirates' compound, taking them down one by one. Sometimes it was pitch bck, creeping through the shadows and assaulting the pirates' defensive positions from behind. Other times it glowed brightly, charging straight into their midst, seemingly impervious to their shotguns and pistols. One pirate tried to stand his ground, pumping round after round into the thing's chest, not even leaving a scratch on its armour. The nightmare didn't even try to dodge, waiting for him to run out of ammo before socking him in the face with an armoured glove.

  It continued forward, dismantling their barriers with a few waves of its hand, forcing the pirates to move back to their next position. Each time it would take two or three of them, either killing them or knocking them out cold. It would turn the very building into a weapon against them, massive chunks of concrete falling from above, crushing yet another one of their numbers.

  She finally gave up, the st surviving pirate dropped her now-empty pistol, and fell to her knees. Closing her eyes tightly, awaiting the incarnation of death that was coming to end her as well.

  *Thump, Thump, Thump*

  The footsteps of the beast closed on her, and she began to cry. Irrational for an old woman like her, but she couldn't help it. She had been stuck serving these bastards for so long that she couldn't escape her fate. She wished things could have turned out differently, but just like so many of them, they got forced so deep into The Syndicate that there was no escape.

  *Thump, Thump*

  The footsteps stopped in front of her, but she didn't bother opening her eyes, waiting quietly for the hammer to drop.

  ...

  ...

  It didn't come.

  "Ahem, you wouldn't happen to be Sandy, would you?" A voice said, a deep baritone in an accent she didn't recognize. She cracked an eyelid open. Before her stood the boogieman, dressed in a weird bck and white armour, leaning on a gleaming sword.

  Spoiler

  [colpse]

  "Ahh, y-yeah. T-that be me." She stuttered, staring at the fresh blood dripping off the sword in front of her. She was trying very hard not to piss herself, wanting to keep at least a little dignity in the face of her impending death.

  "Ahh, good. I was hoping I didn't kill you by accident. Lucy asked me to save you, since you were looking after Rei. Speaking of, where is she? I haven't seen any signs of the captives." The boogeyman said, then took off his helmet. An older, white-haired man stood before her, with a bck eyepatch covering one eye, and a steel blue orb in the other. He was staring down at her, awaiting her answer.

  "W-wait! You're human?!?" She stammered, sitting back on her heels.

  "Last time I checked, why? You get a lot of aliens out here or something?" He asked, grinning down at her with a set of nearly perfect white teeth.

  "But the glowing, and the walls coming apart on top of us. And you were shot dozens of times. I know you were... how? How? HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!?" She said, losing what little composure she had remaining.

  "Because, I am the god damn Boogeyman," He said, tipping an invisible hat to her, his grin looking downright evil on that handsome face.

  She shrieked and passed out.

  John looked down at Sandy, shaking his head a little bit. He might have taken that joke a bit too far.

  She was a short, petite woman with sun-kissed skin. Her auburn hair was tied up in a bun, several streaks of grey running through it. There was some light scarring marring the left side of her otherwise pretty face. She was probably around fifty, though maybe a bit older. Compared to his usual company in this world, she was practically a spring chicken.

  Chuckling a bit to himself, he rolled her over into the recovery position, then continued deeper into the building. He had to keep checking himself earlier as he waded through the pirates, the sword's magic amping up his emotions along with everything else. He felt invincible, yes, but one of the pirates' bullets had pierced his armour after the Divine Shield had expired, giving him both a reality check and a flesh wound on his bicep.

  So, he had started circling their positions, going through walls with his Dig spell, then bursting through doors behind them, using the shotgun and Dig to wreak havoc in their ranks until it ran out of ammo. He literally came through the wall once and pulled the head of a pirate into the opening, setting his head on fire with a Firebolt spell before pushing him back into the room with his buddies. Their screams of terror echoed throughout the hallways from the completely unexpected assault.

  Old age and Treachery wins every time.

  He had just enough mana left for a Middle Heal or another Divine Shield if needed, but Sandy was the tenth pirate, so he was hopeful their boss had an accurate count of the numbers in this building. He was actually surprised they didn't try to use the captives as hostages, but with how little life seemed to be valued out here, it made a strange kind of sense. If there wasn't a chance of a Star League cache here, the Guards might not even have been sent to clear out the pirates, at least not until they had more intelligence. The loss of a Mech just for a handful of people wasn't something the pnet could afford.

  Still, decapitating the pirate operations on the pnet will pay off in the long run. With everything that was id out in the cave, along with the cash infusion from those FedCom agents, Bckstone would be flush with both money and resources for the foreseeable future.

  He moved along the hallway, checking each door as he passed. They were mostly dusty, unused offices or supply closets, not looking like they had been even opened for a very long time. Finally, he arrived at the end of the hall, a rger set of double sliding doors leading to the next part of this complex. He steeled himself for a moment, ready to activate his magic if he needed to, then hit the button on the side to open them.

  A quick gnce told him he didn't need to worry, as there wasn't an armed guard in sight. Just a room full of cages, cages filled with people. A lot of people. The smell of unwashed bodies hit him hard, but he ignored it as he stepped back for a moment.

  There have to be over a hundred people in there!

  He sheathed his sword and deactivated his armour, not wanting to terrify the captives more than they probably already were.

  "Good Afternoon everyone!" He called out as he walked into the room. "I am Lance Commander John Wayne of the Bckstone Guards. We are still mopping up the rest of the pirates outside, but I have come to rescue you!"

  The din in the room increased as people started talking excitedly, unable to fathom that they had been saved from a life of svery.

  "Just give me a minute, and I will get you out," John said, walking over to the first cage. It was locked with a simple padlock, nothing he couldn't break with his sword if needed. "Did you happen to notice where they kept the keys?" He asked the man standing on the other side of the cell door.

  "No, whenever a guard would come and... feed us, they would have a keyring, but they never unlocked the doors. Only that little girl over there ever got to leave her cage when one of the pirates would come by every day or two, taking her out for walks. The rest of us were kept like animals." The man said, pointing to another cage where a little bck-haired girl sat by herself. She had a cushion that looked more like a dog bed, and a few books around her, which was more than the rest of these people had by a long shot.

  "I take it that is Rei? She was being held hostage against her mother's continued good behavior. Don't think too badly of her special treatment for that." John said, unsheathing his sword. A quick swing shattered the lock, freeing the occupants from their forced confinement.

  "Everyone, please wait in here as I release you. I will bring you outside once I am sure it is safe and we can evacuate you to Bckstone!" He shouted, then moved to the next cage and repeated the process.

  Eventually, he split Rei's lock, freeing the little girl. Sheathing his sword, he knelt at the opening and spoke softly. "Rei? My name is John. Your mother asked me to rescue you. She is outside, taking care of the bad guys right now, but if you come with me, I will take you to her." He said, offering her his hand.

  Dressed in a soiled blue dress that had seen better days, the child just looked at him a moment, clutching a book to her chest. "You know my mother?"

  "Yes. We just met a few days ago when I rescued her from the pirates, but I consider her a friend now. Don't worry, the pirates can't hurt either of you anymore." John replied, patiently waiting for her to come. He didn't want to frighten her further, and they had time right now.

  "You rescued mommy? That must mean you are strong."

  "That's right. But your mother is strong too. Now, come. Let's see if she is back yet."

  She put down the book, and with a flurry John wasn't expecting, threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck like she was some kind of spider monkey. He chuckled at that, standing up and patting the little girl on the back. He turned back to the crowd of people milling behind him.

  "Alright. Let's get out of here. Oh, there is one pirate, an older woman. Don't kill her, just help carry her to the exit. I don't know if or what she did to any of you, but she was also forced against her will to be here. Any one of you might have ended up in her shoes in a few years, so don't take your frustrations out on her. Any of the other ones I left alive, do as you will." John said, knowing full well short of threatening these people with violence, that mob justice would probably be enacted. He was just one man; he didn't have the power to watch them all. If he could save Sandy for Lucy, he would. The rest wouldn’t be so lucky.

  With his new spider monkey clinging to his neck, he led the former prisoners out of the room to their newfound freedom.

  He felt damn good about it.