Chapter 6: The Brass Vultures' Data Smuggling Ring

 
The convoy didn't stand a chance.
Zero's forces moved like a single organism—synchronized, efficient, lethal. They hit the trucks from three directions simultaneously, cutting off escape routes and overwhelming the guards with superior firepower and tactics.
From the outcropping, Ryo watched through his binoculars as the battle unfolded below. It was brutal, professional, and over in less than three minutes.
"He's good," Sera muttered, tracking targets through her rifle scope. "Too good. Those aren't just hired guns. That's military training."
"Where did he recruit them?" Ryo asked.
"Probably ex-soldiers from the border wars. Men who know how to kill and don't ask questions." Blackthorn stood beside them, his dead eyes cataloging every movement below. "Zero pays better than anyone. And he never fails. That buys loyalty."
The last convoy guard fell. Zero's forces swarmed the trucks, pulling out crates marked with FDI insignias—Frontier Defense Initiative. Old military tech, just like Mama Circuits had said.
Then Zero himself approached the central truck.
Even from a hundred feet away, Ryo could feel the presence of the man. He moved with absolute confidence, every step precise, economical. The mask covered his face—sleek black material with red optical sensors that glowed like dying stars.
Zero reached the truck's rear door. One of his soldiers opened it, revealing racks of equipment inside.
"That's it," Blackthorn said. "The Neural Interface Core. The final component."
Zero pulled out a device about the size of a human skull—crystalline structures surrounding a central processor, wires trailing like mechanical veins. Even from this distance, it seemed to pulse with contained energy.
"Now," Blackthorn commanded.
His three deputies on the canyon floor moved first. They emerged from cover with weapons raised, but they weren't aiming at Zero's soldiers.
They were aiming at the canyon walls.
Explosives detonated along the rock face—shaped charges that Blackthorn must have planted before Ryo and Sera arrived. Tons of stone collapsed, blocking both ends of the canyon.
Zero's forces spun toward the falling rock, confused, vulnerable.
That's when Blackthorn jumped.
He leapt from the outcropping—a forty-foot drop that should have killed him. But he landed in a crouch, legs absorbing the impact with mechanical efficiency. Cybernetic enhancements. The sheriff was more machine than Ryo had realized.
"Go!" Sera shouted at Ryo. "We can't let him take Zero alone!"
They rappelled down rapidly, hitting the canyon floor just as Blackthorn's deputies engaged Zero's soldiers. Gunfire erupted in the enclosed space, deafening, deadly.
Ryo drew both revolvers and moved into the chaos.
A soldier appeared from behind a truck, assault rifle rising. Ryo fired once—the man's weapon exploded in his hands. A second shot to the leg, non-lethal. The soldier dropped.
Sera was a whirlwind beside him, her mechanical arm moving with inhuman speed. She disarmed three soldiers in as many seconds, her revolver barking precision shots that left them alive but disabled.
"We're not killing them!" she shouted over the gunfire.
"Blackthorn wants Zero alive!" Ryo called back. "That means taking his army alive too!"
It was insane. Impossible.
But somehow, they were doing it.
Blackthorn had reached Zero. The sheriff moved like a demon, his enhanced body giving him speed that matched even Zero's augmented reflexes. They clashed in the center of the canyon—two masters of violence testing each other with brutal efficiency.
Zero blocked a punch that would have shattered concrete. Blackthorn dodged a knife strike that would have opened his throat. They separated, circled, attacked again.
"Blackthorn," Zero's voice was distorted by his mask, cold and mechanical. "I should have known you'd be here. Always the vulture, picking at scraps."
"Give up the Core, Vance. It's over."
"Over?" Zero laughed—a sound like breaking glass. "It's just beginning. And you brought me exactly what I needed."
He gestured.
Too late, Ryo realized the trap.
Zero's soldiers weren't fighting to win. They were fighting to position. And now they had Ryo, Sera, and Blackthorn's deputies surrounded, weapons trained from elevated positions that the rock fall had somehow left intact.
"You planned this," Blackthorn said quietly.
"I always plan three moves ahead, Sheriff. You know that." Zero held up the Neural Interface Core. "This device? It was bait. The real component I needed was already delivered. Three days ago. To my facility in the Scorched Wastes."
"Then why come here?"
"Because I knew you'd come. I knew you'd bring allies. And I wanted to see who was stupid enough to hunt me." Zero's red optical sensors fixed on Ryo. "Hello, nephew."
The word hit Ryo like a physical blow.
"You knew," Ryo breathed. "You've known I was hunting you."
"Since the day you left Redwater Ridge five years ago. Did you think I wouldn't notice Takeshi's son trying to track me down?" Zero tilted his head. "I've been watching you grow. Waiting to see if you'd become like your father—weak, sentimental, doomed to fail. Or if you'd become something more interesting."
Rage flooded through Ryo. "You killed him. You killed both of them."
"I did what was necessary." Zero's voice held no emotion. "Your father wanted to destroy the Crimson Core. To throw away humanity's greatest achievement because he was afraid of what it could do. He was a coward. And cowards die."
"He was your brother!"
"He was an obstacle." Zero stepped closer, soldiers parting to let him through. "But you, Ryo? You're different. I've seen your reflexes. Your accuracy. The way you move in combat. You have potential. Potential I can use."
"I'll die before I work for you."
"You won't die. None of you will." Zero gestured, and his soldiers moved forward, producing restraints. "You're all coming with me. To my facility. Where you'll help me complete the Neural Cascade. Whether you want to or not."
Blackthorn moved—a blur of enhanced speed, drawing his revolver.
Zero was faster.
The sheriff's weapon flew from his hand before he could fire. Zero's boot caught him in the chest, sending him crashing into a truck with bone-breaking force.
"Anyone else?" Zero asked calmly.
Sera raised her rifle.
One of Zero's soldiers put a laser sight on her head. "Don't."
Ryo's hands hovered near his revolvers. He could draw. Could fire. Could maybe take down three or four soldiers before they killed him.
But Sera would die. Blackthorn would die. And Zero would escape anyway.
*Think*, he told himself. *Think like your father. Think three moves ahead.*
"I'll come with you," Ryo said suddenly. "Willingly. No restraints. No resistance."
Zero's optical sensors focused on him. "In exchange for?"
"You let them go. Sera, Blackthorn, all of them. They leave the canyon. No pursuit. No retribution."
"Ryo, no—" Sera started.
"And why would I agree to that?" Zero asked.
"Because you're curious," Ryo said. "You want to know if I'm like my father or if I'm something else. You can't find that out if I'm in chains. But if I come willingly, if I see your facility, your work..." He met Zero's red gaze. "Then maybe you'll learn what kind of man I've become."
Silence fell over the canyon.
Blackthorn groaned, struggling to rise. "Don't do this, boy. He'll kill you."
"No," Zero said slowly. "He won't. Because he's right. I am curious." He gestured to his soldiers. "Release them. Let them leave."
"Sir—" one of the soldiers protested.
"I said release them." Zero's voice carried absolute authority.
Reluctantly, the soldiers lowered their weapons and stepped back.
Sera grabbed Ryo's arm. "This is suicide. He's going to use you, kill you, and we'll never find you."
"You'll find me," Ryo said quietly. "Trust me. This isn't over."
He pressed something into her hand—small, cold, metallic. She glanced down. A tracking chip from his data pad, disguised as a button.
Understanding flickered in her eyes. She closed her fist around it.
"You're insane," she whispered.
"Learned from the best." He managed a small smile. "Get out of here. Regroup. And when the time comes..." He looked toward Zero. "Finish what my father started."
Zero approached, studying Ryo like a specimen under glass. "Interesting. Your father's courage with none of his weakness. This should be educational."
One of Zero's soldiers produced a device—a neural suppressor that would prevent Ryo from accessing any cybernetic systems or communication devices.
"Precaution," Zero explained. "I'm curious, not stupid."
The device clamped around Ryo's neck. He felt a tingling sensation, then nothing. His data pad went dead in his pocket.
But the tracking chip in Sera's hand remained active. She'd be able to follow him.
"Let's go," Zero said.
His soldiers moved with practiced efficiency, loading the Neural Interface Core and their wounded onto the remaining trucks. Within minutes, they were ready to move.
Zero's gaze swept over the canyon one last time, settling on Blackthorn, who was now sitting against a truck, blood running from his mouth.
"Tell your masters in the FDI that the old world is ending," Zero said. "And I'm building something better from its ashes. They can join me or burn with the rest."
Then he, his soldiers, and Ryo were gone—climbing ropes that lifted them to the canyon rim, where vehicles waited.
Sera watched them disappear, her mechanical hand clenched into a fist around the tracking chip.
"What the hell just happened?" Blackthorn rasped.
"Your plan failed," Sera said coldly. "And now my partner is in the hands of a psychopath."
"He's not a psychopath." Blackthorn spat blood. "He's something worse. He's logical. Efficient. And he won't kill Ryo unless there's a reason to."
"That's supposed to comfort me?"
Blackthorn struggled to his feet, his deputies helping him up. "It means we have time. Not much, but enough." He looked at her. "You have a way to track him, don't you?"
Sera held up the chip. "Yeah. And I'm going after him. With or without you."
"Then it's with." Blackthorn pulled out a data pad, checking something. "Zero's facility in the Scorched Wastes. I know where it is. I've just never been able to get close without him detecting surveillance." He looked at her. "But if Ryo's inside, feeding us information through that tracker..."
"We might actually have a shot," Sera finished. "How far?"
"Two days by sand-skiff. Through some of the deadliest terrain in the territories." Blackthorn's dead eyes met hers. "You sure you want to do this? Zero will see us coming."
"Let him see." Sera checked her weapons. "Because I'm done playing defense. Time to take the fight to him."
---
They regrouped at the canyon's edge, tending wounds and planning their next move. Blackthorn's deputies had suffered casualties but would survive. The convoy guards were less fortunate—half dead, the rest badly wounded.
"We need to move fast," Blackthorn said, consulting a map. "Zero will torture Ryo for information about what we know, what resources we have. Once he realizes Ryo came willingly as a spy, the boy's usefulness ends."
"How long?" Sera asked.
"If Ryo's smart? He can buy himself maybe forty-eight hours. Play confused, loyal, curious about Zero's work. Make himself seem useful." Blackthorn traced a route on the map. "But after that, Zero will either recruit him or kill him. No middle ground."
"Then we have two days to reach the facility, scout it, and plan an assault." Sera looked at the tracking chip's signal on her data pad. It was moving north-northwest, toward the Scorched Wastes. "What's Zero's facility like?"
"Old FDI research station. Underground bunker complex designed to survive orbital strikes. Security that would make a military base jealous. And Zero's been modifying it for five years." Blackthorn's expression was grim. "We're not breaking in through the front door."
"So we find another way." Sera stood. "But first, I need to make a stop in Redwater Ridge."
"What for?"
"Backup." She pulled out her communicator. "I know some people. Criminals, smugglers, hackers. People who hate Zero as much as we do. People who'd love a chance to tear down his empire."
"The Brass Vultures?" Blackthorn looked skeptical.
"Hell no. I'm talking about the people the Vultures screwed over. The independents. The ones Zero's been driving out of business with his monopoly on high-tech crime." Sera's smile was sharp. "Enemy of my enemy, Sheriff. And right now, we need all the enemies we can get."
Blackthorn considered, then nodded. "We'll split up. You gather your allies. I'll acquire heavy weapons and military-grade equipment from my contacts in the FDI remnant. We meet at the Scorched Wastes boundary in forty-eight hours."
"What about him?" Sera gestured at Blackthorn. "You going to be combat-ready by then? You got hit pretty hard."
"I've been hit harder." Blackthorn touched his chest, where Zero's kick had landed. His coat opened, revealing armor beneath—and more cybernetic enhancements than Sera had realized. "I heal fast. And I don't sleep. I'll be ready."
They split up at the canyon's edge—Blackthorn and his deputies heading east toward hidden FDI supply caches, Sera turning her skiff back toward Redwater Ridge.
As she rode, she kept checking the tracking signal. It was still moving, still transmitting. Ryo was alive.
For now.
*Hold on, partner*, she thought. *I'm coming for you. Just don't do anything stupid.*
---
Meanwhile, in Zero's convoy, Ryo sat in the back of a truck surrounded by armed soldiers. The neural suppressor around his neck hummed softly, blocking any electronic communication.
But his mind was free. And he was watching. Learning.
Zero sat across from him, the mask reflecting the dim truck lights.
"You made an interesting choice," the ghost said. "Most people in your position would have fought. Died heroically. Accomplished nothing."
"I'm not most people," Ryo replied.
"No. You're Takeshi's son. But you're also my nephew. My blood." Zero leaned forward. "Tell me something, Ryo. When you watched your father's message, when you learned I was family, how did that make you feel?"
"Confused. Angry."
"But not surprised." Zero tilted his head. "Because somewhere, deep down, you already knew. You've been hunting me for five years. You've studied my patterns, my methods. And whether you realize it or not, you've been thinking like me. Moving like me. Becoming like me."
"I'm nothing like you."
"You're exactly like me." Zero's voice was almost gentle. "Your father was the one who was different. He had empathy. Weakness. He couldn't make the hard choices. But you?" Zero gestured at the soldiers around them. "You saw an opportunity and took it. Sacrificed your freedom to save your friends. Used yourself as bait to gather intelligence. That's not heroism, nephew. That's pragmatism. That's survival. That's what the Crimson Core teaches."
Ryo said nothing.
"When we reach my facility," Zero continued, "I'm going to show you something. Something that will change how you see everything. The Core. The Neural Cascade. The future I'm building." He stood, steadying himself as the truck bounced over rough terrain. "And when you see it, you'll understand why I killed your father. Why I did everything I've done. Because sometimes, to save humanity, you have to be willing to become a monster."
Zero left him then, moving to the front of the truck to consult with his commanders.
Ryo sat alone in the darkness, surrounded by enemies, a suppressor on his neck and a tracker in his boot.
And he thought about his father's words: *You have to destroy the Core too. Both of them, together.*
He'd come here to learn Zero's secrets. To find the Neural Cascade. To give Sera and Blackthorn the information they needed to end this.
But a small part of him wondered.
What if Zero was right?
What if the only way to survive in this broken world was to become a monster?
And if that was true...
What kind of monster would Ryo choose to be?
The truck rolled on through the night, carrying him toward answers he wasn't sure he wanted to find.
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**END OF CHAPTER 6**
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