Revenger: Downloaders

Standing in front of the tower-like Mammon bank at the heart of Anarchy city were five Downloaders, each eager to make a withdrawal. With multicoloured circuit skin and Prussian blue long coats, the squad didn't look too divergent from the usual denizens of Dead Earth, but it was what laid under their attire that separated them from the sweaty masses. Being an egalitarian outfit with no hierarchy or link outside of the score, they'd administered fabricated names for each other. There was Child Bronze, the transporter, Child Silver, the gunner, Child Gold, the safe-cracker, Child Diamond, the people person, and Child Platinum, the electrician.

'We all set?' asked Child Platinum, gripping his right arm to stop it shaking.

'Peachy.' answered Child Diamond.

With this, the five got into position, Child Bronze taking off in his aero-motor so he could return later upon his colleague's summoning, while the rest strode into the exchequer. The interior of Mammon bank was the colour of honey, with a swarm of humans, angels, reapers, demons and God knew what else buzzing about the place like the most diligent of humblebees. The security was comprised of a host of ultraviolet cyborgs wielding an assortment of negative electricity-based armaments. A tough garrison, but Child Silver had an edge they couldn't match.

'Good morning, madam, how may I help you today?' questioned the construct at the desk upon Child Diamond's approach.

'I'd like to rob the bank please.'

'That action is not permitted, do you mean collect some funds from the bank?'

At this, Child Diamond swiped the pulse venter from out of her coat pocket and shot through the glass to dismantle the machine, swiftly doing the same to all the other cashiers.

'The customer is always right!'

With the panic buttons denied of their pressers, Child Diamond threw out several satchels of static EMP grenades at the security, auto turrets and cameras in the area, the charges disabling everything that relied on compact lighting to run. Then, with roughly half of every cyborg being incapacitated, Child Silver brought out his laser expeller and finished off the other halves of them.

'Not so slick now, are you? Last generation filth!' he growled as he executed the targets in quick succession.

Everything happening so briskly, the soon-to-be hostages didn't even have time to scream before Child Diamond tossed out an energy barrier at the door, blocking their escape. Thereupon, Child Gold and Child Platinum surmounted through the broken glass above the front desk to get to the vault further in, Child Silver told the people to make like a snake and get down on the ground, and Child Diamond started her pitch.

'Hi how ya doin'? If you haven't guessed by now this is a bank robbery, put your valuables and communication devices in the bag, keep quiet and still, and for your own welfare don't try and be a hero. You get it? You got it? Good.'

 

Meanwhile, at the treasury safe door, Child Gold was drilling through the round aperture with an ion auger while Child Platinum interrogated the bank manager.

'In which compartment are the dexterity drives?'

'I don't understand, how did you get past the scanners?' the portly man counter-questioned.

'I took control of their currents on the second I stepped in the building. Now, I'll ask you one last time, in which compartment are the dexterity drives?'

'I have no idea what you're talking about.' the manager said promptly, a moment before having a galvanism spike stabbed through his skull and turned like a key.

'Liars all.'

A few seconds later and the reinforced gateway had been bored open, the pair of Downloaders setting about trying to find their desired loot in the maze of boxes.

'Here, drivey drivey drivey.' Child Gold whispered as he scattered latch spiders about the room, the hand-sized drones unlocking each cabinet as Child Platinum scoured the place for the dexterity drives' unique electrical auras with his wrist-scout. Ten seconds passed, Child Gold suddenly punched through a locker door. 'All the hells, where are they?!'

'There.' Child Platinum pointed as he finally picked up a matching signal.

Swatting latch spiders out of his way, Child Gold came upon the little box of treasures. Dexterity drives; master skills in hard drives the size of thumbs. Every member of the squad already had one each: Child Bronze with his vehicular drive, Child Silver with his marksman drive, Child Gold with his lock breaker drive, Child Diamond with her charisma drive, and Child Platinum with his electron drive. Child Gold brought out the box from its frame, slavering in frenzied glee over the rainbow-coloured contents inside.

'Close quarters combat, science, romance, speed, universal science, all mine mine mine mine mine!' he beamed, a moment before Child Platinum sliced his head apart with a voltage whip.

'Almost.'

Taking off his long coat, he revealed a bare upper body dotted with rectangular holes just waiting to be filled by dexterity drives.

 

At the same time, Child Diamond was helping one of the hostages get through his father issues.

'He was so hard on me! I didn't ask to be born a mutant!' the man sobbed into her chest as she patted him on the back.

'There there, talking about it is the first step to recovery.' she soothed, a moment before a sudden jolt of Child Silver's head alerted her to the breacher droid lumbering up to their energy barrier from outside. 'Oh boy, Child Gold, Child Platinum, big big trouble!' she shouted behind her, shoving the whiny creature away.

'Super Nova, how did we get clocked?' Child Silver questioned as mini laser turrets sprung up from all around his body.

A moment later he got his answer. Dropping down beside the breacher droid came several black and golden armoured Harkonen Corpses, members of the most elite military organisation in the Reverse Dimensional Breaking Point, who just happened to do patrols around Anarchy every once in a while.

From outside, an authoritative voice boomed. 'Lay down your arms and knock yourselves out or we will kill you, resurrect you, and kill you again.'

'Let's go with option three, hostages!' Child Diamond replied, pulling up a reaper by the neck and levelling her pulse venter at his head.

'Relax, Child Diamond,' spoke a robotic voice from behind her, 'I can take them.'

Looking around, she saw Child Platinum, now covered in dexterity drives and throbbing with skill energy.

'Oh you hoarding gouch.' she murmured, a millisecond before the breacher droid sped up and crashed through their energy barrier.

The Harkonen Corpses rushed in soul matter weaponry blazing, soon exchanging in a grand shoot out with Child Silver and Child Platinum. Using the distraction, the more brave among the citizens set themselves on Child Diamond, who fired into their ranks.

'Back-stabbers! I thought we had something special!'

Using his master knowledge, Child Silver managed to incinerate two of his foes before he was blasted into mulch, with Child Platinum then ricocheting around the room at space-time acceleration to decapitate the Harkonen Corpses and the hostages. By the end of it, there was only Child Diamond and himself left, the charismatic Downloader wheezing in a pool of her own fluids.

'Way to go, pal.' she coughed. 'Now just call in Child Bronze and we'll be on our way.'

Presenting his shoulder to her, she saw that he had already snatched her and Child Silver's dexterity drives in his rapid run.

'I don't like sharing.' he mentioned, before ripping her in half and showering himself in her blood.

 

Ten seconds later, Child Bronze was summoned for pick up, his aero-motor receiving the passenger before it had even touched the ground.

'Where are the others?' he asked.

'Just fly.' Child Platinum retorted.

A short time passed and Child Bronze announced they were clear of all possible tails, at which point his fellow Downloader yanked the dexterity drive from out of his lower neck and threw him out of the craft.

'I'm elated.'

With Child Bronze falling thousands of feet to his death, Child Platinum looked for a hole on his body to put the vehicular drive in, however they were all in use. Because of this brief delay, the unpiloted aero-motor failed to turn at an air highway, and ended up crashing into a gravity train, the ensuing explosion burning the Downloader alive.