Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (Book 4)
Savage Vengeance (Book 5 - this story)
VIOLENCE WARNING: The two stories in the Savage Gang saga, and especially the second story, involve a gang practicing extreme violence toward everyone — women, the elderly, the protagonist, etc. The stories contain mature sexual content and violence as well. I am placing this warning on all chapters, including those without such violence, so you can choose whether to continue.
CHAPTER 19
“Very interesting,” Stanley said, rubbing his chin as he hammered away at his computer keyboard.
Beth watched the television in the corner of his office, where the news broadcast had just replayed Wayne “the Hammer” Steele’s message, warning the Savage Gang. Her stomach twisted in knots as she thought of the carnage at the jewelry store. More people had died, and she had done nothing. What kind of hero was she? And there would be more death and mayhem if she didn’t take action. If she didn’t live up to being a heroine.
Beth twisted her mouth into a frown. “Those Justice Seekers are going to get themselves killed.”
“They might,” Stanley replied, keeping his eyes on his computer monitor as his fingers flew across the keyboard. “But don’t underestimate them. Hammer was a military special forces officer before becoming a businessman. I’d bet that his men have similar military backgrounds. He probably knows them from his past, and is paying them a king’s ransom.”
“Special forces or not, it’s too dangerous for them to take on the Savage Gang.”
“That sounds like what we’ve been telling you, Beth,” Stanley said, raising an eyebrow and glancing at her as he continued to peck away at his keyboard.
Beth frowned. It seemed this topic would never die.
“You know I can’t stop, Stanley. I can’t let the gang run free. And it’s bad just knowing they’re out there — it’s distracting me even when I’m out there doing other things. That’s dangerous, too. The best thing you can do is help me find the gang on my terms, to improve my chances.”
“I know,” Stanley said with a sigh. “That's why I have an idea.”
He kept typing, his eyes furrowed in concentration.
“What —” Beth began, but Stanley held up a hand, before hammering away on the keyboard again. Beth sat back in silence.
“Let’s see if this works,” he murmured, sitting back and staring at the screen.
“If what works? Beth asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
“The Hammer — Wayne Steele — just threatened Maximus Savage and the Savage Gang on television. Have you ever known Savage to take that sort of threat and shrug it off?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“We can use that to get to Savage.”
“Huh? Are you suggesting I should threaten him the same way? Draw him out?”
“No, that’s not what I’m getting at. He’s already after you. And we want you to take him by surprise. Challenging him won’t achieve that. Well, it might, but it’s too risky. We don’t want him to have any idea an encounter might happen.”
“So, what’s your plan? You want me to be there when Savage goes after the Justice Seekers?”
“I doubt Savage will find the Justice Seekers, unless they’re guarding something he happens to attack. Steele won’t make his men an easy target, as he said. He's already cleaned out his offices — they're almost entirely empty of people and equipment.”
“How did you learn that?” Beth asked.
“I just tapped into Steele's computer network. It's barebones now. Nobody is logged into it, and there's no traffic. I'm guessing his physical offices will be the same. There’s going to be nothing for Savage to find. Steele and his men are underground.”
“Tapped into the network?” Beth asked with a smirk.
“Okay, okay,” Stanley said, holding up his hands. “Hacked. I hacked his network. I had to do it quickly, as it won’t take long for Savage’s computer people to get the same idea.”
Beth gave a slow shake of her head.
“Same idea? Please explain to me what you’re getting at, with no geek talk. What idea?”
“Savage will want to hurt the Justice Seekers,” Stanley said. “To do that, he needs to find them. Don't underestimate Savage's ability to do so. The gang may have brute strength, but Savage has people with other talents, too. They will hope that Steele’s computer network contains the identify of the Justice Seekers. Maybe even information on where they’re hiding.”
“That actually makes sense.”
“Yes, but it would be a dead end for Savage’s tech people. Based on what I found on Steele's network, there’s almost nothing left of it. Steele was smart. He’s taken all but the basics offline.”
“And how is that supposed to help us?” Beth asked, frustration in her voice. She wanted Stanley to get to the point.
“Because there will be something for them to find, thanks to me. While we were watching the news story just now, I set up a honeypot in Steele’s network. Some bait.”
“Bait? What kind of bait?”
“I planted something in low-level memory on a server. As long as the equipment stays online, Savage’s men should find it if they're any good. If one of Steele’s men remotely reboots the server, that would clear it. But otherwise it will be there. It won’t seem like an obvious ploy.”
“What did you plant?
“Something to suggest that info on the Justice Seekers is still in the building, on a computer. Air-gapped.”
“Air-gapped?” Beth asked, raising an eyebrow.
“On a computer or server not connected to the network or the Internet. It’s sitting there by itself — separated from other devices by air. An air gap.”
Beth let out a long sigh and shook her head.
“The terms you geeks come up with for simple concepts can be ridiculous,” she muttered, fighting back a smile.
“Perhaps, but it might give us what we need. If this works, the gang will get into the network and trigger a secret notification to go out to me. The data they’ll find should make them think another computer has info on the Justice Seekers. It will look like that computer is off the network, but in the building. My guess is they’ll go in-person to check it out. And if we’re lucky, Maximus Savage will be there himself. Steele has made this personal with his insult. Savage will want to oversee the operation, if his history is any indication.”
“And I can be waiting for him. When do you think it will happen?”
“If they’re good, they’ll already trying to hack Steele’s network. Once they get in, it will take them a bit of time to locate the planted information. I had to make it look plausible. But if they’re any good, they should have what they need, and be ready to move on Steele’s offices tonight.”
The dark fluid flowed through the tube and into Maximus Savage’s arm.
“Ahhhhhhh,” he groaned, his eyes closed. This felt good and bad at the same time. The fluid burned as it entered his system, with a fire spreading from his toes to the top of his head. But power pulsed through his body. Power unlike any he had experienced.
Savage stole a peek, looking up at Larry Oberkfell, his part-doctor, part-scientist, who stood a few feet away, watching with his face clenched tight. A few moments later, an alarm chirped, and Oberkfell turned a nozzle to stop the flow into the gang leader’s arm.
“Why did you stop?” Savage growled, glaring up at Oberkfell.
“Because that’s the end of the vial, and I don’t want to kill you,” Oberkfell replied, his voice trembling.
“We need to push the envelope, Larry,” Savage said with a snarl. “Give me more.”
“Do you want to die?” Oberkfell snapped, but cringed a moment later, as if realizing the foolishness of his outburst.
Savage glared at the man, but did not lash out. He needed Oberkfell. Or he needed what this man offered.
“Larry,” Savage said, his jaw tight and a slight quiver of rage in his voice. “You realize what I need, right?”
“Uhhh…” Oberkfell stammered, looking at him with a dumbfounded expression.
“I need to be stronger than Sapphire Angel, and for that I need to take risks. This feels worth it. There is something different about this substance. It’s not something you concocted yourself, like everything else you’ve given me. Where did you get it?”
Oberkfell bit his lower lip, which trembled.
“Where!?!” Savage yelled, causing his scientist to flinch.
“A… a man. A man with silver eyes. A total stranger. He wears a robe. But he gave me a demonstration of sorts, proving its power. If this works, the potential is incredible. But… but because he’s a mystery, and so is the substance, I’m not sure how far we can push this.”
“You didn’t think you should learn a little more about this guy? And this substance?”
“I suppose…” Oberkfell murmured, his voice trailing off.
Savage could see fear in the scientist’s eyes. Not of Savage, but of the stranger. And fear of the unknown. Of what this substance might do. Yet Oberkfell had procured the substance, and used it on the gang leader. Oberkfell was desperate.
“If you had told me this earlier,” Savage said, “I may have ripped your head off. But I feel the power of this substance flowing through me, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. So I need more.”
Oberkfell’s shoulders sagged, and he looked down. When he spoke, his voice was a whisper.
“I only have two more vials,” the scientist said.
Savage’s fists tightened at his side. He already felt stronger than before the latest injection, but was it enough? Enough to defeat Sapphire Angel? If not, would the remaining two vials be enough?
“How do we maximize them, then? And can you get more?”
“I… I don’t know if I can get more. Or if additional doses beyond this series of injections will continue to help. As far as maximizing… all I know is what he recommended for a dosage schedule. We need to wait for the next dose.”
Savage gritted his teeth. Waiting would be hard. Sapphire Angel was out there, waiting for him to crush her. Perhaps he didn't need more, and could crush her now, but he wanted to be certain.
“Larry, I have a job for you. I need you to figure out how we’ll be sure when I’m stronger than Sapphire Angel. Some way for me to know in advance. Can you do that?”
Oberkfell looked at him, his brow furrowed. A trembling finger went to his lips, tapping for a few moments before the man’s eyes opened and he extended his index finger.
“I have an idea!” Oberkfell exclaimed, and it was like his fear evaporated. “Video cameras have captured her in action a few times. I’m sure in some them, she exhibited feats of strength — lifting something, or breaking something. If I can find something that wasn’t easy for her, and if I can replicate those exact conditions for you, that would be an excellent test. We would know when your strength exceeds hers!”
Savage gave a slow nod of his head.
“Of course, it wouldn’t be exact,” Oberkfell continued. “There are different kinds of strength. For example, a weightlifter who can outperform someone doing a deadlift might not beat that same person at arm wrestling. Different muscles. But it would at least give us an idea.”
Before Savage could tell Oberkfell he wanted more than just an idea, Benjamin Drummond, Savage’s top advisor, hurried into the room.
“What is it, Benjamin?” Savage asked.
“Jackpot!” Drummond exclaimed. “Julian got into the Hammer’s network and found something!”
Savage’s jaw tightened. “Don't call that fuckwad by his pet name. Call him Wayne or Steele.”
“Okay, okay, but Julian found something!”
“The names and locations of the Justice Seekers in town?”
“No, but the next best thing. There is a computer in Steele’s IT offices here in town, segregated from the network. Julian believes the computer contains all the information we need on the Justice Seekers. We just need to get to it.”
"It's legit?"
"Yes. His server was pretty much wiped clean, but there was some stuff in resident memory. A mistake even the best techies make. Julian found it."
Savage sat up and ripped the empty IV from his arm, causing Oberkfell to cringe. The other doses indeed would have to wait, but not because of Oberkfell's concerns..
“Then there’s no time to waste,” the gang leader said. “I’m sneaking in there myself, with two men who are best at covert ops. Tonight. And once we have the info we need, we pull out all the stops — we go fuck up some of those Justice Seekers.”
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (Book 4)
Savage Vengeance (Book 5 - this story)
What a way for Team Sapphire and Team Hammer to unwittingly work with each other; definitely wasn’t something I was expecting, to say the least! And it, by the looks of it, sounds like we might already be getting into a three-faction skirmish in the very near future!
Regarding Beth’s comments about the Justice Seekers, I drew parallels almost immediately with her dismissal of them vs. her allies’ dismissal of her, as Stanley himself was also quick to notice. But on her saying that they were “going to get themselves killed”…..it’d definitely be interesting to see another heroic faction besides Sapphire and her team who make legitimate threats AND can follow up on said threats (the Justice Seekers, hopefully); in any other world, I’d be as skeptical of them as Sapphire is, but knowing Steele and co.’s military backgrounds now make me think otherwise.
Maximus Savage’s dynamic with the infusions heavily remind me of people out there who are futilely trapped in an endless loop of substance abuse, in a way. Utterly intoxicated with a substance and needing more of it because it makes them feel “powerful”, even going so far as to threaten harm on his suppliers and staff if he isn’t “pacified” with it every now and then. I also like the fact that he’s (unknowingly) one of the closest villains to the overarching threats (Majid Azari & the silver-eyed man) that we know of, because Oberkfell got the new medication from him. My thoughts of a proper Sapphire vs. Savage fight dwindle more and more with every drop of medication that enters his systems, but who knows? Maybe he’ll reap the benefits WAY before the risks.
If there IS going to be a three-faction battle soon, I’m probably going to have to read it a couple of times to make sure I know where everyone is at all times; it’s a challenge when writing big fight scenes involving multiple major characters (as I’ve often done).
Of note; I know Wayne Steele himself is also of a combat-heavy background, but it’d be sick to see him in action eventually and not just have his men do all the hits. Let’s keep it going!