Fire of Unknown Origin

I
It has been the third body found in a span of 10 days. Trashed in mud and dirt of a back alley, damaged with flames and unhallowed by metal, a corpse of what once was an innocent and happy 9 years old boy. Now only a holo-chalk outline remained, a sad reminder of promise of a long fruitful life, which because of faith’s cruelty could never be fulfilled now.
It all began 3 months ago, with the disappearance of Ewan Kendrick, aged 10. A few days later another kid vanished. And then another one. In less than a month almost 20 children went missing, all boys and none of them older than 12. The citizens of Omeda were terrified . Parents were afraid to let their children leave home, even under surveillance. The media  were blabbing about the kidnappings day and night. And the police was helpless. For many officers, this was the hardest blow they’ve received in years. The kids appeared to have vanished in thin air, leaving absolutely no trace or clues about their whereabouts or the kidnapper’s identity. OPD’s credibility was plummeting and despite their hardest efforts the officers couldn’t do anything. The case was never officially closed, but around the time when media have finally started to lose interest in the issue, even the most dedicated policemen had to admit that without some accidental lucky stroke they had no chance of ever finding the children.
And then, 10 days ago, the corpse of one of the boys was found dumped in the gutter of City’s lower levels. And another one a week later. Both of them in almost identical conditions. Dressed in rags and with numerous burn marks, some of them pretty severe,  although the coroners declared a death from exhaustion. The most peculiar and possibly the most horrific aspect however, were the implants. Both boys had a few external implants installed on various parts of their bodies, biting deep into their flesh and leaving a ring of dead tissue around them. They did not have them before the kidnapping and the police scientists were completely puzzled about their purpose. They’ve never seen anything like that before and even after taking them apart their workings proved to be incomprehensible. The affair sprung to live again. The police was getting desperate as the public and media were breathing down their necks again. And yet, again, no solid clues leading to the rest of the children have been found. Nothing, despite OPD's desperation. It was bad. And today, just three days after the last one another body has been found.
“So, what did the coroners said?”
Murdock found her in the station’s shooting range, delivering swift justice to a target practice drone. As always when work was concerned, she went straight to business.
“Not much.”, he answered. “Same deal as with the other two”
“Damn it!”, she exclaimed with a look of frustration and weariness on her face.
“There is something though, lieutenant “, Murdock added.  “They said to not get our hopes up, but they’ve found something on the body. Some kind of chemical they said. The lab guys are looking into it right now.”
“Let’s hope it will give us somehing then.”, Bellica replied.  “We need anything that could help us right now”.
Murdock looked closer at his commanding officer. Quite frankly, she looked awful right now. He very rarely saw her well rested, but he has probably never seen her as tired as she looked right now.  This whole thing has been hard for all of them, but she definitely took it worst. She wasn’t used to being so helpless. And almost twenty kids… 3 of them surely dead already with corpses looking as they did… jeez, it was hard even for him, he couldn’t imagine what she must have been going through with how committed she usually was to work.
“Lieutenant, if I might…”, he started. “I think it would do you good to take a break. I don’t think I’ve seen you leaving work in at least three days.”
“You don’t have to worry about me.”, she replied harshly. “Besides, this is my break.”, she added nodding her head towards the shooting range.
“I meant to go home”, he persisted hesitantly. “Take a nap, rest a bit. We can keep things running here if you go and have some sleep, you know?”
“Going home and sleeping won’t get us closer to finding those children, Murdock.”
“Sitting here won’t either, at least if the last three months are anything to go by.”
He was right and it pissed her off even more. Those boys were somewhere there, scared,  alone, suffering and dying and she couldn’t do anything about it. She felt guilty in a way. She should have founded this children much earlier. She looked at Murdock. He looked awful as well and he rarely let job get into him. He was clearly hungover, she noticed now when she examined him closer. Probably spent the whole night drinking in bar again. She was wondering whether it was because of the case or because of his wife again.
“Sorry lieutenant.”, he quickly added. “ All I’m sayin’ is, I can’t wait to get my hands on the bastard who’s behind it as well, but stewing ourselves won’t help.  We can’t let this stuff get into our heads, you know?”
“Let’s just hope that these chemicals will give us anything.”, she replied shortly.
“Actually lieutenant, I have some good news as well. Meyers called. They’ve finally tracked our guy down. According to their info he’ll be meeting with some Jing Mei goons in a nightclub called “Zechinian Jungle ” this evening.
“I’m not sure if it can be considered good news if he’s involved. But it’s the only lead we have and if he can’t tell us anything about those things, I’m positive no one can. Prepare the strike team.”
“Understood lieutenant”, Murdock replied and left the shooting range. Bellica soon did the same and went to prepare herself. She began to feel better as soon as she started to gear herself up and plan  the raid. She disliked idly sitting around. Finally something was going on and who knows, maybe he actually had the answers they needed?
She had no idea that during the next 24 hours she would witness things she had never considered possible.


II
Zechinian Jungle was a loud, flashy and tacky place, full of bright lights and cheap decorations. Overcrowded, filled with half drunk and half high people and sitting right at the edge of one of the nastier parts the City. In other words, it was just as Twinblast liked it. He would love to drop by one night, get drunk and maybe pick up some equally drunk girls. Unfortunately, the chances were good that after this evening  they would never let him into this club again. The reason for that was the 2 gentlemen sitting across the table from him. They were both Asians, with a look of clear hostility and impatience on their faces. They also both wore golden rings with red stones in them – a symbol of the Jing Mei Syndicate.
“I’m going to ask you one last time.”, said the one sitting on the left. “Where is our money?”
“I don’t know.”, Twinblast replied while taking a sip of his drink. “Maybe ask someone who actually owes you?”
“Our patience is running out.  You messed up the job and you better pay up right now!”, said the other one. He had cold, cybernetic eyes staring angrily at Twinblast. Very cheap and poorly made ones as he immediately noticed.
“Hey, it wasn’t my fault, all right!  How many times do I have to repeat that? It was your guy who screwed up!”
“We’re getting tired of those excuses. The Syndicate have decided that you’re the one responsible. You’re the one who has to pay for this failure. In one way or another.
“Can I pay in installments then? For example I would like to start by buying you pals some drinks. I don’t like talking business with someone so gloomy.”
He was obviously stalling and he was doing it for quite some time already. But he saw only 2 ways in which this situation could possibly end. First was him eventually killing those assholes. In self defense of course. Second was paying them a ridiculously big sum of money at best or getting kidnapped and dragged to some Jing Mei den at worst. He didn’t feel like doing any of those things, so stalling was really the only choice he had so far. And he considered himself pretty good at stalling. Right now he was wondering for how much longer he could keep doing it.
“Enough of that!!”
Not for much longer apparently.
 “You should consider yourself lucky you bum.”, the one with cybernetic eyes started again. “We’re giving you a chance and you’re rejecting it. Do you know what usually happens to those who get on Jing Mei’s bad side?”
But Twinblast haven’t learn what usually happens to those who get on Jing Mei’s bad side until about a year later. Because before the goon started talking again all hell broke loose. Suddenly a crack of broken glass could be heard everywhere around them  as grenades fell in through all windows filling the nightclub with thick smoke. A choir of police sirens roared outside and armed OPD officers were flowing into the club through all visible entrances. A pure chaos set in as people who were dancing and partying just seconds ago turned into a panicked, screaming mob. At some moment which no one could precisely pinpoint the music stopped and most of the lights went out.
“Shit, cops!”, one of the Jing Mei goons shouted, but Twinblast was no longer anywhere to be seen by then. He lunged through the madness stricken mass of people to the nearest side entrance, only to rapidly halt as two strike team members popped up in front of him. He activated the jets in his shoes, quickly rocket dashing  through the panicked dance floor to the other site of the club. He rolled through the bar, preventatively launching a flashback grenade behind himself from his arms, and sprinted to the backroom entrance. It seemed to be clear there. He ran through the maintenance corridors, making a few sharp turns and calming as the sounds of fight and panic started to quieten and stay behind him. He smiled to himself as he made the last turn and saw the back entrance door in front of him, closed and unguarded. But just as he was about to reach it, the door got suddenly kicked open from outside. Before he knew it, he was staring right at the barrel of an energy shotgun pointing at his face.
“Hey, wow, wow, wow, hold up a sec!”, he screamed, rising his arms up. “Wait I know you!”, he said as he took a look at the black skinned policeman in strike armor aiming at him. “Shit, what was your name again? Morris?”
Without further introducing, Murdock hit Twinlast in face with the butt of his gun. Quite possibly harder than he had to. Using  the experience he gained through hundreds of arrests, in a flash he pushed him against the wall and put energy handcuffs on his hands.
“You have a right to remain silent pretty boy, and I would damn prefer you to do so. Remember that everything you say can be used as an excuse to vaporize you.”, he said with unhidden pleasure as he lead Twinblast outside and into a waiting OPD hovertruck. He pushed him in and closed the door before he could take a look inside. It was dark, but his cyber-eyes  quickly adapted, letting him see the other person sitting in the car.
“Bella? What a pleasant surprise!”
Bellica quickly switched the lights on, painfully blinding him for a moment.
“I told you not to call me like that.”, she threw out.
“Charming as always. So, what did I do to deserve this pleasure?”
“Pick something. Your records are quite impressive.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”, he smiled defiantly. “I’m clean as a Lethan virgin.”
“It seems that the virgin have been sneaking out of the convent then. We have enough on you to put you in jail for 5 lifetimes. But you’re lucky, we’re not after you this time.”, she added. “We just want some information.”
“Oh great, so now the Jing Mei are going to consider me a snitch as well? Thanks a lot”
“It doesn’t concern them. And hopefully not you as well. It’s a completely separate case, we just believe you might help us with it. Tell us what we want to know and you’re free to go. This time.”
“Then why the hell did you guys raid the bar, hit me in the face, cuff me and blind me?!”, he cried out. “Couldn’t you just call me or something? I’m pretty sure I’ve given you my number sometime in the past. Shit, you pull of crap like this and then you wonder why everyone screams about police brutality.”
“Consider it a way of saying “long time no see”, she answered coldly. “Now, can we get to the point?”, she asked and without waiting for his answer she pulled out one of the implants extracted from victims’ corpses. “Can you tell me what is this and who might have made it?”
“It’s about body mods? Really? Shit, now we’re talking, couldn’t you say so before? You came to the right guy, there is no bigger expert in them than me sweetheart. After all I’m half a body mod myself.”, he boasted.
“Call me a sweetheart one more time and you’ll be telling me about it from inside of a cell”, she snapped. “Well? What is it?”
“Could you at least uncuff me first? I have to examine this thing somehow, you know.”
She reluctantly took his handcuffs off and handed him the implant.  He looked at it for a long while, rotating it in hand, his cybernetic eyes flashing and twinkling. Finally, he looked at her and said:
“I can’t tell you what this thing exactly does, but I did see something like that a few times before. Mods like this are used by mages.
“Mages? You mean those Maximoff ‘s freaks?”, she asked with visible confusion.
“No.”, he answered. “I mean mages. Wizards. Sorcerers. Sorceresses.”, he added with a mischievous smile. But seeing the look on her face he quickly added: “Oh come on Bellica, don’t be naïve. You surely must have heard the rumors. There probably aren’t many wizards here on Omeda, but they are much more common on Letha and in some other star systems.”
“I did.”, she answered hesitantly. “But Letha is centuries behind us. It’s practically primitive. No wonder they would believe in things like that.”
 “Sure thing they do. Because they’re real. Universe is a vast and marvelous place, you know?”, he added ironically. “Anyway, if you’re interested I can probably tell you where did this thing come from as well. From what I know there is only one guy on Omeda who makes body mods for mages. Goes by the name of Chen Heng. He runs a tool store in D-7 district.
Bellica sat there dazed. Her head just refused to believe in existence of something as absurd as mages living among them. She was raised in a world of robots, holograms and flying cars damn it! And yet, she did hear the tales about wizards. And there were always stated as if they were facts. She has always just ignored them, considering them space traveler’s nonsense, but now… She didn’t know anymore. She felt that Twinblast was telling her truth and it deeply disturbed her. He was a terrible liar anyway. But could it be really possible that it was some kind of a… sorcerer that stood behind those kidnappings? She could deal with normal criminals, but mages? How do they even look like? What powers do they wield? Her mind boggled trying to comprehend all that. Half consciously, she knocked on the wall separating them from car’s cab, giving the driver a signal. Shortly after, the hovertruck slowed down and landed.
“I guess it’s my stop?”, Twinblast asked as he stood up and prepared to leave the car. “It was nice seeing you I guess, even though I paid for it with few bruises.”
“Wait a second!”, she broke out of the trance and shouted after him. “You seem to have met those… mages before. How can you fight them?
“Simple.”, he answered. “Shoot them before they manage to disintegrate you or fry you to a crisp.”
“And what if you can’t?”
“Run.”, he turned to her and gave her a serious look. “Run like hell.”


III
D-7 was a residential district and looked the same as most of them on the Moon-City. A kilometers sprawling, dozens of levels high labyrinth of flats, corridors and alleyways. Like a life teeming beehive, full of people living their own, individual lives. And like most residential districts on Omeda, it was largely controlled by gangs and criminals. Bellica was in D-7 only once before, on a crack den raid. It was not her district. And yet, as she walked through its streets she felt right at home. She has beem advised against walking on foot on her own countless times before. Most of the major criminal organizations had a price on her head. She has survived 6 assassination attempts already. And yet she has never even considered stopping. Partially because that would show that she’s scared, that she’s willing to back out and she sure as hell wasn’t. And partially because she loved doing it. She was proud of Omeda and she felt it the most while walking the streets, feeling the city’s subtle heartbeat. The City-Moon in all its glory symbolized the peak of their potential, it showed what miracles they could achieve thanks to science, motivation and hard work. It wasn’t perfect, sure. But it was worth fighting for. And even when despite their hardest efforts they would lose faith in whether they could really turn things over, she always remembered that the fight was instantly lost the second they stopped trying. Right now she was finally on the trail for the first time in 3 months and she would not lose it on under any circumstances.
Despite the late hour, the doors to Chen Heng’s tool store were still open. The dimly lighted shop was small and cramped, but kept tidy and organized
“We’re closed alre… Oh. How can I help you officer?”
The voice belonged to a man behind the counter. He was around 50 years old, with dry skin, a well kept mustache and an emotionless, expectant look on his face.
“Mister Chen Heng, I presume?”, she started talking as she approached the counter. “I’m lieutenant Bellica, badge number 948546. I would like to ask you some questions.”
“Certainly.”, he answered. “How can I be of service?”
“Quite frankly mister Heng, I’m not in a mood to flannel. I will get straight to the point. I know you are making and selling illegal body modifications. I need information about one of your clients.”
The shopkeeper’s face didn’t even twitch. In fact Bellica thought she saw a slight glimpse of a smile.
“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about Lieutenant. I own a tool store, not an implant shop. And unless you have a specific warrant, I do not feel comfortable with disclosing my customers’ details.”
“It’s a shame that they’re apparently not equally loyal towards you.”, she said while looking him straight in the eyes. “The local OPD station has statements from 6 different people claiming that you do sell illegal guns and implants. I’m not going to inquire into why haven’t they done anything about it or why reaching these records was much harder than it should have been because I have better things to do to right now than kicking off a corruption scandal within the department, but I do need this information mr Heng. Help me, and you’re off the hook. For now.”
“Not guns.”, he interjected, still without any visible emotion. “Weaponsmithing is indeed a hobby of mine, but not one I’ve ever intended to profit from. As for the body modifications, well, licenses are hard and expensive to make and a man has to feed his family somehow.”
As he said that his eyed turned to a large picture laying on the counter. It showed himself surrounded by a dozen or so of people, most visibly younger than him. He stood up and picked an electric kettle, stylized as a traditional china teapot from a cabinet standing behind counter.
“I can feel this is going to be a longer conversation. Would you therefore like some tea, Lieutenant?”, He asked, as he poured himself a cup. Bellica didn’t answer. Instead she took out the implant extracted from one of the children and placed it on the counter.
“I was told you deal with this sorts of things mr Heng. Have you made this implant?”
He glanced at it. “Ah yes. Yes this my work. The implants for mages are my specialty. I’m the only one on Omeda making them from what I know.”
“Is there even a market for them? There doesn’t seem to be many mages on Omeda. I don’t think majority of people even realizes that they exist. I didn’t really believe in them myself until very recently.”
“There are more than you would think lieutenant, although most of them don’t stay for very long. Besides, I don’t come from Omeda. I was born on Letha and spent almost half of my life there. Magic is much more common on my home-moon. Since I have come here, I tried to study and characterize it with more organized, scientific methods as opposed to a more symbolic and esoteric approach used in my home and I had quite some successes in that. I don’t mean using actual science mind you, for breaking its laws and limitations lies in the very nature of magic, but examining the workings of mystic powers in a more standardized,  sensible way.”
“What about this particular implant? What it does?”, she asked.
“I call this model “Blood Catalyst”.” He had sparkles in his eyes and his voice got a bit more emotional as he spoke about it.  “It doesn’t actually have much to do with blood, but the name is catchy and suggestive.  To explain it simply, it drains the vital energy, the life of the user you could say,  and transmutes it into raw magical power, which can be then used to significantly strengthen the mage’s spells. As you can see it’s a quite drastic method, but used commonly by wizards willing to sacrifice their health for extra power. With right equipment, this power can also be potentially stored for later use. “
A terrible realization struck Bellica. She already knew the answer for the question she was about to ask, and yet she was afraid to do so. Almost without her conscious action, she heard the words leaving her mouth: “Could these implants be used on someone else, to transmute their life energy into magical power which could then be transferred to the wizard?”
Chen didn’t seem to notice the sinister implication of her question. He thought for a moment and answered: “It was designed to use on humans only, although I have projects for members of other common intelligent races as well. So no life force from animals. As for other people, I guess it’s technically possible, but I imagine it would be hard for the mage to find a willing subject.”
“I need to know who bought such implants from you in recent months mr Heng. It’s really crucial.”
“I am sorry Lieutenant, but like I said before, I would really prefer to not disclose my customers’ informa…”
“They used them on children for fuck’s sake!!”, she screamed at him suddenly.
It worked like a charm. In fact it worked so well that for a second she felt bad about screaming. Chen Heng’s stoic face was gone, replaced by a grimace of pure horror and disbelief. As he sat there dumbstruck, his eyes turned again to the picture of his family. Bellica realized that this man have legitimately never considered that his “products” might be directly used for harm, let alone for something so horrible.
“…T-they d-did what?”, he finally stammered out. After yet another long while he took a sip of his tea and said, his voice still slightly shaking: “A few months ago I’ve received an order for about 60 blood catalysts. The buyers were anonymous and they wanted to install the mods themselves, I was just supposed to leave it in a designated drop point. I never had an order for even remotely as many implants at once, but they paid me a hefty sum in advance, so I didn’t really care back then. I am honestly deeply sorry Lieutenant but I’m afraid I cannot help you  more than that.”, he said while covering his face in his hands. “I really have no idea who placed this order.”
Bellica was frustrated. Would this really prove to be just another dead end? Sure, she knew much more know, but she wasn’t even a step closer to finding either the culprit or the children. And even though they could check this drop point Chen was talking about, with all the precautions the kidnappers took so far she doubted it would result in anything. But she wasn’t ready to leave just yet.
“Actually mr Heng, there is a way in which you could help me. You seem to be quite knowledgeable about magic and mages.”, she began. ”Could you tell me how can I fight them?”
Chen Heng drank some more of his tea and though for a while. Finally he answered. “Yes, I think I might have something that could prove useful. Please, follow me lieutenant.” He said as he stood up, teacup still in hand, and went to the backroom. He led Bellica to the basement stairs. As he walked down, she noticed that even despite the motion and the shock he’s just been through, he kept the tea in his cup perfectly still. “Hands of a surgeon”, she thought. As they entered the dark cellar Heng warned her “You’d better cover your eyes. The light here is quite bright”.
When he switched it on, she found herself in a tiled room with a large operating table in the middle and tidily arranged surgical equipment around it. A few discarded implants lied scattered across the room.
“This place is surprisingly sterile for an illegal surgery”, she remarked.
“I don’t know about others, but I prefer to not give my customers infections. Now, to my workshop.”, he added and pointed to the door leading an adjacent room.
Bellica entered the amateurish, but well equipped workshop. As Heng proceed deeper into the room, she picked up some of the guns lying around and examined them with an eye of an expert. The modifications and improvements seemed to really be a solid job. Chen Heng certainly knew a thing or two about this “hobby of his”.
“I’m glad to see that you’re interested in my work Lieutenant, but I didn’t bring you here to show you guns.”, he called from the other end of the room. “Now, there are two general ways to beat a mage”, he began. “First is to somehow block or counter their spells, but that would require you to either be able to use magic yourself, or at least have a good understanding of it and some highly  sophisticated equipment. Therefore we will have to resort to the second way: exploiting the basic laws and principles of magic and using them against the wizard. I have few things here which I’ve developed as hobby projects which do exactly that. They’re unfortunately still prototypes, with no field testing yet, but they should work. I think. Do note however, that they will not protect you from mage’s spells, only provide a good opportunity for a counterattack.”
He then proceed to explain the way in which his devices worked. Bellica could tell that he tried to make it sound simple, but quite frankly she didn’t understand half of the words and concepts he used. She did however got their general meaning, at least she thought she did. In short, there was some kind of half mystical energy present in all beings which they unknowingly used in time of need to do great(or even not so great) things. Mages have much more potent reservoirs of this energy and it is the main fuel for their spells, while their willpower is what provides the spark. According to Heng, depleting a wizard of this energy was her best bet  to beating him. He then provided her with a modification to her tactical head display which would allow her to see and monitor the flow of this energy, which Heng called “mana”. He gave her half a dozen of devices which he named “void syphons”, supposed to drain mana out of nearby beings, warning her that they are quite fragile, which is why he made many. Finally, he opened a cupboard and took out a strange looking bullet.
“This is something I call Neural Disruptor. Like most more expensive modern projectiles it is equipped with a homing device. You should also be able to fire it from your standard-issue pistol. It is however very different from a standard bullet. Instead of dealing kinetic damage, its purpose is to exploit the difference between target’s current amount of mana and the one to which their organism is used to, setting up a devastating chain reaction. The amount of damage dealt directly depends on this difference in energy. Against a well rested target, it will be no more harmful than a rubber bullet, but against a tired one it will be as deadly as an entire volley of rifle shots. And against a mage who have already used a sizeable amounts of their mana up, I can imagine the effects would be truly devastating. And very, very. brutal.” He gave her a very serious look. “Put it right in the bastard who did it and make it count lieutenant. For me”
Suddenly, Bellis communicator activated. She apologized Heng and picked up. “I’ll be right there, wait for me.”, she said af ca’ter a moment of listening and disconnected. She turned to Chen Heng. “I will. They found him.”


IV
Analysis shown that the chemical found on the third body was a compound used mainly in some factories and other industrial facilities. And non-accidentally, there was such an abandoned factory just a few blocks from where the corpse has been found. The only one in radius of few districts actually. The boy had probably managed to escape and reached the back alley before he collapsed, implants having deprived him of what little remained of his life force. It might have been too late for him, but he gave OPD this one clue that they’ve so desperately needed.
A solemn and excited mood descended on the police station  Organizing the raid didn’t take long. Over half of the cops present have volunteered to take part in it. After three months of fruitless search, the kidnapper was finally to be captured.
The building have quickly been surrounded and secured from all sides, its dark, grim and mysterious body towering unsettlingly over the whole neighborhood. Quick heat scans shown life signatures in the basement. After what seemed like an eternity of preparations, a strike team led by Bellica have finally kicked down one of the doors and entered the factory. In strict formation, they traversed the disturbingly quiet and empty corridors on their way to the nearest staircase. The black grime on the walls, a mark of fire which had devastated the factory some time ago, has only topped the feeling of eeriness.  The atmosphere thickened as they proceeded downstairs, into the basement. The first thing that hit them was the smell. The stench of urine, decay and death. And of things that never should have happened.
Bellica have never seen her men covering their eyes and cringing in shock before. And yet that’s what some of them did after entering the basement’s main room. The smell has become unbearable by now, but it was nothing compared to the sight. Rows of steel, rusted cages filled the room, with over a dozen of starved, wounded, dirty and weakened children cuffed to the walls. Most of them feverish and too exhausted to move, some still moaning in agony with sparkling implants brutishly and flagitiously attached to their bodies. The hellish room was buzzing with noise emitted by a large, twisted, bizarrely looking contraption placed in the corner, flashing with colorful lights.
The terrified silence have been finally broken by Murdock.
“I’m going to rip this son of a bitch a second asshole in place of his face.”
Bellica snapped out of the shock.  She pointed at a larger part of her squad. “You. Get those children outside and make sure they receive medical attention, asap! The rest goes with me. We still have to catch the monster that did it”
“Thermal scans doesn’t show anyone other in the building Lieutenant.”
But her newly acquired mana detector was showing something else.
“He’s upstairs, just cloaking himself. Move on! Before he gets away!”
Her visor was showing a large concentration of mana in the factory’s main floor. As they moved closer to it, the questions she’s been ignoring since they had found the mage’s location came flooding to her. Could she really beat him? What could she even except from him?
The answer to this second question struck her by surprise when they were almost at the factory floor’s doorstep. With an ear shattering bang. She suddenly felt herself tossed forward by the shock wave of an powerful explosion. The corridor roof have collapsed right behind her back with a fiery blast, trapping the rest of her squad. There was no time to help them, for as she scrambled back at her feet and shook of the shock she noticed a figure emerging out of the darkness in front of her. Without much thinking, she aimed her gun at the tall blonde-haired man in red robes covered with strange occult symbols.
“This is the OPD, you’re under arrest! Surrender yourself immediately!”, she yelled.
The wizard have seemingly completely ignored her rifle. “What impudence!”, he barked. His voice was deep and rich, but rotten and full of contempt. “You break into my house, you steal my property and now you DARE to threaten me? I’m going to teach you some respect you worm.”
“Put your hands in the air or I will sho…”, she stopped short as hovering spheres of fire appeared in mage’s hands from thin air, his eyes started glowing red and his feet risen above ground. She was dumbstruck. All this talking about magic could not prepare her for this moment. Despite all, she wasn’t even sure if she have actually believed all this before. But here it was, actual magic, right in front of her eyes. She was paralyzed, as every part of her common sense rebelled against her senses, desperately screaming that what she was just witnessing was not possible. Her instincts saved her in the last moment, making her leap and hide behind cover before a blast of magical fire incinerated the spot she was standing in just split second ago. He fired few more fireballs and explosions and she managed to avoid them, just barely. She could feel the flames licking her armor as she hid behind some destroyed machine, her heart pounding. As the mage unleashed his furious spells, the factory floor turned into a hellish burning furnace. Bellica’s communication returned for a second
“We got cut off! Hang on in there lieutenant, we’re trying to find another way in!”
But she couldn’t hear the voice or even her own thoughts. All she could hear was the sadistic laughter of the pyromancer, now hovering meters above the floor and surrounded by a fiery aura. Bellica was very rarely afraid of danger. Hundreds of shootouts, pursuits and raids killed this fear in her a long time ago. But right now she was terrified.  And the more she futilely tried to calm herself, the worse it got. She have been overwhelmed by a primal, animalistic fear, a wild panic of an elk trapped within a burning forest, a cosmic horror of a being witnessing something far beyond its own understanding.
“Like a rat in a trap.”, the mage dissolved into his diabolic laughter again. “You want to arrest me? ME? Like one of your fellow maggots? You pompous imbecile! I have left the limitations of pathetic human existence behind me a long time ago. I AM THE FLAME!”
The pyromancer spread his arms and a new wave of blasts and explosions shook the room. Curled up behind her cover, Bellica finally managed to cry out to her communicator
“The drones for fuck’s sake! Send in the drones!”
Six police drones with Chen Heng’s void siphons mounted on them flew into the hall through the small windows on the roof.  Bellica risked a pick out of her cover. The mage’s mana reserves, already notably chipped away, were being quickly drained.
“What is this?”, he screamed. “Clever. But not clever enough!”, he raised his hands and a terrible explosion shook the entire hall to its very foundations, blowing up the drones and the machine she’s been hiding behind. She went flying across the room, wounded by fire and shrapnel made of her former cover. She landed on her back out in the open, unable to stand up, with the villainous mage levitating across the room in front of her.
“Is that it? Was that supposed to stop me?”, he taunted her. Focusing all her effort, she pulled out her handgun and aimed it at him. He burst into laughter again.
“Really? Do you seriously think that this toy can hurt me? How stupid can you possibly be? You’ve lost, can’t your troglodyte brain comprehend that? All the efforts of you and your fellow barbarians are futile. I didn’t even need those disgusting brats anymore. I’ve already gathered enough power for my purposes, I was now just going to suck them dry and dispose of them.”
As he kept talking, he was floating across the room closer towards Bellica.
“You couldn’t even stop me. And I am not alone. There are many more enlightened adepts like me, right now, here on this loathsome moon of yours. The Riftmaster’s plan will be completed. Who do you think you are to stop us, you maggot?”, he finished, the flames in his hands and eyes burning even stronger than before as he prepared to finish her. In an unexpected moment of clarity Bellica griped her handgun more firmly
“I Am The Law”, she answered. And she pulled the trigger.
The neural disruptor worked just as intended. The bullet corrected its course and hit right where it would do the most damage, at the base of pyromancer’s spine. What happened next must have been agonizing, even though it didn’t last more than 2 seconds. The mage’s body looked like it have been electrocuted, set ablaze and touched by necrosis all at the same time. In a blink of an eye, a charred corpse at her feet was everything that remained of what have been a terrifying force of nature just seconds ago.
The fires began to die off without proper fuel and the smoke was floating out of the windows broken by the drones. Bellica was lying on the floor and slowly calming herself down. As her adrenaline levels dropped, she started to feel her wounds and burns with full force. She always hated this moment. “Another scars for the collection”, she thought.  After a while, her squad entered the hall, apparently having finally found another way in.
“I’m fine, just help me dress my wounds and I’ll be ok.”, she snapped at them before they began to throw questions and worries at her. “Are the children safe?”
“The paramedics took them, it’s all in their hands now. Is… is this our culprit?”, one of them asked shyly pointing at the burned corpse.
“Damn it”, Murdock remarked. “I really wanted to get him myself.”
A sudden rush of fear struck Bellica again as she remembered the mage’s last words.
“You might get a chance to make up for it Murdock. He said there are more like him. Right here, on Omeda.”
“So? What are we going to do about that lieutenant?”, he asked while looking around the burned factory floor.
Bellica looked at her people. Murdock. Pendelbury. Meyers. Kalinski. Good, experienced cops. And good men. She’s been through a lot with all of them and she could have always trusted them. But now? How could she possibly expect them to face something like that? She survived this herself only because the mage didn’t expect Heng’s magical(or rather anti-magical) bullet, she realized. She looked at the remains of the wizard, at the wrecks of the destroyed drones and finally at her handgun. And she made a decision.
“Meyers. Call Chen Heng’s tool store in the D-7 district and offer the owner a deal. Ask him if he wants to work for the good guys in in exchange for amnesty.” She turned back to Murdock and answered him “We’re going to catch every single one of these bastards. No matter where they hide or how far they run. Including this boss of them, this “Riftmaster””
If only she knew how far this promise would take her…