Warhead by Andy Remic Read Free Book Online Page A

thick mixture of black and grey, continued to drip from its jaws, drooling to the ground where it formed twin puddles.
    ‘You have evaded us for too long. Now your time has finally come.’
    Spiral Mainframe
    Data log# 12327 [amended]
    CLASSIFIED SADT/5345/SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT
    DATA REQUEST 324#12327
    Durell
    All existing files concerning Durell were destroyed (by the man himself) prior to his betrayal of Spiral.
    It is known that he was heavily involved in the Nx5 Project early on in his career. He worked with Gol and Count Feuchter. It is known that he carried on with this work illegally after Spiral withdrew funding and closed down the Nex operations.
    It is believed that Durell was the instigator in creating the Spiral mobile, an anti-Spiral warship designed to overthrow world powers and take control of the world’s military and financial institutions via the all-powerful QuanTech Edition 3 processor. He was later responsible for global terrorism using a QuakeHub linked to the deadly QIV processor, again in further attempts at world domination by the use of terrible, continent-hammering quakes—which he could target at will.
    Durell is the most dangerous individual ever encountered by Spiral. His knowledge and lust for power are insatiable. He is considered extremely dangerous and ranks No 1 on Spiral’s terrorist hit list. There is intel regarding some form of ancient ‘Nex DemolSquad’, although no Spiral records have ever referred to such a creation—nor can anybody envisage why such a deviant squad would arise.
    Keyword SEARCH» NEX, SAD, SPIRAL_sadt, DURELL, FEUCHTER, SPIRAL_mobile, QIII, QIV, QuakeHub
    // Also see military texts SPIRAL and QUAKE.

CHAPTER 2

EMPIRE OF HATE

    let us () out
    make () us free
    we see you () we see you
    we see the traitor ()
    () traitor of our breed
    T he light was dying over the New York skyline—or what remained of it. The one building which still stood perfectly erect, at the centre of Manhattan, was the Sentinel Corporation’s New York HQ.
    Durell stood within the enfolding glass embrace of one of the upper floors, computers glinting dully behind him, their lights reflecting on the high-sheen oak of the thirty-foot lacquered desk surrounded by soft leather chairs. He stood beside the smoked privacy glass, one clawed black hand lifted and pressed against the TitaniumGL laminates.
    Durell smiled within the folds of his dark hood.
    Light aircraft swept above him, thundering through the skies and spraying out another fine mist of chemical Half-Life Accelerators over the still devastated but gradually renewing world below him. Whilst most areas of New York had been made safe in terms of radiation levels upwards of a year ago, there were still pockets of dangerous radioactivity that necessitated regular and constant sweeps.
    Durell looked down as the spray fell and disappeared.
    Distantly, people moved like tiny insects through the streets. Fires burned in pockets among the devastation. Whilst most of the roads had been cleared of debris and many structures had been rebuilt, there was still an amazing amount of post-blast destruction. The Nex patrolled with an iron fist, closely backed by the JT8 police squads—Justice Troops, once the police and military of the Old World before the Nex Agency had taken global control. Now retrained and rearmed, paid a handsome wage, and given the best in city-living accommodation, they were the human untouchables. The Mercs. The modern face of law and order.
    Gunshots flickered distantly, although Durell could not hear their blasts from his luxury office. The JT8s swarmed forward against a blockade, overrunning it. Fire flared. There was a tiny green glow of detonation, and more ragged shooting from unleashed automatic weaponry.
    Turning his back, Durell moved towards the long wooden desk and seated himself at its head. He ran a deformed claw hand along the fine lacquered wood, tracing patterns of dark grain, delighting in the flawless