The Zia'n Legacy

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The wall of monitors blinked to life, each showing different information feeds. Text, numbers and statistics rolled across the screens. Rayth sat down purposefully in the control chair facing the huge wall, placing his hands on the control ports. Donning his headset he got to work.

         ”Centre, Screen one. Pull feed, site loading bay.”

One of the corner screens re-aligned itself in the centre of the wall, expanding to fill a third of the surface with its image. The picture filled with static for a moment before the live feed snapped into life. The screen showed a huge hangar bay containing, among other things, the bulk of a light freighter craft. A giant set of doors at the far side of the hangar were open, although what was beyond wasn’t visible from this vantage point. People in various different uniforms scurried around, the occasional vehicle entering or exiting through the portal.

         ”Sector three, magnify and centre.”

His hands flew over the controls as the image zoomed in further, moving to show the rear of the cargo craft. A team of workmen were loading large crates from a nearby truck into the back of the ship. Rayth thumbed the controls, bringing up an auxiliary information panel superimposed over the main image.

. . . Light Freighter Craft: Ark 2 . . .
. . . Maximum capacity: 1000 tonnes . . .
. . . Current load: 300 tonnes . . .
. . . Status: Loading . . .

With a tap, the panel was dismissed; in it’s place appeared a staff list. Scrolling down the line of names, Rayth found his man in charge at the hangar.

         “Rayth to Elik, over?”

There was a hiss of distortion as the link was established, then Elik’s voice came through loud and clear.

         ”Yes Sir? What can I do for you?”

         ”The ship is only showing thirty percent capacity, what is causing the delay?”

         “One of the trucks blew a tire coming up from the site, Sir. Some of the rocks down here are like razors. We should be back on schedule very soon.”

         “See that you are, Elik. Oh, and make sure-“ Rayth was cut off by the sound of the room’s door sliding open harshly as another of his men walked in.

The communication link was expelled immediately, Rayth turning in his chair to face the new entrant.

         “There’s a problem. We’ve been monitoring the progress of the armoury, and it’s... Well, it’s not moving Sir. They should be on their way to the safe house by now, but the car seems to have stopped somewhere along the way.”

Fadon, the man cursed with bringing Rayth the bad news stood with his hands behind his back, head bowed slightly. Rayth took a deep breath, letting it out slowly while he thought.

         “Did they pick up the weapons successfully?”

         “Yessir, and they collected the funds we had accumulated from the Splinter Bar. I do believe they made it look like a robbery; the barman reported in just after they left. We should be able to claim a rather large compensatory amount for that,” he tailed off.

         “And since then?”

         ”They left the bar, drove some way towards the drop off at the safe house, and seemed to have stopped now Sir,” replied Fadon.

Rayth pivoted in his chair, facing the wall of information once again.

         “Which car?”

         “Number 674, Sir.”

Sitting down, his hands were a blur across the controls. Screens flicked on, zoomed, and disappeared as fast as the eye could make out. Images from various satellites blinked up, magnified, then dissolved as Rayth scanned the possible routes leading to the safe house. Unable to find what he was looking for manually, he opted to let the computer handle it.

         ”Scan and locate vehicle ID 674.”

Leaning back and removing his hands from the consoles, Rayth watched the computer work. Overhead maps of Seventh City appeared on screen as the respective areas were scanned. Several minutes passed as different sectors of the city were searched, then finally a grid snapped into place in the middle of the screen with a small blinking dot at its centre.

         ”Vehicle ID 674 located in sector twelve,” chimed the computer’s voice.

Rayth placed his hands back onto the controls, sending the grid to one side. A fresh satellite image faded into view.

         ”Magnify and enhance sector twelve.”

The image blew up several times, filling the screen before zooming in further still. A city block shrouded in darkness suddenly came in to view, several alleyways and side roads intersecting the high-rise buildings. Rayth panned the view round, rotating to get a better angle between the buildings before magnifying what he saw. A car was parked across one of the side roads, it’s doors closed. The water around the car seemed to glisten, and here and there it had a slight red tinge. Two men were walking down the road, leaving the vehicle behind. At the very bottom of the picture a woman ran from the alley and darted off into the night. Just as the computer image zoomed in further, the car exploded in a shower of debris and flames causing the lens to flare viciously.

Rayth panned the camera around to focus on the men exiting the alleyway, magnifying their faces to fill the screen.

         ”Computer, save image.”

The image on screen froze, capturing the two men perfectly. Rayth ejected a small memory chip from under his left control panel, handing it to the man behind him.

         ”Fadon, run that through the TCC database, I want names, addresses, every bit of information on those two you can dig up. Go, now, I want to find out who just destroyed my weapons.”

As the man turned to leave, Rayth called him back momentarily.

         ”Oh Fadon, who was that woman, and why were my men parked in that alley with her?”

Fadon stumbled slightly before answering.

         ”I recognise the face Sir, I do believe it was our contact at the TCC. She was at the pickup when they collected the weaponry. They had orders to remove any trace back to us Sir. I assume they got... sidetracked before carrying that out.”

         ”Find her and kill her.”

         ”Sir,” Fadon nodded and left the room swiftly.

Rayth, head of the largest smuggling syndicate on the planet sat and watched his latest cargo being loaded, a quiet air of contemplation surrounding him. He had been working on this project for some time now, and could not stand for anything to go wrong at this stage. He sighed and punched up some more figures on one of the many screens in his office.

* * * * *

Fadon handed the chip to a computer technician.

         “Run a facial check through the TCC mainframe for these two, check every archive they’ve got. Rayth wants them found ASAP, so get to it. Oh, and make sure they don’t detect you snooping around.”

         “Yes Sir,” acknowledged the young man, turning and starting to execute the program that would gain him access to the TCC computer systems.

Fadon stood back and watched the guy work. He was soon inside the main systems of the Thirteen Cities Coalition, and scanning for certain folders which would likely contain the information he sought. The TCC, rather helpfully in these instances, kept visual, audible, and genetic records of every single person living and dead in the thirteen cities they controlled. It was quite a simple process to scan in the faces of the two men from the satellite feed captured earlier and run them through the databases. The advanced system even took into account aging and other facial changes to come up with exact matches.

The two faces on screen were quite different, although both looked to be in their late 20’s. Despite the darkness, their features were quite obvious. Long tassels of black hair hung down from under the hat the taller one wore, covering his neck completely. A pair of dark eyes looked out from an unshaven face, chiselled cheekbones framing a strong set of lips. The other of the pair wore a similar hat, but had a much softer face sheltered beneath, clean-shaven and smooth skinned. Piercing blue eyes stared out from his heavy brow. Both men were grimacing against the weather, forehead’s furrowed.

         “Here we go Sir, two identity matches. I have names already. Just cross referencing for addresses...”

         ”Good good,” replied Fadon, looking intently at the screen for any bit of information that would make any sense to him, finding only a few snippets of text.

         ”Ok, I have names and an address, they would appear to live together. Just checking the occupancy logs to see if anyone else lives there with them.”

At that moment, a small red light appeared in the corner of the screen accompanied by a quiet beeping noise. The technician, clearly flustered, started hitting the keys with twice the frequency, screens changing and merging before him.

         “Is there a problem?” enquired Fadon.

         ”Possibly Sir, but I think I have prevented any trouble. That light means the TCC have a user currently accessing the archives at the same time as myself. Should they find any evidence of our search, we would be tracked. I have removed myself from the mainframe now. All the information I could find is on this chip,” said the technician, handing Fadon back the same memory chip presented earlier.

* * * * *

         ”This is all we know? Two names and an address?”

         ”Not all we know Rayth, only what we found out from the TCC databases before we had to get out. I took the liberty of checking in our own records and managed to turn up some other interesting facts.”

         “Go on,” gestured Rayth, his voice calming slightly.

         “Turns out these two, Kale and Drai, are actually mercenaries Sir, all be it rather exclusive ones. We have no evidence they were working for anyone when they destroyed our armoury, so I only assume they felt it necessary at the time. In the past, they have only been hired by very well funded companies, although never by the TCC themselves. They seem to have some kind of hold over the Council, since they have been granted certain leniencies in the past while working on several contracts.”

Rayth walked slowly around his office, occasionally glancing at the wall of screens that still held images from the hangar. He looked over the information Fadon had given him again, noting the address.

         ”Computer, locate the address logged in the memory chip, centralise on screen, overhead view.”

Once again, the computer worked fast and efficiently, swinging an overhead satellite view into place on the centre screen, the image condensing down onto a single grid square containing, among a few other scant buildings, the address found in the TCC records. It was a fairly large building, several storeys high, surrounded by walls, with what looked like high grade security cameras in place all along its perimeter.

         “And do we know who else inhabits this particular building along with our two new friends?”

         ”No one as far as we know so far Sir, however, we had to remove ourselves from the system to avoid detection, so we can’t be sure,” replied Fadon, awkwardly.

Uncertainty was not a quality Rayth was known to admire.

         “Fair enough Fadon, we’ll just make sure that the strike team we send in is prepared for any possible resistance.”

         ”Sir,” nodded Fadon, glad to have been let off from his lack of information.

         ”I will be leading the strike team. We move tonight, thirty minutes. Make sure I have a full squad ready by then.”

As Fadon was walking away from the office, he wondered why Rayth was going to personally lead this particular assault as he hadn’t done such a thing for a long time. He barked a few select orders into his comms unit on his wrist, hearing affirmatives come back from every man on the primary team. They would be armed and waiting when their commander arrived, ready to head out.

* * * * *

It was pouring with rain. This was not a new situation, however, it still grated on Rayth’s nerves as he waited with his men outside the walls that surrounded the building they were about to assault. Being on the outskirts of some of the major city blocks, this particular building was rather more out in the open than most, which caused the lightening from above to strike the ground several times as it earthed itself in the metal structure of the city. As they stood waiting for the signal to go, Rayth saw a few of the men exchange cursory glances, checking the perimeter as they prepared. There was no traffic on the roads at this time of night, most of the citizens having chosen the relative safety of their beds rather than brave the weather, and criminal element of Seventh City just after midnight. The walls he and his men leaned upon stood a full ten feet above them, and although this would pose no particular obstacle for any of them to scale, it was the cameras on top that were currently proving problematic. Scanning in rough arcs, they covered the entire perimeter of the property, not a single spot ever out of sight of at least one camera.

         ”Well, from the schematics of the electricity grid I studied earlier, there’s no way we can cut the power to the place. They’re on their own private supply, and I can’t track that to its source.”

         ”Do you have any suggestions?” Rayth asked of the man addressing him, double-checking the rifle slung by his hip.

         ”Yes, only one, but it’ll work, I’m sure. An EM grenade detonated just below one of the cameras will knock out its circuitry completely, and possibly short out the whole system long enough for us to get over the wall. Even if it doesn’t, the cam itself will still be completely useless for a good few hours.”

         “That’ll have to do. Make it so.”

With that, one of the men scaled the wall at the nearest corner, making effortless work of the rough masonry and arriving at the top within seconds. He placed a small device below the tripod that held the camera before hastily making his way back down the wall to stand next to his comrades.

         “Set Rayth, it’s all yours.”

With barely a nod of understanding, Rayth signalled his men along the wall to start ascending, each stopping a few feet from the top. With one final check of his forces, Rayth set off the EM grenade below the camera.

There was silence, apart from the insistent rain drumming on every available surface. No sound, no movement, no indication that anything whatsoever had happened. Then, finally, from the end of the wall, one of Rayth’s men indicated that the camera had stopped moving, sagging in its stand. The command was given and twenty men slid themselves over the top of the wall, landing silently a second later. His men fanned out exactly as they should, each scouring the area around them for any signs of danger, finding none. Several crouched, attaching various different sensors to their visors. Once in place, the Infrared and night vision equipment still showed no activity from the walls to the building, and so they moved out.

Splitting into four sets of five men, two groups headed for the corners of the building, the others heading one to each end of the wall from which they had come. Once in place, the two teams next to the wall took up defensive formations, watching along both sides of the adjoining walls for any interference. One of the other groups had reached the building and was making it’s way around the front, searching for the main entrance while the second had started climbing the closest wall. Rayth arrived on the balcony with his squad just as the other men found the main set of doors. Both groups held their positions as they listened to Rayth issue orders.

         “Defence groups, hold positions out here. Anyone tries to get out, drop them. Anyone tries to come in, let us know before they arrive; a little warning is always appreciated.”

Rayth heard both the perimeter teams signal their understanding, watching them cock their weapons as one team sighting along the wall to the gates of the compound, the other men covering the entrance to the house.

         ”Upper assault team, you’re with me. Clear all rooms, capture and contain, do not kill unless absolutely necessary. Follow my lead and converge on the stair well. Lower assault team, breach main doors, same brief, converge on the stair well.”

All the men signalled their understanding to Rayth who unslung his rifle, back pressed against the wall on the upper balcony.

         ”On my mark,” he whispered through his headset.

* * * * *

Kediar Rhiad walked down the corridor humming a tune. He hadn’t felt like joining the others at the bar tonight, electing instead to stay and work on some of the new hardware they had recently acquired. He was excited about the new equipment they had purchased as it was fantastically advanced, the most up to date weaponry on the market. He had already adapted several of the smaller Atomic Particle Emitters to fit his arms as permanently attached weapons. He wore them now, and although not fully integrated into his nervous system, they were still operational and activated by a certain muscle flex. After several hours of intensive testing he had decided to take a break before his eyes strained themselves too much. Walking towards the firing range, Kediar couldn’t wait to test them out.

The door slid open silently, lights flickering on automatically. As he walked in, Kediar scanned around the range noticing the scars of tests carried out long ago. The range was quite a large room filled with assorted crates, barrels and other obstacles including the shell of a car long past any useful service. Walking over to the only computer console in the room, Kediar removed his coat and sat down to load the simulator. Fingers tapping away on the keys, he spoke several commands to the computer.

         ”Live fire. Bot aggressiveness set to high please. Run urban scenario.”

The blast threw him to the floor as dust cascaded down around him.

         ”What the holy hell?! Computer, cease program!”

         ”The program is not yet running, sixty three percent loaded.”

A second blast shook the building as the lights flickered off for a second. The emergency system kicked in, filling the room with a noir ambience as a red light strobed almost in time with the crackling now emanating from the computer panel. Checking the weapons still attached to his wrists, Kediar scrambled to his feet and dashed toward the corridor. He paused at the door, peering round to check both directions before edging out slowly, his APE’s covering both angles carefully. Slightly hunched, back pressed against the wall, he moved slowly along the passageway, eyesight piercing the red gloom.

What the bloody hell is going on? thought Kediar, stopping briefly to check round a corner, a large room awaiting him with a stairway leading up to the first floor.

Dashing across the gap, he rolled and came up crouched against the side of the stairway, looking back the way he came. Seeing nothing, he rounded the stairs sprinting the gap to the next hallway, leading to the front entrance.

Making his way down the hall, he stopped in his tracks, every muscle in his body freezing like a taught spring before releasing, slamming him against the wall.

”What was that? I heard something down there.”

         ”I hear you boys, you think too loud. Time for some fun,” Kediar whispered, picking himself up from the heap he’d landed in as the telepathic jolt hit him.

Glancing down at his wrist, he set one of the APE’s to fire a single high-density packet, crouching and steadying himself as he took aim at the wall that terminated the corridor. Closing his eyes, slowing his breathing, Kediar concentrated his entire consciousness on his hearing. The world dulled around him, everything sinking back to mere periphery as he picked out every footstep, every click of a weapon, every breath of the men approaching the corner.

Just as the first man rounded the corner the tightly packed knot of highly reactive atoms exploded against the wall, showering the soldier in an atomic rain, searing his flesh to the bone. As the man’s rapidly disintegrating body dropped to the ground, the others behind him threw themselves back several paces, slamming to the floor.

         ”Jesus Christ, Roberts!”

         “He’s gone man, no one with a face that perforated gets up, leave him.”

Moments later a grenade rattled down the hall, exploding exactly where Kediar had been a second before. A hail of gunfire lit up the passage as the squad advanced around the corner, Kediar saw them spread themselves slightly as they crept toward the room he had backed into. As the squad reached the entrance to the room, he saw each and every gun trained on him. Leaning back casually against the stair banister, against all common sense and logic, he smiled jovially at their arrival.

         ”Evenin’ chaps, care to put them guns down and I’ll only kill some of you,” chuckled Kediar, shifting his weight to stand upright, hands crossed in front of him.

His fingers imperceptibly moved across the controls for the Atomic Particle Emitters upon his wrists, short-range spread fire set.

The group of men fanned out into the room in a rough half circle, laser sights all hovering over Kediar’s forehead. In the red pulsing darkness, they turned on the flashlights attached to their rifles giving the room surreal patches of blazing light and dark shadow.

         ”Don’t move a bloody muscle, get your arms up!” one of the men shouted as Kediar saw him thumb a comm-link. “Sir, we’ve got someone at the foot of the main stairs.”

         “On our way, keep him there,” crackled Rayth’s voice, through a mess of static and interference.

There was something about the cocky way he stood, Kediar could see it set the squad on edge, rifles shaking nervously in their hands. They didn’t have long to wait for their fears to be realised.

         ”Arms up you say? Well... If you insist.”

He started to slowly raise his arms, bringing them straight out, level with his shoulders, eyes closing as he moved.

         “The name’s Kediar Rhiad by the way gentlemen, and this is the last time you’ll see me alive.”

With that, he pushed up sharply with a foot, sending him into the air, sailing over the men’s heads far slower than the laws of physics should allow. The first bullets thudded into the ceiling and walls as he landed in the centre of the squad. Immediately he jabbed a fist into the throat of one of the men, sending him flying backward with his hands clutched around his neck, weapon strewn upon the floor. Ducking under a swipe from the man directly behind him, Kediar kicked upward, connecting with the barrel of the soldier’s gun, crashing it into his face. A second later, a knife had been shoved into the man’s temple, his body dropping limply to the ground as the blood jetted out.

The two remaining squad members had jumped back at this display, guns held to shoulders, fingers shaking on the triggers.

         “Rayth said not to kill!”

         ”Fuck that. If it’s him or me, I sure as hell ain’t gonna pick him!” stuttered the second man, squeezing off a volley of shots that appeared to pass through Kediar, who spun around and came up both hands clasped together, pointing straight for the trooper’s chest.

The blast from the APE’s hit the man full force, liquefying his midriff instantly and sending his torso flying backward, rebounding from the wall to land with a dull thump on the floor. The legs remained standing, rocking from side to side before Kediar kicked them over viciously, laughing to himself. He darted forward, seeming to cover the distance to the last man instantly. Slamming his fist in to the stocky man’s gut hard, he lifted him off the floor. The last discharge of the Atomic Particle Emitter sprayed intestine and bone all over the walls as the twitching corpse fell against the bottom stair.

It was at this point that Rayth stepped smartly round the corner of the upper balcony and blew a hole in Kediar’s kneecap, sending him spinning to the floor.

         “Mr Rhiad, so good to make your acquaintance, and how very considerate of you to introduce yourself. I am Rayth, and you are now mine,” said the new arrival.

Kediar saw the rest of the second squad move out from their cover, all guns pointed at him as he lay prone on the ground twenty feet below them. He watched the newcomer walk down the stairway purposefully, accompanied by four other men. He weighed up his chances of survival as things stood, choosing not to fire at them, both hands currently clutching his ruined knee.

         ”Well then Mr Rayth, may I just ask what the fuck you’re doing in my house?” said Kediar slowly, wincing in pain.

         ”It’s just Rayth, there’s no Mr. And, I am here because you took something from me, destroying some quite valuable assets in the process.”

         “Well I can honestly say I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about... Unless you mean the lives of five of your men, of course,” Kediar chuckled.

         ”Them? Regrettable, but replaceable,” gestured Rayth. “No, you have taken some money from me, and I will be requiring it. I won’t lie to you Mr Rhiad, I am going to kill you. The only choice you have left is how much it will hurt.”

Kediar looked up as Rayth now stood over him, gun pointed squarely at his forehead. He glanced around, noting the four laser sights from the other men hovering over his heart.

There was a loud crackling from Rayth’s shoulder before a broken voice came through on the comm-link. The big man stepped away from Kediar a few paces, gun never moving from its target.

         ”...eing attacked Sir!”

Kediar could make out the sound of rapid gunfire coming over the radio between bouts of static, echoing around the large hall.

         ”They’re ov...” The signal broke up momentarily with a loud hiss. “Quick, get down!”

This time the link was cut sharply as an explosion shook the building. Kediar looked up at Rayth, a knowing smile creeping across his lips.

         ”Nice knowing you Rayth,” said Kediar, now grinning despite the pain shooting through his leg.

* * * * *

They had walked in silence since leaving the alley just over an hour ago, the bellowing wind and deluge of rain their only company. The weather had not improved all night, a fitting milieu for the grim walk back to the estate. While walking through the outskirts of the city, a car had skidded to a halt in front of the two men, venting forth several scruffy youths in an attempted impromptu mugging. This, the robbers had realised in posthumous retrospect, was not a particularly bright idea. Thanatos and Maoric walked away from the briefly caused carnage and corpses behind them, conversing with a cheer unfitting for the weather.

         ”All the freaks and fools out tonight huh Kale?” chuckled Maoric as they finally drew close to their estate.

         ”Hey, we’re still out tonight Drai...” retorted Thanatos, holding his coat shut as a meagre protection against the elements.

         ”Who did you think I was talking about?” laughed Maoric.

Thanatos grinned, although this was not evident as his face was almost entirely covered by the brim of his hat and the collar of his coat. They trudged on for a further few minutes, turning the last corner as the estate came in to view several hundred metres away. Both men immediately stopped in their tracks, moving over to squat in the relative shelter of the nearby building. Using his hand to shield his eyes from the elements, Thanatos peered forward through the gloom and ominously rising fog, eyes scanning the area ahead.

         “The cameras aren’t moving Drai, gates are still closed. Someone’s in there, and they clearly thought ringing the bell wasn’t an option...”

As their eyes pierced the murky night, the sky was suddenly cast into brilliant white as an explosion rocked the ground, both men watching as fragments of brick and glass showered down around their house from one of the upper balconies.

         ”Nope, ringing the bell obviously wasn’t subtle enough... Let’s go,” sighed Maoric, setting off at a run directly for the compound, Thanatos directly behind him.

The two men covered the distance in seconds, only letting up the pace as they neared the walls surrounding the house and grounds. Pressing their backs against the walls they listened hard, and despite the unrelenting rain, heard movement on the other side of the wall.

Maoric unclipped a small semi-automatic rifle from its strap under his coat, slinging it over a shoulder as he also removed several grenades from various pouches. He saw Thanatos draw his guns from their holsters silently, reloading the clips in both. Without a sound the men looked at each other and leapt up the wall in a single jump, landing atop the masonry, crouching low against the wind. Both sets of eyes scoured the area between the house and the wall on which they were perched, Maoric noted the five men situated close to the entrance gate as Thanatos clocked the other squad a few metres down the wall, almost directly below them.

A simple flicker of the eye between the friends was all it took to see Maoric drop two grenades unceremoniously into the middle of the closer squad, which exploded at waist height. By the time the shots reached them, Maoric had landed between the freshly made corpses at the base of the wall, closely followed by Thanatos. He dashed to the right as Thanatos took the opposite direction, each releasing their own volleys back at their targets.

Maoric dived, landed rolling and came up crouched, sending a stream of bullets at the squad still standing, one man dropping instantly. He glanced across at Thanatos and saw him spring forward, both guns rattling off shot after shot. Another one of the men fell, two bullets piercing his heart, the third drilling through his forehead with surgical precision.

Only three left... I should be able to take care of them, thought Maoric, holstering his gun over his shoulder.

He pulled out another grenade, pulling the pin and hurling it toward the men.

         “Kale, get the hell down!”

He saw Thanatos throw himself down against the wall with his guns still trained on the remaining squad members. Maoric watched the grenade spinning through the air, exploding just as it impacted the closest soldier. As the body disintegrated, shrapnel from the blast tore through the armour of the other two, pitching them to the ground in a bloody mess.

Thanatos and Maoric walked towards the twitching bodies lying in the mud. One was still conscious, although clearly would not remain so for much longer. Maoric crouched by his body, ripping off his helmet and grasping the fallen man’s hair.

         “How many more inside? I would suggest telling me now, because you could be in a lot more pain than you are now.”

The stricken man glared up at the two kneeling over him, looking from face to face before seeming to come to a decision.

         ”Another two squads... Ten men,” he coughed as blood spilled from his lips.

The two men stood and started walking towards the main doors to their house. Maoric span round once, putting a bullet through the chest of the one remaining soldier quickly before reloading his rifle.

         ”Any idea who these guys are Kale?” said Maoric, looking across at his friend as they approached the front door.

         ”No idea. They look professional, or at least better equipped than the rabble this city normally produces.”

         ”Either way, they’re in our house, and they’re not leaving walking,” replied Maoric, leaning against the wall by the door.

Maoric waited as Thanatos pushed the door open quietly, guns covering down the hall to his right. He then stepped in, rifle aimed the other way. Both men moved swiftly, closing the door and pressing themselves against the wall, listening for any clue as to the position of the intruders.

Kale, Drai, that you? Kediar’s thoughts came through, completely bypassing the ears, straight into the brain.

It’s us. Where are you, what’s going on?

Ground floor, stairway. We might have a problem...

Moving down the corridor Maoric could smell the fresh discharge of weapons, bullet marks perforating the walls here and there. They rounded the corner, passing a massive scorch mark on the wall, advancing on the stair well. Stepping over a body they noticed several more lying on the floor in the room ahead. What both men also saw was their friend and partner lying on the floor with a man bearing down on him, gun pointed straight at his head. The man didn’t see them until they had entered the room, stepping to the side from the hallway.

         ”Aha, the two gentlemen from the alley. I do believe you had a run in with one of my transport vehicles earlier this evening.”

         ”The car with the two guys in it? What of it?” replied Thanatos, glancing around the room as Maoric noted the four men making their way very slowly down the stairs.

Two now had their weapons pointed at Thanatos and Maoric, laser sights wavering over their chests.

         ”That was my car, and the money that you took from it was also mine, not to mention the thousands of credits worth of weaponry you destroyed. I will be requiring that money back. Right now, if you please gentlemen.”

Maoric reached into his coat, pulling out the bag he had taken earlier and threw it at Rayth’s feet.

         ”Take it, but I suggest you lower your gun and step away from my friend there,” said Maoric, gesturing to Kediar, still lying on the floor gripping his knee.

         ”I think you are in no position to be making demands, friend. In fact, make one more move and I shall remove the top of this man’s skull myself. Relinquish your guns to my men,” Rayth said. “Now.”

Both Maoric and Thanatos lowered their weapons slowly, reaching them behind, having the guns snatched by the soldiers who were now standing at their rear. They were pushed to the ground as their legs were kicked out from under them. Maoric saw the smallest movement from Kediar, letting go his knee and bracing his hands against the ground.

Kale, Drai, get ready.

We are.

All three men tensed their bodies, ready to move. Around them the world started to slow and dull. They felt each other’s presence, all moving in perfect harmony. Kediar kicked out with his good leg, pushing away from the floor with his arms, knocking Rayth back and to the ground. Maoric threw his arms up, grabbing the neck of the man directly behind him and hurled him over his shoulder as Thanatos span round on his knees, swiping out the legs of the soldier closest to him.

Rayth hit the floor rolling, arriving on his feet a few metres away.

         ”Fine, have it your way,” he menaced, swinging his rifle around at Kediar.

The single shot punched through his forehead between the eyes, showering the floor bellow him with gore and brain tissue. Hearing the blast, the other fighters stopped dead, both looking round to watch their friend’s body keel over and slump lifelessly to the floor. The last thing they saw as rifle butts were crashed into their skulls was Rayth standing over their fallen comrade, glaring down at them.