It didn't take long for the reality check to set in. We're outgunned, outnumbered and outmatched. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, I take in the gravity of the situation. I try to think quickly, desperate to hatch any sort of last minute plan. The last thing I need to do is panic. We're this close to the end; we just need a little more 'give'. Slowly, a scheme unravels in my head as I hold onto that last thread of a faint hope.
"Ideas?" Corvus interrupts my thoughts on the internal comm.
"Hear me out. We surrender." I key back quickly, grabbing my helmet before he can protest. Twisting it, I hear a *click* and the *hiss* of escaping air as I break the vacuum seal around my neck. As my hair flows out of the helmet, I cradle it in my arm, holding it against my side and out of the way. I hear a similar *click* and *hiss* from below as Corvus removes his helmet. Slowly, I set the helmet down and put both my hands in the air. I can only pray that Corvus does the same.
"No barcodes? I think we've found our rebels." The officer says. "Sergeant Bird, detain them."
"Right away, Sir." The Sergeant motions to his troopers. "You heard the Lieutenant. Move!"
Sergeant Bird opens the driver's door and yoinks Corvus out of the vehicle, forcing him onto the ground with his hands behind his back. Corvus doesn't bother struggling as they bind him with a pair of magnetic stun-cuffs. The metallic shackles emitted a light-blue hue. With my time in the Rising Phoenix, I've seen the devices in action on numerous occasions. When Darius needed someone interrogated, we'd fit them with stun-cuffs that would deliver a nasty shock if the prisoner tried to resist or escape. I am not looking forward to this.
"Tower, this is Gatekeeper. The rebels have been captured, we have them detained here. Please advise." The Lieutenant speaks into his radio, walking away and out of earshot.
"You," A trooper calls out to me. I keep my hands raised, locking them behind my head. "Stay where you are." He says, as a trooper maneuvers behind the patroller. Someone drops the ramp from the driver's seat, allowing the trooper to move in and pull me down. As soon as they escort me out of the vehicle, they shove me to the ground without warning. I kick and twist, struggling to get them off me. For my resistance, I'm rewarded with a 'light' buttstock to the face. Although the strike was pulled, the force behind it still rang my bell. My vision becomes a blur, and I hear that damn ringing in my ears again. I feel a stream of blood trickle out of my numbed nose, slowly dripping onto the asphalt. I think this time it might actually be broken.
"Sanitize the vehicle. Grab their gear and personal effects, stuff those in the armory. We'll detain them in the holding cells for now.." Sergeant Bird orders his squad around after they finish restraining me. "Lieutenant Doyle wants to interrogate this lot, let's see to it that it gets done."
Struggling to stand up, I start seeing motes of light all around me, tunnel vision slowly setting in. Perhaps for their own amusement, the troopers allow me to get all the way up. Dazed and disoriented, I try breaking free of the binds, not conscious enough to realize the futility in doing so. The stun-cuffs send an electric shock throughout my arms, enough to make me yelp. I feel light-headed, like my body is in the midst of crashing. *Drip, drip, drip.* The blood from my nose leaks down my chin, forming a tiny puddle between my feet. I collapse to my knees, my world turning black as my ears deafen. Without a sound for me to hear, I fall forward. I don't even feel myself hit the ground.
***
When I feel my senses come back, I'm reluctant to open my eyes. The ringing in my ears has stopped, but my nose aches with pain. Opening my eyes, I see that Corvus and I have been placed in a prison cell. In lieu of traditional metal bars, an indigo energy field keeps us trapped inside, preventing our escape. We've been stripped of our uniforms, left in just our undergarments. I look over to see Corvus somewhat flushed, but I feel no shame in this predicament. I don't see why anyone would.
"How's the grand plan coming along?" Corvus says, quick to establish eye contact.
"I wasn't expecting to be unconscious for most of it."
"Pffft. Some master assassin you are."
I deliver a swift strike to his gut. A simple punch with enough force to make him keel over. I snicker as he goes into a coughing fit, trying to catch his breath. I turn to see a guard making his way towards our cell, baton in hand, rifle slung over his back. The guard peers into our compartment, then taps on the energy field with his hand. He points with his baton at poor Corvus writhing on the ground.
"What's his problem?" The guard asks.
"Come in here and I'll show you." I snap back.
"Watch your mouth, girl."
"Yeah? What'r'ya gonna do about it?"
The guard turns to walk away, but I try to grab his attention again.
"Spineless coward." I taunt the guard. "Didn't know Corporate was in the business of hiring pussies."
"Listen here, you bitch." The guard approaches our cell, tapping several buttons on an unseen panel. The energy field powers down, allowing the guard to enter. His baton extends to twice its compacted length. An electric field envelops the rod, crackling with life. Angrily and swiftly, the guard makes his way towards me. "Shut your fucking mou-"
I interrupt the guard with a knee to his groin. The guard reels in pain, but tries to attack me with the stun baton. I catch his wrist before the slow strike connects, redirecting the attack back into him. As soon as the tip of the stunner makes contact with his abdomen, the guard succumbs to a storm of electrified pain. Once the guard falls to his knees, I maneuver behind him, putting him in a chokehold. With an unceremonious twist, I cleanly snap the guard's neck with a loud Pop! and let his body collapse on the ground. The sickening crunch of bone is enough to make Corvus wince. I snicker at his discomfort.
"I'd say the 'grand plan' is coming along quite nicely." I flash Corvus a shit-eating grin.
"I take it back." Corvus says, getting to his feet. He returns the grin. "Master assassin? Blind luck, more like."
"You're awfully brave." I snicker again, taking the rifle off the guard's corpse. "For a man."
I pass Corvus the stun baton, earning myself a raised eyebrow.
"Said you were a pacifist, yeah?" I ask, shrugging. After chambering a round into the rifle, I relieve the guard of his combat knife and sheath. "Just let me do the killing."
We exit the cell, finding ourselves in a symmetrical room with four cells on either side, opposite of each other. Ours' is on the left side, second from the entrance. Opposite of us is another cell with its energy field activated. Looking down the room, I see another active cell tucked away in the left-hand corner. I approach the cell in front of us, peering inside at a half-naked man, his polished skin a deep sepia in color. The young-looking man has a shaved head with a clean-shaven face. He barely looks a day over eighteen.
"You gonna stare all day, sweetheart?" The young man asks. His voice is deeper than I expected. His facial expression turns into a grimace once we make eye contact. I can feel that the sticky blood smeared all over my face has somewhat dried, as well as what's entangled in my matty bird's nest of hair.
"What in bloody Hell happened to you?" He asks in disbelief.
"You got a name?" I ignore his question with a question of my own.
"Wesley. Kyle Wesley of the Patriots, at your service." The young man bows mockingly. "You our saviors?"
"If only to see the look on Vox's face." I say with a hint of sarcasm, deactivating the energy field separating us.
Wesley runs to the remaining cell, tapping on the energy field.
"Samuels, you good?" He taps on the field again. No response. "Yo, Sam!"
Walking past Wesley, I peer over his shoulder to see another half-naked man, tanned olive-skin with a high-and-tight haircut resembling a high fade. The man slowly gets up, revealing a somewhat weathered face closer to Corvus' age. He walks to the energy field and chuckles.
"I'm fine, Wes." Sam says, cracking a smile. He turns to me. "Kyle Samuels. Mind releasing me?"
"You're both named Kyle?" I ask, deactivating the energy field.
"No, I'm Sam - that's Wes." Sam says, pointing at Wes.
"Uh-huh." I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not, so I just nod my head like I'm following along.
As we walk past our former cell, Wes notices the dead guard inside.
"How'd ya manage that one?" He asks.
"Through an age-old process called 'Fuck around and find out'." I call back, stepping outside the room and into the hallway that's waiting for us.
We enter the lengthy corridor, lined with three doors on either side. If this is a detention center like I suspect it is, then presumably those doors lead to additional dead-end rooms like ours. The hallway leads down to a curve, the path turning right to who-knows-where. Hanging on the wall in the corner of the curve is a huge, maroon-red letter 'G'. Below the large letter is the word 'Block'. Well, that confirms that theory. Now to figure out how to get out of here. Looking at the opposing sets of doors, I quickly realize the next step in the grand plan. Approaching one of the doors, I turn to the others.
"Split up, unlock the other cells. They'll never see this coming." I say, referring to Icarus.
Once the door opens, I enter the room, spotting a panel to my right. Taking a closer look, the screen has a list of the room's cells and the names of each inhabitant. All are listed as 'terrorists' belong to the Patriots, minus two members of a local street gang who are listed as 'thugs'. Of course Icarus would exaggerate who they were and the severity of their crimes. I'm sure they'd do it to anyone belonging to the criminal underworld. Each line on-screen is highlighted in blue, with the designation '[ACTIVE]' next to it. I touch a button on-screen labeled '[MASTER SWITCH]'. Each line turns red, followed by the designation '[INACTIVE]'. Every energy field in the room deactivates, releasing the prisoners.
"Who are you? What's happening?" One of the prisoners asks.
"No time to explain, just follow us. This is your chance at freedom." I reply.
"Let freedom ring!" One of the Patriots calls out.
I exit the room, the others doing the same. We rally a force of thirty prisoners, including ourselves. As I lead the way, we walk through the curved corridor, exiting G-Block. We enter a large, rectangular room from our centered hallway. Directly ahead is another hallway, and above the entrance is the word 'Elevators'. To my right is a hallway labeled 'Armory', and to my left is a hallway labeled 'Medical'. I silently nod at Corvus, inclining my head to the armory. I shoulder my rifle, clearing the armory's hallway. It's an empty corridor ending with one door. Quickly, I traverse the hallway alone, making it to the door. Taking a deep breath, I tap the control panel next to the door. The door slides open with a mechanical whine.
Immediately, I spot three Icarus troopers in a circle, chatting. Two of the three have their backs facing me. The third sees me walking in, but before the realization hits him, I raise my rifle and fire a three-round burst. The trooper collapses on one of his friends. Taking them by surprise with two more bursts, I eliminate the remaining troopers before they have time to react. Walking to their bodies, I double-tap the corpses just to make sure they're dead.
"CLEAR!" I yell down the hallway.
It doesn't take long for me to find my personal gear, along with Corvus'. We don our equipment as the rest of the prisoners find their belongings and raid the armory's stash. Corvus himself finds a new hybrid-powered scope for his rifle, along with two flashlight/laser combination attachments. He tosses one to me and we both equip our new toys. I don't bother with scouring the armory, already having everything I need. Fully armed and dangerous, we exit the armory and head for the elevators. We enter a wide room with six elevators in total, none of them on our floor. After pressing the recall button, we take the moment to establish five-men fireteams and hastily plan our next course of action.
I lead a fireteam consisting of Corvus, Wes, and Sam, along with another Patriot who's name I don't bother learning. The plan, so to speak, is for each team to clear out their designated cell blocks A through F - ours being A-Block. By clearing each floor, we can rally a full-blown prison riot. While it was a solid idea, it was a plan I had no intention of following. If anything, the riot would provide enough of a distraction for Corvus and I to make our escape. We were already behind on our mission, we didn't need to fall any further.
*Ding!*
A few gunshots erupt from the elevator as soon as the doors open. Retaliatory fire from thirty armed prisoners swiftly settles the matter. With haste, I enter my chosen elevator as my fireteam falls in behind me. I press the button labeled 'A-Block'. I feel slightly heavier as the elevator rises, my feet planting into the metal. I suddenly feel unsteady and slightly unnerved. I nonchalantly grab a railing and hold onto it very tightly. Did I ever mention that I hate elevators? Wes turns and looks at Corvus, distracting me from my fear. His eyes go straight to the mag-pouches on Corvus' chest.
"Oi, mate. Ye sure yer got 'nuff ammo? Didn't see ya grab any back there." Wes asks.
"Don't even bother. He's a pacifist, uses stun rounds." I interrupt before Corvus can answer.
"Wot? Wha'kinda bloke's a pacifist, eh?" Wes snickers.
"The kind that'll sock your bloody nose in if you don't lose that shite-eating grin." Corvus snaps back with a clenched fist.
"You wot, mate?" Wes raises an eyebrow. "Easy 'ere, killa. Just pullin' a leg, yeah?"
"Right, next topic." I chime in as the elevator nears A-Block.
The door opens and we file out as one unit, into a room with almost the same exact layout as before. To the right is medical, to the left is the armory. The only difference is that instead of the prison cell hallway being dead ahead, it's tucked in the leftmost corner. Another hallway leading to the unknown is in the rightmost corner. As Wes, Sam and the outlier make for the prison cells, I gently tug Corvus' arm. He turns around, confused, as the others disappear rounding the hallway's corner.
"What? Why are we stopping?" Corvus asks.
"Exit's this way." I say, pointing to the other hallway.
"What about the others?"
"They'll find their own way out. We need them to keep the guards busy."
"You can't be serious. You're using them as bait?" Corvus stares at me in bewilderment.
Without answering, I move towards the new hallway. Corvus tightly grabs me by the arm with enough force to turn me around.
"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, you're taking things a little too far?"
"Oh, this shit again?" I roll my eyes and yank my arm away from him. "It's us or them. Make your choice."
I begin walking away as Corvus stands there, dumbfounded. Without looking back, I draw my knife and stealthily creep through the new hallway. It leads to another big room serving as a crossroads, of sorts. This time, however, the hallways aren't labeled. A U-shaped desk with built-in computer consoles occupies the middle of the room, facing away from
me and towards the center corridor. A corporate worker sits behind the desk, face buried into the console screens, completely oblivious to his surroundings. I quietly sneak up behind him, not daring to make a sound.
I press my knife against his throat, holding my hand over his mouth, muffling his panicked screaming. "If you so much as /think/ about escaping, or about calling for help, I'll carve out your larynx." The worker stops shouting into my palm, but he's shaking like a leaf. I press the knife harder against his throat.
"If you want to keep breathing, I suggest you do exactly what I say. Do we have an understanding?" I ask threateningly. He nods his head vigorously.
I take my hand off his mouth but keep the knife digging into his skin. "Where's the main entrance?"
"D-d-directly a-ahead." He points at the central corridor.
"And the other hallways?"
"Ma'am, p-please. I'm just an administrat-"
"I won't ask again." I dig the knife a little further for emphasis.
"They l-lead to Sections One and Three. Y-You just c-c-came from Two." The man's shaking gets worse.
"How many prisoners?"
"C-capacity is four-thousand, s-s-seven hundred and f-four. Three Sections, s-seven Blocks each, seven Clusters each, e-eight Cells per Cl-Cluster. F-four prisoners to a Cell." The administrator stumbles over his tied tongue.
"I didn't ask for schematics, you idiot. /How many prisoners?/" I snap.
The administrator checks the console screen. "T-three thousand, five hundred and fifty. J-just over three-fourths capacity." He seems to calm down a bit, his shaking subsiding and the stutter slowly fading.
"Can you release them?"
"Release who?"
"All of them." I smile with a wicked grin.
"Ma'am, I'm just an administrator." He begins to panic again. "I don't have that kind of acce-"
"I suggest you choose your next words very carefully." I slice a thin streak of blood out of his tender skin.
"Yes, of course. One prison break, coming right up." The administrator taps a few buttons on the console screen. The entire console lights up blood red. All the lights in the room shut off without warning as a mechanical groan permeates throughout the complex. The emergency lights power on, illuminating the entire room in an eerie red glow, quickly followed by the rest of the facility.
"C-can I go now?" He asks with a voice strangled by fear. "Please. I have a-"
*Tssik.*
The angled blade penetrates beneath his chin, as I stab upwards into the base of his skull. I hear his throat begin to gurgle as blood starts leaking out of his mouth and from the new wound. Dislodging the knife, I flick the blood off the blade before sheathing it. I leave the corpse sitting in the chair as I hastily make for the main entrance. I can hear a loud cacophony of noises from behind me as the riot swings into full effect. Not wanting to get caught up in the mess, I pick up my pace. As I get closer to my escape, I hear voices coming from the end of the corridor. Two guards rush towards me, already aware of what's going on.
"Halt right ther-'' The first guard didn't finish their sentence as I put two rounds in their chest. Before they hit the ground, I squeeze the trigger again, aiming for their companion. The bullet cleanly penetrates the second guard's visor, painting blood on the wall behind them as the bullet exits through the back of their helmet. As I dash by the fallen troopers, I double tap the first guard with a shot to the cranium - just in case. Moving past them, I tap on the control panel next to the main entrance, a thick set of metal doors. The heavy, worn double-doors shriek with a mechanical shrill, steadily sliding open as they scrape along the ground. A small breeze of cool air wafts into the room, giving me a slight chill. As I begin to walk out, something immediately feels off. I can hear every one of my instincts screaming at me to move, sensing danger. I hear the sound of air being cut before I can see what made it.
Reflexively, I turn to my right and grab the trooper's wrist before the knife reaches my neck. After redirecting the blade into their abdomen, I move behind them, using them as a meat-shield as their two teammates to the left open fire with three-round bursts. Dislodging the knife, I hold it by the blade and hurl it towards the closest trooper. The spinning blade penetrates the trooper's visor with enough force to burrow itself halfway. They sink to their knees before falling face-first onto the ground, driving the blade in further. I face my bullet-sponge to the remaining trooper, absorbing another pair of three-round bursts. I blitz towards them to take them by surprise. Heaving the body at them, they drop their rifle as they stumble away off-balance.
I raise my fists in a fighting posture as the trooper does the same. We circle each other as I wait for them to make the first strike. Studying his body language, I notice that they're shaking - although, only slightly. Just enough that it's noticeable. Looking at their faceplate, I feel as though I can almost see through their helmet. Imagining a terrified expression on their face makes me flash a cocky grin. The trooper loses their nerve and moves in to strike. Once they throw their first punch, I duck and strike at their exposed abdomen. They lurch over as I maneuver behind them. I punch several times at the exposed portion of their lower back, striking both kidneys with a stinging flurry. The trooper yelps with intense pain, arching their back away from me and exposing their neck. I place my arm over their open neck in a reverse-guillotine movement, choking them. I turn my body slightly into theirs, then drop to a knee. Their neck breaks over my leg with a loud Snap! as I roll the body forward and away.
I stand up, brushing the dust off of me as I turn back towards the main entrance. Corvus stands there, once again speechless with his mouth agape.
"Yeah. Some 'master assassin' I am, amirite?" I flash a smug grin.
"For the second time today, I take it all back." Corvus says with a concerned expression. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
"You already did." I roll my eyes. "Have you finally decided to tag along? Don't like your new friends?"
"Let's go before I change my mind. How close are we?"
I check the holo-map displayed above my wrist. A line appears, drawing a path from us to the access point. It's three kilometers away.
"Three klicks out. Thirty-minute walk, twenty if you're feeling frisky." I pause for a moment. "Uh, how long were we in there?" I ask, referring to the prison.
"An hour, maybe two. Give or take." Corvus replies. "Not including the half-hour ride to get here."
"In that case, I suggest we get moving before we lose any more time."
We power-walk at a relatively fast pace, heading straight down the street before making several turns. We cover a lot of ground, making it about ten blocks away before I get hit with a subtle realization. I stop walking for a moment and hold up my TAC-PAD, tapping a button on-screen.
"/Vox, this is Nova./" I speak into the built-in communicator.
A slow minute passes by.
"/Send traffic./" Vox keys back.
"/We're five minutes from the entryway. Ran into some trouble, got sidetracked./"
"/I've heard. Wes and Sam send their warm regards. The Patriots thank you for your valor and bravery. Keep up the good work./"
I raise an eyebrow at the somewhat excessive compliments and thanks.
"/Uh, no problem./" I awkwardly key back.
"/I'll update the escort and the fellas guarding the AP. Vox out./"
That was… odd, to say the least.
"You good?" Corvus asks as we pick our pace back up.
"Yeah. Wasn't expecting niceties." I say, turning another corner. "I think Darius has punishment hardwired into my brain."
"I know what you mean." Corvus says, his bleak tone matching mine.
Darius' favorite method of teaching was failure, and the consequences that came with it. To him, failure wasn't an option, which is why it needed to be beaten out of us. I've had bones broken, my face smashed into a pulp, my body put through Hell and back - all under the preface of 'learning'. Darius has a strange knack for pain and watching people suffer. I've endured hours of interrogation and torture, with the numerous scars to prove it. I am hardened; physically, mentally, spiritually. Body, mind and soul. I have an iron will that cannot be broken.
Yet, sometimes I wonder what the cost was. How much of my Humanity did I lose to become this ruthless machine? Did I ever have any in the first place? Vox asked me what my stake in this was. To tell the truth, this is the only life I've ever known. The only one I'd ever been granted. Without Darius, I'd be nothing. A wandering Drifter, damned to a worthless existence in permanent exile. How could I ever imagine a life without the cartel, without Darius? He saved me, gave me a purpose where there was none, a family to call my own. I owe him everything.
/The Patriots thank you for your valor and bravery. Keep up the good work./
The words echo through my mind like a virus taking hold. What would life have been like, had I been inducted into a group like the Patriots? What would I have been like? Could I turn to them even now? I shake my head at the thought of defection. I am not a traitor.
The next five minutes fly by as we make it to the coordinates. We approach a massive building, situated by itself. It almost looks like some sort of factory, perhaps a refinery. No other buildings on either side of it for at least three property lines. The building itself looks completely abandoned and in a terrible state of disrepair. Most of the windows are broken and grime clings to every square inch of rusted metal. I walk up to the front doors and knock.
"Seriously?" Corvus asks.
"What?" I ask, kicking the double doors open when I don't get a response from inside.
We walk in, weapons at the ready. We find ourselves in a corridor leading only forward, with another set of double doors at the end. I again kick the doors open, strolling inside a huge main room dominated by an assembly line and an exposed central elevator.
"Would you stop doing that?!" Corvus strains to whisper.
"You could have just knocked." A masculine voice calls out from the darkness. Suddenly we're surrounded by ten armed guards.
"I did." I say, shrugging.
"Everyone stand down, these are the folks we're expecting." The same voice calls out, this time originating from one of the guards. He approaches us, offering his hand.
"Corporal Bryant, at your service." He says, shaking our hands. "Elevator's this way. Hate to rush you out so soon, but we'll have to keep this short and sweet."
"We got word that Icarus is sending out hunting parties. Between the firefights and the prison break, we may have kicked the hornets' nest. They're pissed."
"Good. Let them come. They'll never have the numbers or balls to take the lower-city." I smirk.
"They won't need the numbers when they get the firepower."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Corvus chimes in.
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. Just get to that Amp, the escorts' waiting. I'm sure your boss is too." Bryant gestures us to the elevator.
I step on the elevator. It's entirely exposed, with no walls to speak of. Just a central console on a platform, with huge gears on either side. Of the two buttons on the console, I press the 'down' button. The elevator lurches downward all of the sudden. It continues its descent with a slow, steady pace as we're swallowed by the darkness in the elevator tunnel below.
"I'm sorry." Corvus says, breaking the silence.
"Don't be." I quickly say, trying to end the argument before it begins.
"You shouldn't be." I continue, this time consoling him. "It's not your fault."
"What?" Corvus says, utterly surprised.
"I'm going to say this exactly once, so you better get it on recording while you can." I look him dead in the eyes, my expression deadpan. "You're not wrong."
Corvus almost looks shocked. He stands there in silence, unable to say anything. Images begin flashing through my mind as I become lost in thought; The blonde haired soldier I murdered, her commanding Sergeant who quickly joined her, the vivid arguments with Corvus. Blue eyes, belonging to an unblemished face, stare into my own. Another set of brown eyes, surrounded by crows feet and wrinkles, replace the previous blue. I see a brief glimpse of the administrator, who's face I never even saw despite the intimacy of it all. I shake my head out of the daze, refusing to dwell on it any longer. I let the groaning of the gears occupy my mind, as the rest of the elevator ride goes by in relative silence.