An eerie silence lay within the room, a quiet tension building.
"Why..." I asked, staring down the barrel of a gun. "What happened to that talk of citizenship?"
"Citizenship?" Luca laughed, "As if I could give a shit!"
"No..." He sneered, "I'm here purely for profit, I have some rather large backers who are interested in our friend..."
"Tch- figured, you'd be the kind of weasel to do so."
I needed to unplug my neural link, if I activated any of my implants still plugged in it would damage my frontal lobe. I just needed to move my hand a little...
"Ah- I don't think so~" Said Luca, "Any sudden movements and I'll fire."
"We both know a bullet isn't enough to stop us." I replied.
"No... But if I trip the alarm, a Kang Tao assault squadron will swarm the base within minutes."
Damn, if our involvement were to be exposed, they'd have no choice but to neutralize us.
"But that would mean you'd end up the same as us." I protested.
"No... My charges were taken out before deployment." Luca replied, "Courtesy of one "Arasaka incorporated"."
"Militech's rival? They're after Bartmoss? Why?"
"That's on a need-to-know basis, as in I don't get paid enough to care." he sighed sarcastically, "But you should be more worried about yourself. Seeing you'll be dead soon..."
He raised the gun to the alarm system. "Shit!"
"BANG!"
I ripped my link out from the terminal activating my sandevistan; the bullet slowly moved through the air, I reached out to grab it, but it was too late; I watched as it slipped through my fingers smashing into the alarm.
"BEEN! BEEN! BEEN!" The alarm blared all across the compound; the stomping footsteps of the guards could be heard as they ran down the hallway.
"You..." I turned to Luca.
"-Have about 5 mins before they arrive? And 10 give or take before you end up a party balloon; that should give you enough time to-"
"WHAM!" Activating the berserker I slammed my fist into his face, sending him flying through the steel wall. "...Enough time to string you by your balls you Italian-fuck!"
"Ha ha! Splendido!*" (Splendid)* He laughed, pulling himself out of the crater he had made in the wall.
Using the shards of concrete, he threw them like projectiles; but I swiftly avoided them with the use of the sandy.
Using his leg enhancements, he pushed himself off the wall, rocketing himself forward with tremendous speed. I responded in kind by pulling a pipe out from the wall; it made a large "Klang!" as his fist met metal.
Using his monowire implant he wrapped his wires around the pipe, slicing it to ribbons. Poised at his heart I activated my mantis blades, but he created a barrier using wires.
I quickly grabbed the wires throwing him against the wall following with a right hook.
He dodged, causing my fist to rock the hallway as it collided with a metal pillar.
He jumped back, but as he did the ceiling began to cave in separating us.
"I guess that will conclude our dance, hm?" He smiled, "Arrivederci my friend, best of luck in the next life~!"
"LUCA!!" I yelled as the ceiling completely collapsed in on itself.
I was left alone in a hall of floating debris; I quickly ran to the monitors.
The facility was being swarmed with guards down every hallway, they'd soon be here. "Damn..."
"Where is-" I checked through the thermal cameras for any change in heat.
I noticed a drop in air temperature in a back access hall, most likely the endoskeleton's cooling system.
"There! I just need-"
"Click!" "Click!" "Chack!" The sound of guards readying their weapons touched my ear.
"jǔqǐshǒulái"* (Hands up!)*
I slowly raised my hands, preparing to use the sandy.
"zhuǎnshēn!"* (Turn around!)*
I couldn't let them see my face, so in a moment of desperation I activated the mantis blades, cutting a vent wide open as it spilled hot steam into the room.
"Ahh!" The men cried out as they shielded themselves.
Instantly the world went still, I turned around grabbing a man's arm, like child's play he was thrown into the others, ripping it off in the process.
As they slowly fell backwards, I used my blades to turn six men into piles of flayed meat. In a manner of moments an eruption of blood covered the room in a grizzly display of crimson.
The remaining men looked at me with horror in their eyes. "móguǐ!"* (Demon!)*
I prepared to neutralize the rest when- "Czzt~!"
"What!?" I had overclocked my neural processor; the sandy needed time to reset.
The men called for reinforcements. "Shit!" I quickly cut a hole through the wall slipping through, running down the hall I turned on my optical camo hoping to slip away.
Suddenly, automated turrets appeared out of the walls, I turned back but was met with more guards. "tā zàizhèlǐ!"* (He's here!)* Yelled a man with optical implants.
The sandy hadn't finished yet, but I was surrounded on either side. "huǒzāi!"* (Fire!)*
"Damnit all!" I yelled, preparing for the worst.
Then there was a quiet, "What...?"
A few moments had passed but there wasn't any discharge of any weapons. The men had gone silent, as if frozen in time.
Then one spoke out. "Yo!" He called out, sticking his hand above the crowd.
He made his way through the group of statues, "Give me a sec, hey!" I readied myself.
He stepped out, a single guard.
"He knows English..." I thought.
"I heard you were lookin' for me," He said with a smile, "Here I am~"
"Who are-"
"So glad you asked," He bowed, "I" am "Lord Bartmoss the Third"." He grinned, tipping an imaginary hat.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance..."
"The hell-?" I said with a stupidly confused look on my face.
"However, most know me as Rache... Bartmoss." He said, striking a pose. "And "we" have a lot to talk about, my friend-"