Dan

Dan and Angie got themselves up to the landing pad thanks to Li pulling both of them up. As for the container, Dan briefly activated his berserk form to left the container over his head so that Li could drag it onto the landing pad. The environment was an eerie mix of the loud pelting of heavy ran and clattering of hail on the landing pad and just silence from lack of enemy activity. It had been at least a few minutes since Dan and Angie had regrouped with Li on the roof and still no one had come up to stop them.

“Angie, you have anymore explosive charges?” Dan asked. “We might need at least one near that big cargo elevator.”

“Sorry Dan, that’s it. I got a grenade and rocket launcher with two missiles left, but that’s it.”

While that didn’t spell doom for them, Dan knew that if by some chance Kodak got the elevator working again and sent more enemy agents up to the roof, not having a detonated charge ready for them would make things difficult.

“Don’t worry,” Angie said. “I’ll keep my eye on the elevator and if anyone comes up, I’ll blow the shit out of them once the doors open.”

“Either way, there’s not that many entrances to the roof,” Li said. “There’s the one we came out of and the cargo elevator. We have two main locations we can funnel the enemy through. Anyone who tries to come at us will be shot down. Have have the roof under our control, unless we get any enemy aircraft.”

While Li’s words of assurance gave Dan the confidence that they would pull through and complete this mission, Dan still gripped his Aero tightly. In this final stretch of this heist, things could still go wrong and it was best not to let his guard down.

“Why so serious?” Angie said, poking her elbow into Dan’s arm. “We got this. No sweat at all.”

“I know, I know,” Dan said. “Just remaining vigilant. We still have to wait for Michael to get up here and our ride isn’t here yet either. A lot can still go wrong.”

“I need to take you out for drinks when we’re done,” Angie said. “Li’s not invited though.”

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“No offense taken,” Li deadpanned.

All three immediately picked up an audible ding from the cargo elevator and Angie pointed her grenade launcher at the doors. The elevator slowly opened and Dan saw five Kodak agents rush out. But Angie was faster.

A grenade slashed through the rain and hail and blew up the Kodak agents emerging out of the elevator. Dan saw the dismembered bits of one agent fly across the roof while everyone else were flung in various directions by the blast. Out of the five, only two were still moving as they both struggled to get back on their feet.

Angie followed up with a second and third grenade. Not to blow up the remaining Kodak agents, but directly at the elevator. She blew apart the cargo elevator, sending it down the shaft in flames. This eliminated one of two entry points for Kodak.

One Kodak agent raised their rifle at the landing pad, but Li fired first and a jet of blood shoot out from the agent’s neck and he collapsed. The second Kodak agent dived behind a barrier on the roof. He lifted his assault rifle and fired blindly at the team, none of the shots connecting.

Dan’s ears picked up more loud bangs and saw the bits of flying debris shoot out of the roof entrance. Angie’s explosive traps were doing their job at halting additional Kodak forces. Dan assumed they had the situation under control, until he saw something in the corner of his eye. What looked like a metal panel on the ground lifted itself up and flipped over. There, Dan stared in horror as a familiar bombshell blond jumped out of the gap in the floor.

Not only that, Kate the traitorous bitch brought some friends with her, another five Kodak agents, including a still alive Adam Torrent. Adam was the last out of the hole in the floor as he staggered out, probably still wounded from the earlier confrontation.

“That is not fucking good,” Dan said out loud.

Li peppered a distant barricad with shredder rounds, pinning down the lone Kodak agent before he jerked his head in Dan’s direction. “Dan, let us handle the little guys. You’re the only one who can take on Kate and Adam. Good luck.” Li threw him something and Dan snatched it in his hand. Looking in his gloved hand, it was a set of small throwing knives. Three of them.

“Sorry Dan, I’m running dry with my equipment. That’s all I can give you.”

Dan watched as the Kodak agents, all except Kate and Adam, spread out and began shooting wildly at their position. Li put a burst of shredder rounds into the torso of one agent, stopping him dead in his tracks as he fell to his knees with blood squirting out from his wounds.

Angie also screwed up their coordination by shooting grenades into their midst, prevent the Kodak forces from grouping up with each other.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dan responded. He held each throwing knife in between the fingers of his left hand. “I’ll make it work.”