Continued From E2:P1
Officer Daggum sat behind the front security checkpoint for the main entrance to the main precinct. He sighed heavily as another group of young, fresh faced, officers waltzed by, their steps quick and sure and their postures strong. For the ten-thousandth time he cursed the ancestors of the man that had stabbed him in the spine almost a decade ago. Sure they were busy rotting in a Cheenha maximum security prison complex, but did that make his leg work again?
He shook his head sadly, the other nearby officers sparing him singular glances before deciding he wasn't a character of interest. All he wanted was to feel useful again, needed even. But so far all he had been doing is light work, the kind of thing they gave elderly near-retirees.
He wasn't nearly that old damnit! He sat up a little straighter, the righteous indignation giving him the energy he was otherwise lacking. In his new and slightly more aware state he chanced to look out through the front entrance.
Outside the main doors he saw a pair of people in dark clothes heave a large box onto the front steps. The first thing he noticed was their attire, their faces were covered in black masks that hid their identities from scrutiny. Sure, that wasn’t exactly illegal, but right in front of the main police precinct for the district? Yes, that was indeed suspicious.
Officer Daggum started to stand as the pair ran away, the large box still sitting in front of the main entrance some distance away. Several nearby pedestrians and officers were now starting to notice the activity. He grabbed his cane and stood, he only took a single step towards the door when there was a bright flash and a wall of force slammed him to the ground. His vision blacked out for a second as his head had a brief boxing match with the floor.
He came too on the ground, a shrill ringing in his ears. He coughed harshly as dust filled his eyes and mouth, he shifted, pushing himself up onto his hands and knees as rubble fell from the ceiling above him. The man crawled painfully towards the corner of the front desk, cracks evident in its resin frame from heavy impacts upon its face.
What had just happened? An explosion? Likely some manner of anti-unity extremist attack, if the face-masked villains on the front steps were any indicator.
As he dragged himself shakily to his knees his hearing started to come back. The ringing silence subsequently was replaced with screams and cries of pain from other injured people. What kind of people were responsible for this?
Officer Daggum looked around, the front of the building was in shambles. The entire entrance way was blown away, only a gaping hole where there had been glazmite windows and the security checkpoint. He checked his waist for his service pistol, but it wasn’t there. He looked around frantically for a moment but it must have been lost in the blast. How could he have lost it?
Instead of worrying about it he reached for his cane, the carbon fiber tube was undamaged by the explosion and he used it to drag himself to his feet and hobble towards his station. Maybe if his computer was still operational he could trigger an alert.
As he moved towards it he heard a commotion from behind him. The sound of automatic gunfire and laser blasts seemed to follow him and he turned his head. As he looked back his eyes widened, there were more than two of them it seemed. In fact, an entire cadre of heavily armed people stormed through the breach in the front of the building, firing their weapons indiscriminately into anything that moved.
Officer Daggum lurched towards his computer as he saw a pair of younger officers cut down execution style. Their bodies were sundered by the heavy fire as their killers marched into the building proper, the clank of armour and weapons almost as loud as the gunfire itself. He counted at least two dozen of them so far, all of them moving with the precision of trained killers. No movements wasted and all angles covered by their weapons.
They hadn’t seen him yet, but a cold sinking realisation gripped his heart like an iron fist. He was going to die here. At least he could go down fighting.
Daggum reached his console and slapped the emergency alert button, making sure to ender the three digit code for gunmen in the building. He then opened the drawer on the right side of the small workstation area, reaching inside for the standard police issue IAC Port-20 ten-millimeter pistol he kept in case of emergencies just like this. The weapon felt a little heavy in his out of practice hands but he put the sight on target and pulled the trigger.
He had set it for burst fire, and as the five round burst impacted the nearest invader a savage grin crossed his face when they went down hard. Almost before he could comprehend it a barrage of fire returned his direction and he croaked in pain as something hot hit him in the arm. There was a terrific cracking sound and he felt something wet splash across his face as he was slammed into the wall behind him.
He groaned and tried to wipe his face with his right hand, but nothing happened. He looked down and was horrified to see a partially cauterised stump where his forearm had been a second before. He must have been hit by a beam weapon, a laser would not have done as much damage and a standard firearm would not have cauterised the wound in that manner.
These thoughts and more flashed through his mind just as the pain began to set in. It was as if his entire right side had been plunged into ice, the numbness setting in as his body went into shock. Even the adrenaline that coursed through his body was not nearly enough to keep him going.
He looked around for his weapon but saw it was nowhere to be found, probably on a surprise vacation with his right hand. He cursed loudly as he heard footsteps. A trio of faces loomed over the counter and pointed weapons at him, Daggum closed his eyes and waited for death.
Before it happened though a deep voice called out loudly, “Wait!”
The thugs seemed to grow a little disappointed and pulled back. Another set of footsteps approached and presently a new figure emerged into Daggum’s greying vision. It was the thug he had shot, the man took off his armoured face mask and spat a wad of blood onto the floor. He was bleeding from what looked like a graze on his temple and he moved painfully, likely bruising from the gunfire that had been stopped by his armour.
The human looked at him cruelly. “This one is mine. You all know the mission, get to it. We need to be in and out before this hive gets alerted and collapses on top of us.” the other masked faces nodded or saluted in unison before hurriedly departing. Shouts and the clamour of armoured boots receded into the distance as Daggum watched the man climb over the countertop slowly and painfully.
He landed heavily and cursed, blood dripping from a wound in his shoulder where at least one of Daggum’s bullets had found its mark. The man crouched low by his side and drew a plain looking knife from a sheath on his arm. The handle looked to be made of some sort of bone inlaid with small gold vine-like patterns. He pointed it at Daggum and asked him, “Do you know what the most painful thing a man can experience is?”
Daggum wanted to tell the man to go and fornicate with a grinskal, but he lacked the breath to utter the words properly. Instead it came out as, “Guuhho… fffuuffcck..” The man just smiled. A cold smile that didn't seem to reach his lifeless looking eyes.
The dead-eyed man shook his head and gave Daggum a few gentle slaps on the cheek. “Stay with me now, I didn’t say you could leave yet did I?”
Daggum wanted to punch the smug man right in his grinning mouth. But his arms no longer responded to his commands and he realised with a sense of profound calm that his neck must be broken. The fact he was still conscious was a miracle in and of itself. So instead of trying it he simply gave the man the best stink eye that he could manage. ‘Yeah, take that you arrogant bastard.’ He thought to himself tiredly as the man frowned in anger at his continued defiance.
The black clothed human stood and delivered a savage kick to Daggum’s chest. There was a cracking sound as something broke, but Daggum didn't feel it. In fact he couldn't feel anything, that cold numbness had overtaken him completely. His mind slowly dipping lower and lower into that frozen sea of nothingness as his vision narrowed.
The man seemed to be speaking again as he flashed that damn knife, but Daggum’s ears couldn't hear, his eyes wouldn't see. He let out a long slow breath as he accepted his fate, and then darkness fell over his mind like a cloak and swallowed him whole.
**********
Tekk’nak kicked the corpse in front of him one more time for good measure.
“Damned asshole. You just had to go and die huh?” He sheathed his grandfather’s knife and hopped back over the damaged countertop. “Unbelievable! The fucking nerve of these..” He stopped and winced as his shoulder twinged.
The armoured man checked his shoulder again and swore once more under his breath. “Damnit.”
He pulled out a small device from his belt, it looked like a cross between an assistant and a lon-range communicator. In reality it was both, but with the added benefit of being encrypted in a manner that made its signal virtually untraceable.
The line buzzed for a few moments before a modulated voice answered his call. “Yes? Is it done already?”
Tekk’nak shook his head out of habi even though his client could not see him directly. “Not yet, but it will be. I am calling to tell you that the deal might be a bit more expensive than we originally discussed.”
He grinned as the voice retorted angrily, the modulator fizzing as it stopped working for a single moment. “This is unacceptable! You get the job done, and quickly. Then and only then will I be willing to discuss payment changes and options with you.” The voice paused. “I was told you were the best, was I misled?”
This caused Tekk’nak to clench his jaw. The pain in his shoulder now completely forgotten in the face of the voice’s implied insult. He spoke in a dangerously calm manner, his tone making it clear to the impudent voice that their candor should reflect their respect. “I would warn you that insults to me and mine are insults to my Mistress as well. And I don’t think you need to be warned what she thinks of those that disrespect her.”
The voice backpedaled, but only a little. “I understand, but I also am paying an exorbitant amount for this assassination. So get it done, or I will tell your Mistress myself that you have failed.” Tekk’nak growled and ended the call with a furious jab of the button.
He breathed in and out several times, attempting to calm himself before replacing the device in his pocket. Oh yes, he would have words with the headMistress about the voice’s words alright. They might be a big important individual where they were from, but down in the dirt and shit and blood there was a different code. Honor and loyalty were more important when all one had was the clothes on their back.
He turned and looked at the dead police officer he had been wanting to kill. No, this mission was not personal. But it did feel a little more than business, something about the atmosphere maybe? They had never directly hit a police precinct or station before, and the progress they made pretty much guaranteed that they would all be shot on sight if their identities came out. But that was alright, the things he had done already guaranteed him a place in the deepest crevasse of the eternal afterlife.
It was of no importance to him what happened after this life. Not when his Mistress was counting on him now. He needed to join his conscripts, they were good soldiers but they lacked any real leadership skills. No creativity or advanced tactics. He smiled as he strode further into the precinct, he felt powerful. To strike directly at the enemy’s heart, now that was truly what he had been made to do.
Tekk’nak hefted his rifle and walked further into the police station, dark purpose guiding his measured steps. He had himplets to slaughter.
**********
Balinski slammed the interrogation room’s door open, startling the two Havoc troopers that had been standing watch outside.
The leader of the troop, a burly human female in powered armour, rushed through the far door thay led to the hall outside. “Commander Siyel! Are you alright?!” The concern in her voice was genuine, Siyel must have chosen her troop specifically for this task.
“Yes, I’m fine, Tanya. What’s the situation? That felt like an explosion.” Siyel put an arm out, using Balinski’s sturdy frame to steady herself.
Tanya’s troopers moved alongside them as they walked towards the hallway. Balinski looked behind him and called loudly, “Caesar, here!”
Like a torpedo made of steel and wrath, Caesar blasted out of the other room and to his side. Her hackles raised and her body posture intensely alert for any signs of potential danger. Balinski put a hand on her head, giving her a quick scrub and muttering, “Keep your nose alert for danger, ok girl?” She woofed, the small sound making him smile.
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Siyel gave him a hard look, “We need to move. Tanya, leave half of your troop here to cover Slake. I don’t care if this is an unrelated incident, we cannot lose him. Under no circumstances is he allowed to leave that interrogation room.” The woman nodded and donned her helmet. The faint crackle of static telling him that she was using a secure channel to her troops.
Presently several of the troopers peeled off to go and take up defensive positions outside the interrogation room. Their weapons unholstered and ready for action. Tanya herself unslung a large Malcolm cannon, the revolving ordinance launcher capable of devastating fire in close quarters.
Tanya looked at Siyel and Balinski and asked, “Are you armed?”
Siyel shook her head. “I put my rifle back up in the armoury when we got back. Balinski probably has that handcannon of his though..” She glanced at him and he pulled his ThunderEagle out of his shoulder holster with a nod.
Tanya shook her helmeted head, her range of motion remarkably preserved despite the heavy armour she wore. “That isn’t going to cut it. If there is an emergency then you are going to need actual weapons.
They stepped out into the long hallway and Balinski immediately noticed the lack of activity. No officers roamed the hall, no alarms blared.
He turned to look at Siyel, “How do we even know there is an emergency…” As if to spite him, the lights concealed up by the ceiling flashed to life and a low pulsing tone signaled that there were armed intruders in the building. “Well. That does it.”
Tanya seemed to chuckle for a second before motioning them to follow, but Balinski took point alongside her. “What are you doing? Get behind me!” She shouted as they made their way down the hall.
He shook his head, his wide brimmed hat shielding him from the glaring alarm lights. “Negative. I am here to protect and serve, just like you.”
She was silent for a minute before muttering something that didn't quite make it through her external speakers properly. “Who even are you?”
He gave her a quick nod as they rounded a corner into a wider main hallway. “Balinski Katars, a pleasure to meet you.”
Before she could respond Caesar barked a warning and he whipped his gun up into a ready position. Gunfire roared at them from farther down the hall and the inaccurate shots ricocheted dangerously off walls and floor alike. Several of the shots striking his armoured chest and legs.
“They are in the armoury, we need to prevent them from accessing heavier weapons!” Siyel shouted.
Balinski knew what he had to do, he looked at Tanya and gestured forwards. “You feel like blocking for me?”
She nodded and as one they charged. Balinski was three steps behind the woman, he had to duck slightly to hide his bulk behind her shorter frame, but as the sound of ricocheting bullets filled the hall he was glad for the cover. They made the gap in less than ten seconds, the time felt stretched though. His adrenaline picked up, and with his vastly reduced biological mass it hit him like a hammerblow.
Time slowed from his perspective, his cybernetics doing calculations in his mind to map out optimal trajectories and put him into the best possible position to storm the room. He lined up as Tanya slammed into the doorframe, deforming it in the process as she tried to come to an immediate stop in her heavy armour.
As a flurry of shots were directed at her, Balinski used her body as a backstop to angle himself into the room. He entered at a low sideways angle, pistol fully extended as he searched for targets. He saw at least five armed insurgents, two of which were in the open.
The room was full of lockers, many of them sealed and closed. It was behind several of these that the attackers were hiding. Balinski fired his huge revolver. The first .50 caliber bullet flew from its barrel in a cloud of fire and smoke to hit one of the thugs square in the chest. The impact of the bullet was enough to knock them from their feet and send them crashing into the shelving unit behind them, ammo containers and weapon attachments scattering all around their crumpled body.
He lined up the gun on the other exposed criminal he saw and fired at their unarmoured neck. The slaaveth catching the round right under their chin. The large caliber round punched through their scaled flesh like it was paper maché and tore a hole through them large enough to see through, bright purplish blood splashed the walls as they clutched their ruined throat and fell choking to their knees.
Balinski used the opening to dive into the cover of a nearby locker as Tanya struggled free from the crumpled door frame and charged into the room. She fired her smoothbore ordnance launcher two times, something clattering off the far wall before emitting a hissing sound. He peeked, she had fired smoke grenades. Likely just some manner of obscuring gas but still potentially an issue for him. He covered his mouth with a sleeve from his jacket and looked around, testing the air. Tanya rushed around the leftmost corner as he did so, the woman slinging her gun and drawing a truly wicked looking vibro-sickle. The blade began to oscillate at a very high frequency, the blade turning ethereal in appearance as a deadly hum filled the room.
Balinski leaned out from cover as the enraged woman drove two of the thugs from cover. He pumped a shot into the back of the first one’s knee. The mask wearing slaaveth going down with a sharp shriek of pain. He holstered his revolver with practiced ease as he stood, its three round capacity now spent. As he charged he extended the twenty-five centimeter blade that was hidden in his cybernetic forearm.
Tanya slashed her vibro-sickle across the other invader’s chest. The blade slicing clean through the soft layers of their body armour and shaving off a smattering of flakes from the underlying hardened steel plate. The slaaveth female recoiled, a curse on her lips as she snapped her jule2000 laser rifle up and let off a series of close range shots directly into the power armoured woman’s breastplate. The impacts leaving smouldering, charred craters in the otherwise pristine navy grey metal.
Fortune was on her side however, for as she was knocked back the slaaveth woman stumbled over the still thrashing body of her comrade. She went down in a heap right as Tanya regained her footing.
Balinski didn’t get to see what happened next as he was charging into combat too. He rounded the room from the opposite side, catching the remaining gangster with their back turned. Before the masked figure even had time to turn around, Balinski rammed all twenty-five centimeters of cold titansteel between their shoulders. Neatly severing their spine and trachea and dropping them gurgling to the floor without another sound.
He was about to move to Tanya’s aid through the hazy air but was stopped by something hitting him directly in the middle of his back. He was knocked forwards half a step as he was hit two more times. He could smell the scent of burning ranx leather, his heavy overcoat suffering as his back plate blocked the shots.
He used the imparted momentum to throw himself into a forwards slide as another trio of searing red beams stabbed through the space he had only just occupied. He only had a second to react. He spotted one of the smoke grenades, the small cylinder still emitting a trickle of vapor. Balinski grabbed it and with a single fluid motion whipped it up and towards his pursuer as he rolled over onto his back.
His aim was a bit off, the canister bouncing off their left shoulder. But it was enough to throw the thug’s aim. They fired high, one of the shots just missing Balinski’s shoulder. He felt the heat of it on his cheek, curls of smoke rising from the crisped leather of his jacket.
He tried to move, to rise to his feet and charge the man. But he just didn't have the time. He could see in that instant that the man was bringing the barrel of his weapon back to bear, the adrenaline coursing through his blood making time seem to move slower. Barring some manner of miracle he was a dead man.
His miracle came, a divine bolt of grey furred fury that flew through the air like a hunter killer missile directly into the laser rifle wielding insurgent. It was Caesar, her fighting blood up at the sight of her best friend in peril. The man screamed for a second, the sound cut brutally short as Caesar clamped her vise-like cybernetic jaws on the man’s throat and shook.
The snap of their neck sounded as loud as a gunshot, the life draining from their eyes almost immediately as Caesar continued to savage their corpse. All at once tearing the slaaveth’s head clean from their body in a spray of heliotrope gore. She opened her maw, the severed head dropping to the floor as she let out a triumphant howl.
Balinski climbed to his feet quickly and motioned for Caesar to heel, she responded immediately. They rushed to the other side of the armoury to see Tanya finishing off the previously wounded slaaveth, the sickle tearing their entire throat out with a single swipe. She stood and deactivated the blade, her breathing heavy enough to reverberate through her helmet speakers.
She nodded towards him, her armour dinged and scarred but still in near full fighting condition. She walked towards him and held out a gauntleted hand, “I am sorry I doubted you Balinski. You really hold your own. Military?” She asked, her question more implied than spoken.
Balinski nodded. “Yeah, ex-ground pounder. Retired as you can tell. Saw combat at Zaphron-IV before I.. got out.” He saw her body posture change almost instantly as he said it.
She paused, her hand flying to her helmet as if in surprise. “Wait, you are that Balinski.. the martyr of Complex-82?” He instantly regretted his words as she seemed to recognise him. She took a step back as the sound of heavy footsteps entered the room. “Holy Luck, I.. wow.”
He just waved a hand, trying not to cut her off rudely. “It’s fine, don’t even worry about it.”
She shook her head, the glowing eyes of her helmet fixated on him. “You are a legend though, you survived against all those odds, I remember when the holonet announced that you were still alive. What you went through..” This time he did cut her off.
“I don’t really want to talk about it..” He said it firmly, not trying to be impolite but not wanting the conversation to continue. She seemed to want to say more but stopped as she saw the pained look on his face. Eventually they would all ask what it was like, what had happened. He felt his chest tightening as the memories flooded his mind, too much.. It was always too damn much.
He heard Caesar whine as his head seemed to split like an overripe melon, the pain as intense as it was sudden. He fell to a single knee, the impact of his cybernetic joint actually cracking the tile flooring under himself as his mind descended once more into that old madness. Crazed images flashed through his mind accompanied by sights and smells that all stank of death and pain.
A butcher’s saw, dirty red linens stained with arterial blood. The scent of gangrenous rotted flesh and necrotised tissue. The pain of a cauterized wound with no anesthetic. Faster and faster the images flashed till something else intruded on this hell. It was a sound, familiar and soothing. A noise from his childhood, one that seemed to combat the fire and death. It was a subtle sound, like that of a plane far overhead in the sky or an air conditioning unit in another room.
Balinski grasped onto the noise and allowed it to yank him out of his nightmare. It was Caesar, the dog having sensed the onset of a PTSD attack and moved to comfort him. She was nestled under his torso and arm, using her strong back and legs to support him as he sat partially slumped against the back row of lockers.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. He looked up with slightly blurry vision and saw with a pang of shock that Siyel was crouched next to him. She had a concerned look on her face and stood once she saw he was awake.
She hefted a long barreled rifle in her hands and gestured towards him, “Are you alright? You took some hits there, Tanya was afraid you had been injured.” Her tail twitched behind her, held slightly aloft as she gave him a pointed look.
He raised a hand and used the wall to help himself to his feet, groaning as he did so. “No, I’m fine. We need to get moving, these guys have already infiltrated this far into the building. Who knows where they may have gotten to.”
Siyel shook her horned head slowly. “It’s worse than that. We have over a dozen reports of officers down. At least three dozen confirmed insurgents have infiltrated the building working in small groups. The one we took down here was missing a man, they may have been injured in the initial assault.”
Balinski nodded, not exactly surprised but still a little wary of the situation as a whole. It was nearly inconceivable to him that the station had been attacked in the first place, and to come so close on the heels of Slake’s capture? No, the events were definitely related to each other.
He looked around the room fully expecting to see Tanya and her Havocs. But they were alone. “Where did the other’s go?” He asked her curiously.
She motioned for him to get moving and replied quickly, “I sent them ahead. Here, grab a gun. We are going to need them I am sure.”
Balinski frowned at her response. She should have left him behind as she was a high ranking police official, and part of him wanted to say it. But the larger part of him was a bit more interested in why she had chosen to stay with him. He walked along the side of the room, trying to avoid the blood and bodies that lay sprawled out on the floor.
Siyel led him to a large opened locker, this one full of high powered weapons. He saw MR-12s and LMR v.17s as well as a few rupulse carbines and beamers. But the weapon that stood out immediately to him was a slightly modified GR74F-8 heavy gauss rifle. He reached out and hefted it, the heavy weapon felt comfortable in his cybernetic hands. The weight both familiar and strange, reminding him of the heavy weapons he used to wield as a ground pounder.
He set the weapon aside, grabbing a few spare power cells and some boxes of slugs before he turned to Siyel, a large smile on his otherwise craggy features. “Oh, I think this will do nicely.”
She gave him a knowing look, one black eyebrow raised. “Yeah? I figured you would grab the biggest one available. Ok, come on. We need to get to the nearest control center, I sent Tanya out ahead to help evacuate the building. The alarm should have given most others ample time to either armour up or get out, so be ready for anything.” She gave him a second to digest her words before she dipped away, her movements as graceful as those of a dancer.
He followed the nerivith woman, their progress halting at the door to the hall as Balinski threw out an arm. “I’m taking point.”
Siyel cocked her head and responded gruffly, “You have no power to tell me what to do Balinski.” She looked like she wanted to say more but he cut her off with a head shake. His cybernetics whined slightly as he shrugged.
“You are absolutely right, Siyel.” He made a gesture towards the hallway. “After you then if you feel the need to be unnecessarily overzealous.”
She frowned and then hefted her weapon, using it to gesture towards the hall. “Fine, but I would appreciate you not making determinations without at least asking for what I think.” He chuckled.
Siyel let him lead the way, Balinski gesturing for Caesar to stay back too. He looked around quickly, searching for any hint of danger or terrorists. He saw none. He waved the all clear and the trio crept along the hallway in the direction they had been traveling before.
He paused as in the distance an exchange of gunfire was heard. The noises careening along the walls, carried farther than would have normally been possible when the station was full of people.
Balinski led the two down the hall slowly, but not so slow that they might get caught out in the open. As they reached the end of the hall and turned he heard another burst of what sounded like automatic gunfire. Closer this time and more prolonged. It might be a gunfight between the insurgents and surviving officers. He glanced at Siyel, the unspoken question on his lips. She just nodded to him and checked her weapon.
If anything was to happen to Siyel, Balinski wouldn't be able to forgive himself. So just before they reached the next corner where the sounds were strongest he held out a hand for her to slow. He gave her a glance, “Please be careful, Siyel.”
The pink skinned woman nodded, her raven hair held back in that tight ponytail. “And you as well, Balinski. I have your six.” He nodded, and with a deep breath he broke from cover with a shout of fury.
Continued in E2:P3