Dan watched the burning wreck of the crashed ship that Angie had shot down with her rocket launcher. The crash landing warped the side railings of the landing platform and even ripped a few pieces of deployable cover off the platform.
The few remaining Kodak agents who were now exposed out in the open while running out of the way of the crashing aircraft were blasted apart by precise bursts to the neck and head. Knowing that level of precision, those kills were most definitely Li’s.
Somehow, Dan hadn’t been killed and had another chance to cheat death once more. As long as he still breathed, he could still do something. What he wouldn’t do is use this respite to lay on the ground and wait for Kate to recover.
He knew his body would protest. Even moving his legs so that both his knees would bend was a monumental task on its own. But he had no excuses. He was alive and he would use whatever willpower he had to get himself back up.
Dan’s muscles and bones were so strained and in much pain that every little movement felt like his body was tightly wrapped in metal chains. By some miracle, Dan just barely managed to get on his hands and knees. All of his limbs twitched and shook from the strain the berserk mode had put on him.
He slowly and gradually lifted his leg and got his foot on solid ground. Pushing against the ground with his hands as hard as he could, Dan slowly got his ass back up and could finally stand on his own two legs.
Turning himself and positioning his feet to face behind him was yet another challenge his body protested hard against, but through gritted teeth and holding back his groans, he somehow did it. What he didn’t expect was to see Kate also on her feet, staring at Dan slackjawed.
“I can’t fucking believe this,” she muttered. “Just… who or what are you? How can you still even move after all that.”
Dan knew he was well beyond his physical limits. If standing back up was that painful and difficult for him, there was no way he could throw a punch even if he wanted to. But watching the bewilderment on Kate’s face brought a smile to his face.
“It’s simple,” Dan said. “I’m an Alpha agent and I have a job to do and a duty to help my teammates out. You should learn from me Kate.”
Throwing an obvious jab referencing Kate’s betrayal, words were the only weapon Dan had at the moment. He couldn’t even lift up his arm to give Kate the middle finger. Unless…
Kate gripped her combat knife tightly. Her expression changed from shock to grim determination.
“You’re one of the most persistent enemies I’ve ever faced in my career, Dan Orion,” She began. “And so, I’ll give you a merciful death without pain. It looks like you over did it during this fight. I’ll put all of your grief over my actions to rest.”
Dan couls only think of one move he could make against Kate that didn’t involve him moving a muscle.
Summoning whatever feelings of anger he had left within him, Dan simply kept his gaze firm on Kate. She methodically stepped toward him. He could feel his eyeballs bulge and possibly pop out of his sockets from the strain. Another second passed and she still didn’t combust into flames.
Something abrupt happened and Dan’s right eye exploded with pain and more blood leaking from his right socket. A HUD message popped up in front of him.
Glare ability executed with only 10% effectiveness. Insufficient negative emotion.
Both Dan’s body and mind were far past their limits. He wasn’t surprised that his glare didn’t have the same deadly effect that it had on Adam. Though, he couldn’t help but feel disheartened.
The world to Dan’s entire right side was nothing but an intense red as his eyelids couldn’t contain the excessive bleeding of his right eye. But through his left eye, Dan saw Kate had stopped in her tracks.
She stared at him, but seemingly couldn’t move.
“W-what? I can’t…” she muttered. Her eyes were filled with a strange look of anxiety that wasn’t there before. Just a moment ago she was determined to land the finishing blow against him.
Even now, Dan was still learning new things about his strange powers. The glare ability at significantly reduced effectiveness had the ability to paralyze a target, thoug he didn’t know how long this would last.
With a body shot to hell and only one good eye left, Dan couldn’t captialize on Kate’s paralysis. That was the very last thing he could do to her, still defiant to the bitter end. Kate stumbled and took a step away from him. She clutched her torso and her breathing became rapid and irregular, as if she was hyperventilating.
She looked up at him and held her knife up. Dan simply stared back at her, which was all he could do. At least before he died, he would see who killed him.
Dan tuned out the loud rushing sounds behind him. It was a distinct whir sound similar to an engine, but it was all just a soup of noise to Dan’s ears just like the rain and hail falling around him. He continued to keep his eyes on Kate, but then she began acting strangely. She looked up at something behind him, high up in the air.
Then she ran for it.
Whatever energy she wanted to put into finishing off Dan, she ran for her life and Dan lost sight of her through the sheets of rain and hail.
“Dan, are you alright?” Li said. His voice sounded garbled and oddly distance in his mind.
“Fuck yeah! Our ride is…” that was Angie’s voice. Dan couldn’t hear the rest of what she had to say. Dan fell backward on his back. He had no idea that one could be so unbelievably tired to feel pain. Strangely, the piercing pains in his right eye felt numb to him. Then his HUD elaborated on his current condition.
Ruptured kidneys.
Ruptured spleen.
Brain hemorrhage.
Bleeding eyes.
Numerous broken blood vessels throughout body.
Fractures and cracks in various sections of skeleton.
Bleeding inside stomach.
Torn right deltoid muscle.
…
His HUD ran down further diagnostics that Dan couldn’t keep up with. In short, he knew he was fucked.
Dan laid without moving, staring at the dark skies and the downpour of rain and hail hammering his body and the ground around him. If he didn’t die from his injuries, then he might catch a shard of razer hail to the face. His ears picked up the deafening sounds of rotary cannons on the Alpha dropship that had arrived to pick them up. Now, Dan truly couldn’t move a muscle even if he tried.
Seeing the dark, almost pitch black sky with only a single eye, Dan decided to just close his good eye and go to sleep. He had no idea for how long, but he was at least assured that his team would get the container out of here and complete the mission. In this moment, Dan didn’t care what would happen to him in the next few minutes he still breathed. He was thankful the pain throughout his body gradually flushed out of him.
Or was it just blood loss?
Dan cracked open his good only and saw a white-sleeved arm snatched something out of the air. The air held a long jagged-edged shard of razor hail and her made out a man in white blocking his view of the dark sky.
His quiet rest was interrupted by a pair of powerful arms that grabbed hold of him. The arms slid themselves underneath his lower and upper back. He could feel enough that he was off the ground and the sky appeared to be moving rapidly. He cracked open his good eye and saw a familiar face through his blurred vision.
Dan was reminded all the way back when he took a machete to the back and was left for dead by the gang that chased him. And then the same familiar face of an older, more experienced battle-hardened agent had come to his rescue and saved his life. Dan no longer saw the sky anymore and the rain and hail couldn’t reach him anymore. Heavy footsteps pounding against a metal floor let him know he wasn’t outside anymore.
The same pair of powerful arms forced him into a seat and pulled down a safety harness for him. He watched as Angie and Li carried the container behind him and set it down on the floor of the dropship. Through his vision, he saw Michael Cynosa. He finally made it to the roof and reunited with them all. Dan’s vision faded in and out and he caught numerous disjointed moments inside the dropship. The rear door of the dropship raised and closed shut and Dan felt the sudden acceleration of the aircraft. Dim ambient lighting hit Michael face as he directly stared at him, even though his visage was still half obscured by shadows.
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The dropship still rocked and banked. Even Michael stumbled around trying to find proper balance in the turbulent ride through the storm.
Dan shuts his eyes, then opened them again. He was still on the same dropship, except the door to the rear opened. He watch Michael Cynosa and his white coat flapping in the intense winds as he used a grenade launcher to fire at a pursuing enemy aircraft. As Dan expected, Michael nailed the shot and blew up an engine on the aircraft, sending it spiraling into the dark clouds behind them.
He closed his eyes. He opened them up once again, not knowing how much time had passed.
Dan made out the blurry and unfocused figures standing in front of him. He assumed they were his teammates huddled around him. Dan heard muffling but couldn’t hear clearly what they said to him. His last memory of this flight was Michael forcing both of them into their seats as the dropship shook and banked from side to side.
He felt someone grab his hand before a sudden impact shook the entire dropship and he shut his eyes a final time.
Chapter 44
Li
Li slowly opened his eyes. His ears were wringing and it took a few seconds for his vision to stabilize. The last thing he remembered was the dropship had been shot down by Kodak aircraft in pursuit and they must have crashed. He lifted the safety harness off him and got on his feet. He looked to the side and saw Dan and Angie slumped in their seats and int their safety harnesses. The dropship was dark except for the spinning emergency light blaring shades of orange through the interior and the bay door that was ripped open. The entire aircraft was heavily tilted to one side.
It was a crash landing.
The container with the arctic serums was still intact and secured into the middle of the dropship’s floor. But from the cracks of gunfire and booming explosions outside, that wouldn’t last long. Over his head, Li grabbed an Aero SMG off its straps. He checked for his PX300 handgun on his thigh mount, confirming it was still there.
Li performed a few stretches and confirmed he hadn’t sustained any major injuries. He walked over to the door leading to the cockpit. The cockpit door was partially opened and Li stuck his fingers in the gap and forced the door aside. Inside, the two pilots laid slumped in their seats with blood splatter caoving the windshield.
The stealth specialist backed out of the cockpit and walked down the eerily quiet interiors of the dropship. The light that poured in from the opening at the end of the dropship was only marginally brighter than the spinning orange from the emergency lights. He double checked inside his coat and found two spare magazines for his Aero SMG. He hopped out of the crashed dropship and planted his feet into the sand. He looked around him and saw nothing but walls of dust and sand. He was thankful he grabbed his helmet. Li could barely see beyond fifteen meters ahead of him. He would catch the sporadic flash from an explosion off to the distance and even faint specs of light from muzzle flashes. No visibility and he didn’t know where the action was.
Perfect, Li thought, knowing such environmental conditions would be more favorable to him than the enemy.
The stealth specialist dropped down to his stomach into the sand. He looked from side to side to get his bearings on the situation. The pilots were dead, Dan and Angie were still unconscious, and Michael Cynosa was nowhere to be seen. A faint blue glow caught his eye and he watched as a silhouette of a man with a glowing blue blade chop an enemy agent in two from the waist down.
The man’s silhouette and the blue glow disappeared immediately after the kill. Li opened up a private channel to Michael.
“Cynosa, this is Li,” he said. “What can I do to help?”
“Good to hear from you Li.” Michael's voice filled his mind. “What about the others?”
“Dan and Angie are still out of it. Everyone else is dead.”
“That’s unfortunate. We’re getting hammered with waves of Kodak forces. Our ride crashed just along the border between our territory and Kodak’s. We need to hold them off at all costs before our backup arrives. Li, guard that container with your life. Do not let the enemy get to that container. We’re not going back to the Alpha Corp empty-handed.”
“Understood sir,” Li said.
The stealth specialist looked back at the wreck of a dropship and saw both wings had been torn off during the crash. One wing stood buried halfway into the sand standing up ten meters away. Li looked back at the dropship and placed a yellow waypoint on the container. If anyone got near the crash site and tried to move the container, he would know.
Li was on the move and made his way toward the severed wing. He pressed his back against the piece of aircraft debris. The next thirty seconds was nothing but a long wait. Li’s senses could only pick up the ambience of the sandstorm along with the carnage caused by Michael. The consistent staccatos of gunfire and booms of explosions made it back to Li’s ears even through the howling winds and sand grains smashing into his armor. The only reason why the crash site hadn’t been totally swarmed yet was Michael harassing the attacking forces. As a tier four agent, Li could only guess how much of a force of nature the veteran agent was to keep such a force at bay. Not only was the container a high value asset, but they were right at the border between two shards who would be willing to throw anything at the enemy to secure the serums.
In the sandstorm and his form blending in with the aircraft wing, Li was confident he would have the drop on any Kodak agent that slipped through Michael’s rampage. He leaned out from the wing and cycled through his vision modes built into his eyes. The stealth specialist settled on his tried and true x-ray mode. He saw the dark browns and beige around him shift to alternating shades of dark blues and blacks. That made the red outlines of Kodak agents all the more easier to see. Li counted a disorganzied band of six agents struggling their way toward him and the crash site.
Li aimed his Aero SMG and unloaded his shredder rounds at the approaching enemy. A burst of rounds slammed into one Kodak agent and he flopped backward, the fading red outline confirming the kill. The small force of Kodak agents were a fair distance away from each other, which meant that they didn’t immediately catch on to the death of their teammate. The small wave of enemies was only fifty meters away. Li squeezed the trigger and fired another short burst of his shredder rounds into the whirling sand.
The burst caught another Kodak agent in the middle of the disorganized pack and the enemy unceremoniously collapsed into the sand. By now, the other four had caught onto their comrade’s death. Or maybe they finally spotted Li’s muzzle flash in the shifting sands. The red outlines in Li’s vision quickened their pace. He watched as the remaining four Kodak agents holstered their ranged weapons and drew out their melee weapon.
Li gunned down a third Kodak agent before the other reached just a few meters from his wing. He ducked underneath the arc of a raging machete. The blade embedded itself into the dropship’s wing and Li let out a kick to the side, catching a Kodak agent in the ankle. The agent staggered backward and a teammate of his popped out of the whirling sand. The second Kodak agent held his katana with both hands and brought down the dark blade as its cackling white energies flashed through the sand. Li rolled to the side, evading the downward strike.
Li questioned where the third enemy agent was before something pierced his upper arm. The small knife sticking out the side of his upper arm had barely penetrated his silver coat. He dropped his Aero and grabbed the knife’s handle and immediately spotted ther third agent just at the edge of visibility in the sandstorm. Li spun the knife in his palm before he whipped it back at the sender. The Kodak agent dived out of the path of the flying knife.
He turned his attention back at the two Kodak agent who tried and failed in their swings. The one who buried his machete into the dropship wing stumbled back on his feet but tripped into the sand. The kick must have done more damage than Li thought. The other agent with the katana stared at him. Even with a helmet covering his face, Li didn’t have to observe too heavily to know the boiling rage directed at him.
“You move swiftly, I’ll give you that,” the Kodak agent said. He raised his katan and charged. “But now you die!”
The distance between the two was around seven or eight meters from Li’s estimation. The agent was so passionate with his intentions that he didn’t account for Li simply shooting him in the face. The stealth specialist reached down to his thigh mount and performed the fastest quick draw he could and blasted three rounds at the charging agent. Two rounds smashed and shattered his helmet’s faceplate while the third caught him in the throat just for good measure. The agent toppled over and fell into the sand.
The limping agent tried standing back up to retrieve his stuck machete from the wing. Li didn’t give him the opportunity. He peppered the Kodak agent with a few wild shots from his PX300. It wasn’t enough to kill him but it forced the agent to backpedal. In the howling wind, Li’s ears picked up faint boots pushing against sand. He glanced to the side and saw the same agent who threw a knife at him sloppily running toward him. The agent winded back and threw more knives at him.
Li rolled forward, evading the knives that streaked behind him. He ran up to the wing with the machete sticking out of it, continuously ducking and sidestepping more throwables flying at him. The Kodak agent finally had enough and charged Li. He saw the crackle of energies on both of the agent’s fist and knew exactly the tools his enemy resorted to.
Brass knuckles.
Li ducked his head and moved beneath the machete that still stuck out of the wing. He lashed out with a kick to the other Kodak agent’s midsection and knocked him back. Without solid ground and in the midst of a sandstorm, forcing Kodak agent to lose their balance was hilariously easy. The brass knuckled agent ducked beneath the machete and attempted a swing at Li. His movements were so broad and obvious that Li felt he was in a training simulation. The stealth specialist swerved his head out of the path of the crackling energies from the agent’s fist.
What came next was an uneventful end to this fight. Li stomped on the foot of the agent and smashed his helmet into the enemy’s head. The agent with the knuckles tripped and fell into the sand. Li pointed his silenced pistol at the enemy and blasted apart his faceplate in just two rounds.
His last enemy got back up and gave Li a pleasant surprise. Through the flying sand, he spotted a familiar red crackle of electricity radiating from the Kodak agent. The agent had resorted to the infamous berserk ability to boost his own power. The last Kodak agent charged Li with speed exceeding the others he had killed. But Li had an unexpected ace up his sleeve.
Befitting of his role and all his past experienced, Li stood definitely against the Kodak agent charging at him like an angry bull.
“That’s it,” Li whispered.
At the last possible moment, he sidestepped the rapidly charging agent and circled behind him.
Reflex ability used. Cooldown: 135 seconds.
Li shoved his boot into the back of the agent and kicked the enemy into the blade of his own machete. The blade that still remained embedded into the wing caught the raging Kodak agent in the neck. Just to be sure, Li delivered another kick and forced the agent’s neck further into the blade.
“Looks like you finally got to use your machete after all,” he taunted.
If the Kodak agent had any response at all, Li didn’t hear it through the howling winds and gunfire and explosions.
His x-ray vision caught the outlines of rapidly approaching rockets flying toward his position.
“Shit,” Li said.
The stealth specialist sidestepped one rocket that rushed past him and exploded a dozen meters away, sending a giant geyser of sand into the air before it blew away with the intense wind.
Li turned on his heel and ran, rushing back to the crash site. He didn’t get too far as he a concussive wave hit him from behind and sent him off his feet. He impacted the side of the dropship and his world went dark.
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