Li

  Li struggled to open 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.

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  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 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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