In the name of the Ordo Hereticus, I hereby issue an order of Exterminatus upon Weyland Industries Island No. 12. The Emperor Protects.
(I enjoy roleplaying, what can I say?)
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Part Five: Escape
Kenji moved to fire his Tesla again just as the soldier fired his grenade rifle. I shoved Kenji down before he could shoot and we both crashed onto the floor as the grenade sailed passed us and exploded into the bulwark, sending debris and shrapnel everywhere. I felt a sting as a piece of metal grazed my leg, and I heard several men scream while more shrapnel imbedded itself in my armor. I blind fired my Tesla to take out the soldier before he could shoot again and looked around, trying to shake off the dizziness from the explosion. Three of the Freemasons were down, and the Illuminati were moving in. Our pilot and agent were okay, so I motioned for us to move up. We formed up along the defenses, Kenji and I taking the left and right of the new hole in the makeshift barricade. Kenji said something to them and one of surviving Masons moved to the stairs, where he immediately started firing.
“We need to clear them before we head for the roof,” I said.
Kenji nodded and pulled out another Tesla grenade. I pulled one out, too. After a quick count we tossed them and waited. Once the static and jolts of electricity subsided, the four us ran up against the left wall of the recess. I peered over into the hall and saw our next hurdle: an open door concealing another soldier with a grenade rifle. Soldiers were poring in from the roof entrance down the hall, either forming into battle lines in the hallway itself, or working around to flank us from the other side. Gunfire to our left helped reassure me that we wouldn’t be flanked anytime soon.
Deciding to save my last grenade, I fired another Tesla shot at the door while Kenji fired into the hall. The agent with us, meanwhile, tossed a frag grenade and fired a quick burst from his rifle before ducking down beside us. When the grenade went off at the soldier's feet in the doorway, we bolted for the open door. I quickly fired my Tesla at the two soldiers waiting inside the room- a study it looked like- and the agent turned to cover it just as incoming bullets cracked passed the door down the hall. As we crossed the hall I had noticed a pile of Freemasons and Illuminati scattered down the length of it in a bloody trail towards the roof stairway. The Freemasons had tried to put up a strong first line of defense, but I guess the soldiers had just punched harder and faster.
“Well, we’re closer,” I said, catching my breath and checking my heart. I also checked the shrapnel graze; it wasn’t very bad, and I could probably pass it off as an exposed nail to Hanako.
The agent said something to Kenji, who translated for me, “he’s going to toss his other grenade and draw their fire in the hall. While he’s doing that we rush for the stairs and bolt for the helicopter.”
“That’s suicide,” I said. Possibly for everyone involved.
Kenji nodded, “he knows.”
I knew better then to say anything. The agent swung his pack off and tossed it to Kenji, who put it on as the agent tossed the grenade into the hall and blind fired a quick burst. When the grenade went off he jumped sideways into the hall and opened fire. The three of us quickly ducked and ran forward as the invaders took cover. The agent ran ahead of us and fired his last rounds. When he was empty he tossed the rifle and pulled out a long shining dagger from his belt. While we hid behind an open door roughly three fourths of the way to the stairs- not willing to risk it the entire way- he rushed the scattered surviving soldiers. He managed to stab one in the eye before a soldier with a shotgun blasted him into cat meat.
“Now what?” I asked.
Kenji pulled out his last grenade and threw it. We barely waited for it to fizzle out before dashing forward into the hall. Yeah it was risky, but we needed to hurry before the place was overrun, assuming it wasn’t already. The grenade did the trick in clearing the path in front of us, and the left hall was still in a firefight, so we were able to bypass them towards the stairs. With the door missing, Kenji quickly charged in and fired his Tesla inside, and I heard the sound of two men tumbling down the stairs. I didn’t feel like asking how he knew they were there. Our pistols only had five shots before we had to recharge them, so between us we had four shots left. Once inside the stairway I noticed the door to the roof was missing, as was most of the shed around it. The stairs were fortunately still intact.
“So, how do we get to our helicopter, assuming they haven’t destroyed it?” I asked. Before anyone could answer, the pilot’s earpiece went off. After a few seconds he said something and looked up at us.
“The second group has made it to the top of the fire escape. They’ve lost an agent and a guard. Based on where they are and where we are, if we move at the same time we should be able to make it to our helo- he says it’s still there.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Kenji said while I pulled out my last grenade. After a quick countdown I tossed the grenade up onto the roof, while Kenji fired his Tesla at a group of soldiers trying to get in. As our grenade went off I heard several frag grenades explode above us.
“Hey, man,” Kenji said, “sorry for dragging you into this shit again- thought the job would be easy.”
I laughed dryly, “so did I. Hell, it’s Mr. Sarif, for crying out loud. I probably would’ve taken the job no matter what.”
By that point it was time to charge, so we rushed up the stairs and fired our Tesla’s at the first thing in gray we saw. Several more soldiers were on the ground, either stunned, groaning, or dead. The Most of them were probably in the building or the forest dealing with the AA. Our pilot handed his rifle to Kenji since his Tesla was dry. Since the other agents were coming in from our right, I was worried he’d hit them, but he made sure to fire only to his left as we dashed for our helicopter. Between that and the second group, the Illuminati had too much incoming suppressive fire to be able to shoot back. A few helicopters were circling around, thankfully not armed as we groped forward to our ride out of this godforsaken island.
Our copter was easy to spot, being the only green one around- the Illuminati copters were painted light gray. The pilot easily slid into the cockpit and started it up as the Kenji and I dove into the back. By then the soldiers had recovered from the shock of our charge, and I watched the last guard of the second group take several dozen rounds as the two surviving agents and copilot ran in after us. I had already slammed the right door of the copter shut, and when the agents were in Kenji slammed his side shut.
“Alright, we are outta here,” the pilot said once the copilot shoved his door closed, and torturously slowly, the copter took off.
“Is it possible the Illuminati sabotaged this copter?” Kenji asked.
“Or that they commandeered the AA?” I added.
“We’ll find out the hard way,” the pilot said. As we started to lift off the ground I heard small arms fire ping off the copter. I also heard a few grenades explode below us, which sounded like hail against the thin metal plating as we slowly rose out of their range.
“Did anyone see any rocket launchers on the way up?” I asked. The four of us tensed once Kenji had translated that, but after an hour we relaxed; we were safe. I took the pack and armor off and sighed heavily. I also unclipped my helmet as I opened the bag to look at the ledger, but I ended up just staring at the bourbon. I wasn’t too surprised when one of the agents pulled out a flask and started passing it around.
“Kenji,” I said as I grabbed the offered flask, “the next time a famous forerunner in an industry that relates to my field and interests offers us an easy job and I think about accepting it… stab me in the knee with a fork.”
“Look on the bright side, man,” Kenji said, smiling mischievously, “they never said we couldn’t copy that data before we deliver it. With it, we can finally start making deliberate attacks on the Societies… but not for a while.”
I laughed, “works for me.”
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Next Chapter
An epilogue for this part will occur.
Why? ‘Cuz I wanna.
