| Rogue |
Rogue
by Septim
Chase City, White Island
2:16 PM
November 15, 2045
Four 2040 Numera Cruisers were outside an apartment in Chase City, White Island. They were painted white with the gold and black seal of CoSec (Coalition Security: the Coalition's police force that operated in every city all over the world). Inside the apartment, several policeman were examining the scene. They knew the cause of death from a body scan, the woman had been stabbed to death in her own home, but there were no fingerprints, no hair particles, and pretty much know evidence at all to get a suspect. The woman was also covered in bruises and was probably beaten before being killed. As they examined the scene, another car pulled up. It was a black 2043 Sercom Interceptor with tinted windows. Sercom had been founded in the year 2018 out of California by Richard Sercom. It was one of the first automakers to devote all of its resourced to developing Hydrogen vehicles, and it had paid off. When Sercom invented the Sercom Hydrogen Fuel Cell, they immediately became the worldwide leader in automotive production. A man stepped out of the vehicle and looked around, he was wearing a dark brown fedora and a brown business suit. He closed the door to his vehicle and looked up and down the street. He began walking up the set of concrete steps and pressed a button, the Interceptor let out a loud beep and the man opened the front door. Covering his hands were a pair of brown leather driving gloves. Waiting inside was a CoSec officer.
"Right this way, Detective Arkon," said the officer as he turned and began walking up a set of stairs. Arkon did not follow.
"Sir, this way," said the officer.
"Be quiet," said Arkon as he concentrated. He then opened his eyes. The area around him was glowing white, but the room looked the same. The officer was no longer there, but a man wearing a tank top and a pair of blue jeans was stepping into the apartment. His hands were covered by a pair of cheap gloves. He stepped up the stairs and through Arkon, and Arkon mentally followed him, leaving his body behind. The man walked through the door into the woman's house and the woman walked out to see him; she looked terrified and the man looked enraged. Arkon concentrated a bit harder and the man gave off a red aura while the woman gave off a blue one. The auras were a manifestation of what they were feeling, and it was the reason he could see them. Utter terror or extreme rage left imprints in the room that allowed him to look at what had happened. The bald man began beating the woman in a psychotic rage, and after a few seconds she kicked him and made a break for the kitchen. He stumbled back and laughed, giving off a greenish red aura before following her into the kitchen. The woman was holding a knife at the ready.
"What? You going to stab me? Huh? Huh!?" asked the man as he walked over to her. She made a stab at him, but he grabbed her wrist, punched her in the face, and grabbed the knife from her before stabbing her several times in the chest. He then turned and ran out of the kitchen, still holding the knife, and ran to his car, a blue 2023 Defield Marim with a dent in the front bumper. After unlocking the door, he got in and drove off, his license plate was 234-AFR-113-BSP. Arkon exited the projection and looked up at the officer.
"Run a check on license plate number 234-AFR-113-BSP, call me when you get a name," said Arkon as he walked down the stairs. The officer was clueless as he had not heard of Arkon's reputation, but he followed his orders. Arkon unlocked the Interceptor and got in. He started up the ignition and drove off in the direction that the murderer had drove off in before activating the sirens on the car. That made the vehicles in front of him move, which allowed him to use projection for a moment. The Marim had turned right at 23rd street and Zalm street. Arkon turned right and kept following the trail that the murderer had left two and a half hours ago and soon saw the Marim turn into a parking garage. Arkon pulled in as well and his phone rang. He reached into his pocket, grabbed the phone, and answered it.
"Detective, ran the check. The plates belong to a Sam Olson," said the officer, "Ex-army, likes to keep his head shaved."
"Thanks, might need back-up at...246 Zalm street," said Arkon.
"Alright," said the officer.
Arkon pressed "END" and pulled into a parking space next to the Marim. He looked inside and saw that the bald man was not inside. He entered the projection and saw Sam leave the car, his aura now blue and the knife still in his possesion, and walk off towards the staircase that led to the street level. Then he walked into an apartment and up a set of stairs. Arkon followed and saw that he walked through a door that had "24" on it. Arkon walked up to the door and reached his hand into his coat, pulling out his CoTec SA-3. The pistol had served him well during the Sericco incident, and the government had forgotten to take it back. He flicked the safety off and used telekinesis to pick the door lock rather than kicking the door down. He then silently entered the house. He heard a TV going and was glad, that meant more background noise which would make him quieter. In the chair was Sam Olson, he looked to be asleep. As Arkon approached, however, the man jumped out of his chair and grabbed a Fairfield-15 from the table next to his chair. He twisted around, but Arkon fired his already aimed pistol, blowing Olson's head apart due to the power of the pistol. Olson's corpse fell to the floor and Arkon sighed. He probably could have stopped the bullets, but he didn't feel like taking a chance to save a murderer's life. Arkon did a final projection, seeing the murderer enter his home and toss the knife in the sink, before cancelling it and walking over to the sink himself. Inside was a knife, it was not yet cleaned and a test could easily be done showing it to be the blood of victim.
"I love probable cause..." muttered Arkon.
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"Good job Arkon, a bit messy, but good job," said the forensics specialist as the blood examination was completed.
"It was her blood?" asked Arkon.
"Of course...when are you going to tell me how the hell you find the murderers like that?" asked the specialist.
"Lucky guesses?" asked Arkon, showing a bit of a smile.
"My ass," said the specialist.
"I've got some paperwork to take care of," said Arkon as he walked off.
After taking care of the paperwork, Arkon went home. It was about seven o'clock by the time he got home to his apartment. Waiting inside was his girlfriend, Alice.
"John!" said Alice as he hugged Arkon. Alice and Arkon had met back when Arkon was in his first year of the army. There had been a spark, and they stayed in contact with Arkon promising that they would be able to get together when his service was over. After the Sericco incident, Arkon was given a choice between leading the new PSU (Psychic Soldiers Unit) or receiving an honorary discharge. He chose the discharge and Keller was given command of the unit. Alice currently worked as a technician for Sercom Communications, a branch of the massive Sercom Industries that dealt with internet and cable services.
"Hello honey," said Arkon as he returned the hug.
They gave each other a kiss, when it was over Alice walked to the counter and grabbed a plastic container that said "Dinner for Two" on it. She put it in the cooker and pressed a button before turning to Arkon.
"So, what happened at work?" asked Alice.
"It was pretty uneventful," lied Arkon, he didn't want to worry Alice.
"That's how it had better stay," said Alice with a smile as the cooker beeped.
She pulled the container out and opened it up, inside was two pork chops, some mashed potatos, and some green beans. She put them out on plates and placed them on the table. Arkon got the drinks and the silverware and they proceeded to enjoy the evening together.
Chase City, White Island
7:00 AM
November 16, 2045
Arkon's alarm (his phone) rang and Arkon pressed "END" before getting up. He walked to the bathroom and urinated before flushing it and taking a shower. He then got dressed in a black suit, a white suit, and a red tie. Underneath the black sports jacket he had his holster holding his CoTec SA-3. He also had a switchblade in his coat pocket. He then walked out to the kitchen and smiled at Alice. Alice was drinking her coffee, she could never be awake without it. Arkon didn't understand people who depended on coffee, he worked just fine without it. He turned on the television and began making his oatmeal, when he turned it on, however, he recognized a face. The face had a bullethole on his forehead.
"-stopher Braun, a scientist for the Coalition, was killed last night in his home in Camdom, which lies in the former state of US state of Michigan. As of right now authorities are unsure of who killed this man, but they said that the gun that killed him was a LanCo Reaper-12, a weapon usually used by Coalition EROD operatives," said the anchor, "Mr. Braun had a security system and several cameras around his house, but none of the cameras saw the man, and he broke in without tripping the alarms. It is unknown how this was accomplished, but the lead investigator said that the answer should be found soon enough."
The anchor began talking about a sex scandal and Arkon turned it off.
"Did you know that man or something?" asked Alice.
"Yeah, I met him once," said Arkon.
"Thought so, you had that look on your face," said Alice.
Arkon made his oatmeal, ate it, and kissed Alice before grabbing a black fedora from the hat stand, putting it on, and walking to the elevator. It went down to the bottom floor and Arkon stepped out and began walking down the street. As he walked, a man approached him from behind.
"John Arkon?" asked the man.
"Yeah, that's me," said Arkon, suddenly suspicious.
"My name is Major Derum, can you come with me?" asked the Major.
"Sorry Major, I'm not in the military anymore," said Arkon as he kept walking.
"This is straight from General Monroe," said the Major as he ran to keep up with Arkon. He handed Arkon a letter and Arkon looked at it.
"Good, can I go now?" asked Arkon.
"I suggest you read it," said Derum.
"Will it get you off my back?" asked Arkon.
"My orders were to find you and get you to read that, so yes, it will," said Derum.
"Fine," said Arkon as he pulled the switchblade from his coat pocket and opened up the envelope with it before putting it away. He then read the letter.
Arkon,
Don't know if you watched the news, but Braun was killed last night. Only three men alive could have gotten past those systems and cameras, and that's because of telekinesis. I know you didn't do it, you were doing paperwork and left five minutes before the murder took place. Now that leaves Bennet and Keller. Bennet was on a mission in South America at the time. I'm sorry, but Keller has gone rogue. Only you and Keller received the projection ability, so Bennet doing this is out of the question. Let Derum take you to HQ, let me explain what you need to do.
Signed,
Monroe
Arkon was in shock as he read, and turned to look at Derum.
"Are you coming?" asked Derum.
Arkon thought for a few seconds, looking around, he then looked back at Derum.
"Take me," said Arkon.
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***
Arkon stepped out of the olive drab painted 2038 Bolrick Model-MS (MS meaning Military Sedan); a rather large sedan that was typically used as a staff car. Arkon was followed by Derum and they walked into the large building that worked as the Headquarters for the Coalition High Command. The building was named the Resdon building after General Tom Wheaton, the Coalition's Supreme Commander during World War IV. Arkon had never been inside the building, so he let Derum lead the way. After a few minutes of walking, they reached an elevator that took them up to the 16th story. They stepped out and walked down the hallway to a set of double-doors that had "General Paul Monroe" in bold letters. Arkon walked through the door, Derum stayed outside.
"Welcome Arkon," said Monroe.
"Hello General...I thought I was done with this crap when I was discharged," said Arkon.
"We'd get somebody else if we could, the last thing I want to do is send you to kill your friend, but you're the only one capable of tracking him down and killing him," said Monroe.
"Killing him? Why not just take him in?" asked Arkon.
"If we did, it would be the death sentence for him," said Monroe, "He killed a Coalition Scientist, that makes it a hell of a lot worse. You know that, you're a Detective!"
"And why should I do this?" asked Arkon, "What do I gain from killing my former companion?"
"I don't know...do you want a score of rogue psychics roaming around?" asked Monroe.
"A score!?" asked Arkon.
"When he went rogue, his team went with him," said Monroe.
"Jesus! How the hell am I supposed to fight all of them?" asked Arkon, "They can block any bullets I shoot at them!"
"Not these," said Monroe as he opened his drawer and pulled out a pistol, "This is the CoTec Psikiller-1. It's bullets go too fast for psychics to stop. We knew that one of you guys would go rogue eventually."
"That's all well and good, but what if that falls into the wrong hands?" asked Arkon.
"This is the prototype and the only one in existence," said Monroe, "Do you accept the mission?"
Arkon sat back and the chair and looked around the room. He thought back on the Sericco Incident, how Keller and him had fought beside each other.
"If a rogue psychic is out there, and he is one of my old men...I should be the one to kill him," said Arkon.
"So you accept?" asked Monroe.
"I accept," said Arkon.
"Excellent," said Monroe.
"What resources do I have?" asked Arkon.
"We will give you three million Coalition dollars to buy intel, lodgings, whatever you need," said Monroe, "We'll also give you a no limitations ID card, meaning that you are authorized to use whatever force necessary for this mission. You'll also be given this pistol."
"Fine," said Arkon.
"Here," said Monroe, handing Arkon the pistol and the ID card, along with a credit card.
Arkon collected the cards and the gun and got up. Without a word he left Monroe's office. Derum got up and followed Arkon into the elevator. When the elevator reached the buttom floor, Arkon got out. He knew his way through the twisting corridors just from walking through them the first time, and he reached the exit a few seconds later. The staff car was waiting.
"That car will take you home, Arkon," said Derum.
"I need to go to work," said Arkon, "At least to tell them that I'm leaving for a while."
"No need. CoSec has been contacted and you are on indefinite paid leave."
Arkon nodded and got into the staff car. The Bolrick pulled off and Arkon sighed.
***
Arkon stepped through the apartment door and looked around. His girlfriend was gone, she was probably off at work. Arkon sat down on his comfortable leather chair and turned on the television. He turned it off a few minutes later and walked over to the kitchen to make something. After eating a sandwich and some chips he sat down at his desk and began thinking. He had no idea how he would find Keller, all intelligence had been sent to him. As he read it, he found out several things about Keller that he hadn't known before. David Keller had been born in New York City on October 19th, 2019 to Robert and Sarah Keller. Robert had died in 2034 during the Coalition Wars, though Sarah was still alive. David was not very close to his mother; after Robert's death, Sarah was very cruel to everybody around her. When Keller came to age at eighteen years of age, he joined the Coalition Marines and fought against rebellions all over the world. In 2042, Keller became an STF operative and was stationed at Olympus. In January 2043 he was transferred to Asgard. The Top Secret debriefing of the Sericco Incident was included (useless to hide that from Arkon). After the incident, he was put in charge of the PSU (Psychic Soldiers Unit) with Tyson Bennet as his second in command. After the training of the first unit, a second unit was made and Bennet was transferred to command that unit. Then, Keller and his unit disappeared having last been seen on an urban mission in what used to be Egypt. A few days later, Braun was found dead in his home and Keller was pinned as the prime suspect. Arkon sat back and rubbed his eyes before getting up and walking out to his kitchen to grab a glass of water. After drinking it, he poured another and sat down in his comfortable leather chair. He had no idea how to find Keller. The projection method would never work, Keller masked himself in psychic energy which also hid any emotions he had at that point in time; Keller knew that. There was only one man who could know, and that man had no name. He had been called the Elusive Man, Mr. X, John Doe, and Silhouette and he was the leader of the most powerful organized crime ring in history; the Syndicate. The Syndicate controlled drug rings, prostitution, illegal gambling rackets, and pretty much everything else. There presence is the strongest, however, in Nexim City on Freedom Island, one of the few large cities not under the control of the Coalition, and the only reason it wasn't was because the Coalition didn't want that cesspitt. Nobody ever went to Nexim City of their own free will, going there without friends was pretty much wishing for death. Everybody who was anybody in that city had to pay the Syndicate not to be shut down; living there was like living in hell. Arkon sighed and got up from the chair. He made several phonecalls which resulted in transportation being arranged for him to Freedom Island. Arkon then began familiarizing himself with the Psikiller pistol, learning everything about it so that no suprises would be in order for him while in a combat situation. As he finished putting it back together, his girlfriend walked through the door. Arkon walked out, somewhat surprising her.
"John, when did you get home?" asked Alice as she took off her coat.
"Probably an hour after you left," said Arkon before kissing her.
After the kiss, he backed away and looked down, sighing.
"Alice, I will be going away for a while. I have no idea how long, but I have been contacted by the government. I am the best candidate for a mission," said Arkon.
"A mission? Is it dangerous?" asked Alice, somewhat alarmed.
"I don't want to lie...it's very dangerous, but if there is anybody who can handle it, it's me," said Arkon, smiling.
"I never asked what you did during the rebellions," said Alice, "I didn't want to know..."
"Then I will not tell you, but my chances of succeeding at this mission are marginally higher than those of many people...probably everybody as a matter of fact."
"I will not argue," said Alice, "Just come back alive, okay?"
"That is fine," said Arkon, "I am not leaving until tomorrow."
"Then enjoy tonight as much as possible," said Alice with a flirty smile.
***
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[i love this and the one that came before it. awesome story! :)]
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[[OOC: I'm glad you like it, comments are what keep me going, so feel free to give them. =D]]
***
Arkon stepped out of Alice's car and walked around it before walking to the back and pulling his suitcase out of the back. He then looked up and saw that she was standing outside her car. She had a sad smile on her face, and her eyes showed the same. Arkon walked up to her and looked into her eyes, trying to find the right words.
"Alice, I love you," said Arkon; he had never been good at finding the right words, but those four were more than enough for Alice. She gave no words back, but responded with something that spoke louder: a passionate kiss.
"That should keep you going," said Alice as a tear came from her eye.
"That...that will probably allow me to take on an army," said Arkon with a grin.
"Good," said Alice.
Arkon gave her a final hug and walked off to the docks. Alice got back inside her car and noticed that her vision was blurred due to the tears. After wiping them away she drove off, not looking at Arkon.
"That was touching," said the seaplane pilot, "You ready to go now?"
"Of course," said Arkon as he stepped onto the wooden dock. The two walked down the dock until reaching a wooden board. He walked across it and into the seaplane before the pilot got in and started it up. The seaplane was old, probably from the late twentieth century, but that didn't matter as long as it could get him close to the island. Arkon strapped himself into the co-pilot's seat. He knew how to fly, probably better than the pilot himself, and he wanted to be read in case of any mishaps.
***
"We're about thirty miles from Freedom Island," said the pilot.
"Get me within five before landing," said Arkon as he got up and walked to the back of the plane. He took off his leather jacket and cargo pants and put on a civilian grade wetsuit. The Coalition didn't want to look involved in this mission, and thus he would have to look like a mercenary or a bounty hunter, not a professional soldier. After getting the wetsuit on he transferred everything in his suitcase to a waterproof container. Once ready, he walked to the *beep*pit.
"We're seven miles away," said the pilot.
"Good, begin descent," said Arkon.
"I know how to do my job," said the pilot.
Suddenly, the alarms began buzzing.
"We've got company, and this thing ain't no fighter!" said the pilot.
"Don't worry about those fighters," said Arkon as he began concentrated.
"They have enough firepower t-"
"Be quiet!" yelled Arkon as he concentrated.
He felt the inside of the seaplane and went out further, feeling the outside. He then reached out some more, and felt the same. Finally, he felt the enemy fighters and smiled before reaching their pilots. He used telekinesis to press the eject buttons on their planes and began laughing.
"Looks like they ejected!" said Arkon.
"There'll be more coming," said the pilot.
"You'd better land quick then," said Arkon.
The plane zoomed down, though the landing was somewhat choppy. Fifty years ago the landing wouldn't have been possible with the same plane, but the upgrades to it were extensive and somewhat modern. Arkon stepped to the side door and dived out of it and into the water. He then began swimming away; there was four miles in between the seaplane and Freedom Island. The pilot closed the side door and the plane took off. The pilot was nervous and he had a good reason. The air force of Freedom Island didn't much care for private aircrafts flying in their airspace without permission.
***
Arkon stuck his head out of the water and surveyed the beach. There was a large concrete sea wall in between him and the island; he would have to climb over it and get around two alert guards, or he could charm the alert guards into thinking he wasn't there and climb over without trouble; he liked the second option. Arkon reached out and invaded the two minds, he then altered their perception so that they would not see him. He could have made himself invisible by wrapping himself in psychic energy, but that took time and a good spot to meditate; he had neither. Arkon walked up to the wall slowly (if he moved too fast the charm would be broken and the guards would spot him) and shot his grappling hook before climbing up and over the wall. Afterwards he ran off into the forest, he had fought in this environment before and had been very good at it without telekinetic powers...if the guards were lucky, they would stay away.
***
Arkon surveyed Nexim City from a vantage point behind a tree. There was a large concrete wall around it, and around that was a large swamp that would probably have enough diseases to infect an army. In the center of the city was the infamous Paradise Tower, a skyscraper named after the Syndicate's name for the city; Paradise City. Surrounding it were four smaller buildings, two parking garages, and two large buildings that made up the barracks. Between those buildings was a large elevated traintrack that connected them all and allowed fast transportation between the buildings. Those made up the Citadel, and around it was a large wall. In the outer section of the city was where the poor to mid-level people lived, and that was what really made the city. Rape, murder, and fighting was not uncommon, actually, it was uncommon not to see it. If somebody shoots somebody else, all that is asked is that his clean-up is paid for. The Nexim City guard force never let anybody out of the city without a pass, and those who tried were shot on sight. It was brutal, but if it was not that way there would be few left in the massive city. As he scouted out the city, however, he saw a man roll a rope ladder down from a drain pipe. The man then waved for more people to come and a couple walked into Arkon's view. The woman was pregnate and Arkon gave a lamenting sigh, either they didn't know about the outer wall or they thought there would be away around it. They climbed down the rope ladder and Arkon saw that they had assault rifles.
So they think that they can fight their way out...well...I hope they can...
With that thought, Arkon looked at the drainage pipe. It was a convenient opportunity that he would surely take advantage of. Arkon sprayed himself in waterproof insect repellent (he had looked up Freedom Island's climate before heading there and had guessed the many things that he would need) and began crawling towards the swamp. He was now wearing woodland patterned fatigues but that wouldn't stop the guards on the walls from seeing him. He charmed as many as he could and crawled down towards the swamp as slowly as possible. Upon reaching the swamp, he began to make his way through it. It was easier moving through the swamp, not physically of course, but he was now harder to spot as he was the same color as the mud. He made it to the rope ladder without problems and climbed up. Halfway up the guards began shooting, when he got to the top he looked out and saw that the party of three, including the pregnant woman, had been shot to death. Arkon had seen far worse during the rebellions, but he was not heartless, and he paid his respects to the party with a hand symbol that meant "Rest in Peace" in the army. He then turned and walked off down the large tube that made up the drain pipe.
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More! More! This is Golden!!
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Arkon then knelt down and began changing from his woodland camo, he would need to fit in with the general population, and camo wasn't the way to do it. A few minutes later he was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a white t-shirt. Over the t-shirt he wore a brown winter coat. Underneath the jacket he had his two holsters, one of them had his SA-3, the other had the Psikiller pistol that Monroe had given to him. He put the rest of the items in a backpack that he had stored inside the waterproof container. He then discarded the waterproof container and made his way down the tunnel, his SA-3 at the ready.
***
"Can you believe that son-of-a-*beep*? Sending us down here?" asked a female voice.
"Yeah, yeah, I know..." said a male voice.
"I mean, it's not like anybody could live down here with the smell," said the female.
"Yeah, and I thought it was bad up there," said the male.
"Quiet you two," said a more grizzled male voice.
"You don't believe him, do ya sarge?" asked the female.
"Of course I don't," said the sergeant, "But shut the hell up..."
They turned the corner and Arkon got a good look at the squad, there was four of them; the sergeant, the female, the male, and Robotic Infantry Unit (RIU). The sergeant held a submachine gun that looked like a Garrett Arms Olletti-5, a somewhat decent weapon. The female held a longshot (longshot is the nickname for the Sercom Arms SR-7, one of the most widely used sniper rifles in the world), the male held a LanCo K-50 assault rifle, an earlier version of the Army's own LanCo K-55. The robot had what looked to be a minigun. Arkon knew that it would be a good fight if he tried to take them head on, even with his psychic powers. He couldn't charm the robot, as it would take a large amount of energy to block his heat signature that the thermal sensors would catch. He instead telekinetically reached into the robot's head and pulled the combat inhibitor from the robot's CPU. The robot immediately began rotating its minigun, the Sergeant turned around.
"23, what the hell are yo-" he was cut off when RIU-23 mowed down the female and the male. The Sergeant immediately pressed the button on his wrist that deactivated the robot and sighed, looking down at his mortally wounded men. Arkon attached a suppressor to his SA-3 and shot off one round, striking the Sergeant as he examined the deactivated RIU. Arkon then activated his flashlight and walked up to the group with his pistol at the ready, kicking the weapons away from their bodies. It served no purpose, for they were all dead, but it was what Arkon had been trained to do in EROD and that was what he was going to do. He had no chips (Nexim City's currency), so he grabbed the weapons with an intent to sell them to whoever he could up above, he had to take apart the sniper rifle to fit it into his backpack, and it ended up fitting, barely. Afterwards, Arkon made his way to the ladder that the soldiers had come down by, up above was likely to be a larger group of soldiers, so Arkon decided against going up there. He instead continued on down the tunnel.
***
The smell soon began getting to Arkon's head, he would have to get out of the sewer soon or he would pass out. After a while he reached another ladder, and faced with no other options, he climbed up. As he pushed the manhole cover to the side, he looked to see that the coast was actually clear. He climbed out, having his weapons put away, and closed the cover. He then looked around, the place was a dump. Graffiti was almost everywhere in sight, windows were broken, and garbage littered the streets. Arkon had done his research on the city and knew where to go. A few blocks from where he had come out he reached a shop that sold firearms. It wasn't illegal for the shop to exist as long as they gave the syndicate almost half of what they earned. The shopkeeper turned to Arkon and began ranting in some strange language, Arkon stopped him.
"Do you speak English?" Arkon asked.
"Yes," said the shopkeeper with effort.
"Good, I have weapons," said Arkon as he opened his backpack and pulled out the weapons he had collected from the dead in the sewers. The shopkeeper didn't respond with words, he instead went into the back room and came back with a small bag. He counted out several chips (which looked like transparent red poker chips) and put them back before giving the bag to Arkon.
"Thank you," said Arkon before leaving.
***
Arkon soon found a small motel and rented a room using a few of the chips he had from the weapons. Upon entering the room, he found that the bed looked like it would be dangerous to sleep on. As a result, Arkon set up a bedroll over it and used the remote to turn the TV on, but it didn't turn on. The room was filthy and looked like it was often used by drug addicts, but Arkon didn't care. He locked the door and put his SA-3 under his pillow before going to sleep.
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***
Arkon woke up to yelling in the next room. He grabbed his SA-3 and looked through an already made bullethole in the wall. He saw two men, one was a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt, a pair of dark sunglasses, and a pair of navy cargo pants. The hood of the sweatshirt was over the baseball cap. All that Arkon could see of his face was that he was hispanic with a five o'clock shadow. The other man's back was turned, but Arkon could make out that he was of medium build with a green mohawk.
"-t's cool man! I have yo money 'morrow!" yelled the man with the green mohawk.
"Not good enough," said the hispanic man, "I'll just take it from your flesh!"
The hispanic man pulled a Fairfield-15 from his hoodie pocket and aimed it at the mohawked man. He fired a shot, hitting the man in the neck. The man fell to the bed and began bleeding heavily while the hispanic man laughed sadistically. Arkon didn't feel like it was his responsibility to get involved, especially since it would draw attention. Suddenly, the clerk from downstairs ran into the room with a Dertrot Ersigo pump action shotgun and fired, striking the hispanic man as he turned. The hispanic man fell to the floor and the clerk ran up to his still alive body and fired again, blowing the man's head off. The clerk then took whatever money and drugs the hispanic man had on his person before dragging the bodies outside.
"Jesus," said Arkon, "Barbarians..."
Without a second thought, Arkon turned back to his bed and went to sleep. It was still dark and he wanted to get as much sleep as possible.
***
Arkon woke up in the early morning and holstered his SA-3 before putting on his winter coat and his backpack. He took one last look through the bullethole in the wall to see that the next room had been cleaned somewhat well; the blood was less prominent on the floor and the blankets and sheets had been changed.
"I'll be glad when I get the hell out of this town," said Arkon before leaving the room. He had paid the clerk the night before and didn't have to worry about paying. He simply went off down the street and made his way to a local bar. He needed to find the leader of the Syndicate, if he found him, he would surely find Keller. As he entered the bar, a somewhat decent source of intelligence, he noticed an old caucasian man speaking with an African man in a booth and a few larger men at the bar. The old man looked like somebody to fear, he had a scar on his cheek and his eyes looked like those of a killer. Not only that, but the bartender was eyeing him nervously. Arkon sat at the bar and payed for a light beer. As the bartender poured the drink, Arkon noticed that the old man was beginning to laugh, he then saw that the African man had started to plead.
"Who is that?" asked Arkon as he pointed at the old man.
"Not now," said the bartender as he placed Arkon's drink in front of him.
After a minute, the old man got up and pulled a silenced pistol out from underneath his leather jacket. He fired one shot, silencing the African's pleas, before putting his pistol away and drawing a large knife. With one clean chop he took the African's index finger off and proceeded to put it into a plastic bag before approaching the bartender. He put several chips down on the bar before walking out the door with the plastic bag in his jacket pocket. The bartender collected the chips and turned to Arkon.
"Information isn't cheap here," said the bartender, "I'll tell you everything I know for one hundred blues."
Arkon calculated the currency system in his head, two reds were the equal of one hundred blues. He placed two red chips down on the bar and the bartender smiled.
"That man was one of the Syndicate'*beep*men, he is called Sage. He's the oldest and most experienced on the Syndicate's payroll, and I'd wager that he's the best at the moment," said the bartender.
"At the moment?" asked Arkon.
"Ace, one of the newest hitmen, is quickly gaining on old Sage, I'd say that he'd better retire," said the bartender, "Experience can only get you so far."
"That is true, tell me more about Ace," said Arkon.
"Not much to tell, he appeared a few years ago and ever since he's proved that he is a very capable killer. Damn near forty hits under his belt, each of them has been very successful. He's a pretty young kid, but don't underestimate him, he's a psychopath," said the bartender.
"Any others?" asked Arkon.
"Well yeah, there's Knight, Ghost, Colt, Winchester, and Archer," said the bartender.
With the mention of the name Archer, Arkon recollected the spikethrowing creatures back during the Sericco incident and dismissed it before pressing on.
"Colt and Winchester? Is there a Smith and Wesson as well!?" asked Arkon with a chuckle.
"Don't think so," said the bartender with a smile, "Colt's good with pistols, Winchester, well, she's a good sniper. They're married by the way."
"Married eh? Alright, what about Knight and Ghost?" asked Arkon.
"Knight is very good with a sword, tends to favor a longsword," said the bartender.
"A modern knight eh?" asked Arkon.
"Yeah, but he only uses his sword for his paid kills, he shoots the guards," said the bartender.
"Fine...Ghost and Archer?" asked Arkon.
"Ghost is a ghost, he has some high tech stealth suit to blend in and is very good at hand to hand combat. Archer uses a customized rapidfire crossbow," said the bartender.
"Does the Elusive Man only hire the exotic ones?" asked Arkon, laughing.
"Nah, he's got more, but those ones are his best," said the bartender, "I can't believe you hadn't heard of Sage before. Where have you been, under a rock?"
"Been keeping to myself most of my life, just felt that I'd learn what's going on," said Arkon.
"Alright," said the bartender.
"You know where I could find somebody from the Syndicate?" asked Arkon.
"Right here," said large man sitting at the bar, he was wearing a leather vest and his arms were covered in tattoos. He had a bushy gray beard and a bandana on.
"Jesus Phil, didn't see you," said the bartender.
"It's okay, I'm a hard guy to notice," said Phil with a laugh, "Come over here, interested in work? My old guy pussed out."
"I'm always interested," said Arkon as he got up and approached Big Phil.
"Got a piece?" asked Phil.
"No," lied Arkon, not wanting to show Phil his advanced SA-3.
"Alright, here, take this," said Phil as he handed Arkon a Fairfield-12 and two clips of ammunition.
"What am I going to do?" asked Arkon.
"Well, you and I are going to go collect some money from a guy who doesn't want to let it go," said Phil, "Got a car?"
"No," said Arkon.
"What are you? A bum!?" asked Phil.
"More like a man down on his luck," said Arkon.
"Fine, if you pull this off, I'll trust you," said Phil, "Doesn't take much for me to trust seeing as the cops're our guys, along with the mayor, and we're the only crime ring in town. I love this place, don't miss New York at all."
"Well, lets go," said Arkon.
"Small problem, I ride a chopper," said Phil, "Jim, can this guy borrow your car?"
"Sure," said the bartender nervously, he obviously didn't want Arkon to borrow his car, but didn't have a choice.
"Good," said Phil.
Jim the bartender gave Arkon a set of car keys and Arkon gave him a reassuring smile as Big Phil walked out the door, a few seconds later Phil walked back in.
"Jesus! Didn't even ask your name!" said Phil.
"Albert Liasam," said Arkon.
"Pleased to meet you, Al," said Phil with a smile before walking out the door. Arkon got up a few minutes later and began walking out, but turned around.
"Which car is yours?" asked Arkon.
"Blue 2019 Framington Rellton," said Jim, "Bring her back in one piece, will ya?"
"Of course, I'm an excellent driver," said Arkon with a chuckle before walking out the door.
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Give us more Septim.... the suspense is killing me!
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Arkon stepped outside and into the alleyway where a small parking lot waited. Phil drove past him on his Classic 2030 Rechowski Raptor, a large motorcycle that any biker would be proud to own. Arkon heard Phil stop at the alley’s exit, Arkon didn’t give him a second look as he got into the 2019 Framington Rellton that was parked in one of the six parking spaces. The car was a mess, but Arkon was relieved when it started up. He backed out of the parking space and drove up behind Phil. Phil rode off and Arkon followed, it was difficult keeping up with the more maneuverable motorcycle, and it didn’t help that Arkon was used to his Interceptor, but he managed. After a ten minute drive, Phil reached his destination: a clothing store in a more decent looking part of town. Phil got off his bike and grabbed a shotgun from his bike holster before walking in. Arkon got out of the car and pulled out the Fairfield-12 before following him.
“Alright you bastard, pay up,” said Phil.
“I barely make enough to keep alive!” yelled the shopkeeper.
Phil turned and shot one of the windows, shattering it.
“Pay up!” yelled Phil.
“Stop!” yelled the shopkeeper, “I can’t! My son is dying!”
“I don’t give a crap about your son!” roared Phil.
“Please!” yelled the shopkeeper.
Phil aimed the shotgun at the shopkeeper’s head and almost fired, but Arkon pushed the barrel and saved the shopkeeper.
“Phil, we won’t get any money this way,” said Arkon before turning to the shopkeeper. He examined the room carefully and saw that one of the paintings looked like it was protruding from the wall. Arkon knocked it away and saw a safe.
“What is the combination?” asked Arkon.
“I forgot it!” yelled the shopkeeper.
“Don’t worry, I’ll crack it for you,” said Arkon as he pretended to crack the safe, what he was actually doing was reading the shopkeeper’s mind for the combination. Sure enough, that was the subject his mind was thinking most about.
4-13-54-28
Arkon entered the combination and opened the safe, inside was a sack. Arkon opened it to find chips.
“Well…well…well,” said Phil menacingly as he turned to the shopkeeper, “We have ourselves a good ol’ fashioned liar!”
The shopkeeper was stuttering while looking around nervously. Phil raised his shotgun without hesitation.
“I don’t like liars,” said Phil.
“Phil,” said Arkon.
“What Al?” asked Phil impatiently.
“If you kill him, you won’t see any more money. This man is obviously making a decent profit,” said Arkon.
Phil thought for a few seconds, then lowered his shotgun.
“Fine,” said Phil, “You’re lucky Al was here to save you…say thank you!”
“Thank you!” said the shopkeeper as he began to cry.
“C’mon Al,” said Phil, “Take the whole bag, next time he won’t lie.”
Arkon took the entire sack of chips from the safe and walked outside. He handed them to Phil and Phil placed them in a bag on his chopper.
“Good job in there, you’re going to do well in this business,” said Phil.
“Thank you,” said Arkon.
“Here, pleases and thank yous aren’t work crap around here,” said Phil as he handed Arkon several red chips.
“Thanks,” said Arkon.
“Meet me at the bar tomorrow, you might actually do your first hit,” said Phil with a chuckle before getting on his motorcycle and driving off. Arkon got back into the Rellton and drove back to the bar. He parked it in the same spot and walked into the bar, the bartender was inside watching the TV. On it was a type of large cage fight with automatic weapons.
“Bring her back?” asked the bartender, somewhat surprised.
“Of course,” said Arkon as he handed the keys to the bartender.
“How’d it go?” asked the bartender.
“Fine, I’ll see you tomorrow, I have some stuff to take care of,” said Arkon before walking out the door. Jim the Bartender shrugged and went back to watching the TV.
***
Arkon spent the rest of the afternoon learning all he could about the Syndicate, the Elusive Man, Bruce Gray, the hitmen, and Big Phil. Arkon found out that Phil wasn’t very high up in the Syndicate due to his temper and lack of intelligence, and it was likely that he would never become anything more than an Enforcer. Phil did, however, know a lot of former “sons” that had risen up higher in the Syndicate. Phil had been an Enforcer for a long time, and had taught a lot of Syndicate officers the things they knew, the highest up was Gregory Paulson, one of Bruce Gray’s most trusted bodyguards. Arkon would work for Phil a bit longer, if he did there was a possibility that he could meet Paulson, and through him, Bruce Gray.
***
Arkon stepped into the bar, he had slept in the motel across the street the night before. The night had been somewhat quiet than it had been in the previous motel, but it had been no more comfortable. Phil was not there yet, but the bartender was.
“Hey, there he is!” said one of the men at the bar.
“Hello,” said Arkon as he sat down at the bar.
“Phil said a lot of good things! The name’s Mike Weld,” said the man at the bar.
“Albert Liasam,” said Arkon.
“Good to meet you, Al,” said Mike, “Interested in a hit?”
“A hit?” asked Arkon.
“Yeah, you shoot ‘em. Bang bang! A hit, you know?” said Mike.
“Yeah, I know,” said Arkon, “Any reason the Syndicate needs to perform hits in a city that they own?”
“Of course there is! Jesus, what the hell is wrong with you? You thick in the head or something!?” asked Mike before leaning close and whispering in Arkon’s ear, “If we had the police do it, these citizens would start to feel ballsy, they’d rise up, try to take us on. We don’t want that, so we make it look like these hits aren’t done by us, catch me?”
“Of course,” said Arkon.
“Good,” said Mike, “Lets go.”
Mike took Arkon to the side of the building and led him to his car, a brown 2040 Janrack Loring; an all in all decent sedan. Mike opened up the trunk and handed Arkon a sawed-off Gruger Malon shotgun. He then closed the trunk and got into the driver’s seat, Arkon got into the passenger’s seat. With that, Mike drove off.
***
Mike stopped outside a small brick walk-up apartment building and turned to face Arkon.
“That’s where Ivan Yurloviski lives,” said Mike, “He shot an Enforcer that was trying to collect money.”
“Did the Enforcer die?” asked Arkon.
“No, but this bastard will, c’mon,” said Mike as he got out of his car, shut the door, and began walking across the street. Arkon got out and followed. They walked up several sets of stairs before Mike pulled a Bollitzer Reckson-5 submachine gun from his jacket. He then kicked the door in and stormed the house only to be shot in the chest by a rigged shotgun at the door. He fell down with a che*beep*ll of buckshot and Arkon looked inside the apartment. The shotgun had been rigged to kill anybody that tried to kick the door in; the man was smart. Arkon looked down to see that Mike was dead, Arkon sighed. He then projected himself inside and saw that the man was hiding in the bathroom with a pistol aimed at the door. Arkon silently walked through the door and over to the bathroom door. He made no sounds as he waited outside the bathroom door. After a few minutes, Yurloviski peeked his head out of the bathroom to have it blown off by Arkon. Fragments of skull and brain flew across the apartment and Arkon frowned. He hated doing it, but he doubted that anybody would miss Yurloviski. Arkon collected the snub nose revolver that Yurloviski had used and grabbed the bullets he had in his pocket. Afterwards, he grabbed Mike’s Reckson-5 submachine gun, along with his car keys, and walked outside. He then got into the brown Loring and drove off towards the bar.
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Heh... if I haven't had read the first couple of posts, I'd of thought that Arkon was the rogue...
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Nexim City, Freedom Island
11:16 AM
November 20, 2045
Arkon pulled into the alleyway at the side of the bar and got out of his car. He didn’t really feel bad for Mike’s death; Mike had been a bad man, but he did feel back for Yurloviski. The man was only trying to get by, and had shot a wicked man to do so. The man he had shot had lived, so Arkon had seen no reason for Yurloviski to die. His death had been required for him to gain more of Phil’s trust, however, and as such his death had been required. He locked the car and walked into the bar to see Phil talking with Jim.
"Hey, how’d the hit go?" asked Phil as Arkon walked in.
"Mike got blown halfway to hell by a rigged shotgun," said Arkon.
"Jesus! Did you get Yurloviski?" asked Phil.
"His brain and skull fragments are all across his floor, courtesy of my sawed off shotgun," said Arkon.
"Alright, good," said Phil, "You can keep his car I guess, he won’t be needing it much anymore."
"Thanks," said Arkon.
Phil threw a small sack at Arkon and Arkon caught it.
"Your take," said Phil before slamming his shot of whiskey.
"Thanks," said Arkon.
"It’s fine, well, I must admit, you’ve done good. I might just introduce you to Greg Paulson if you pull off this next job," said Phil.
"What’s that?" asked Arkon.
"We’re going to guard Mr. Gray as he rolls into town," said Phil before handing Arkon a transparent card with a picture of Arkon on it. Arkon guessed that the picture must have been taken by one of the city’s cameras, "Here, take this pass, it’ll let you out of the city. Then you need to drive to the airstrip, there’s lots of signs, you can’t miss it."
"Alright, how many of us will there be?" asked Arkon.
"There’ll be about four trucks guarding his APC on the way to the city. Once we get to the city there’ll be more," said Phil.
"Alright," said Arkon, "Gotta get going."
"Have a drink with me, Al," said Phil.
"I got some stuff to do," said Arkon, "Sorry Phil."
"Alright, just leave me here to drink alone," said Phil.
"You’re not alone," said Jim.
"Shut up," said Phil.
Arkon sighed and walked out the door. He turned the corner, walked down the alleyway, and got into his new car. He then drove down a few blocks to a gun shop. He sold Yurloviski’s snub nose revolver, along with the bullets, to the owner. He also sold the sawed off shotgun, as he really didn’t care for the inaccurate weapon no matter how concealable it was. Afterwards, he received an inappropriate amount of chips. He really didn’t complain, he had more than enough to get by. Afterwards, he walked outside and got back to his car. He started it up and drove off towards his motel.
***
Arkon woke up with a start as he heard gunshots outside. He grabbed his SA-3 from under his pillow and ran to the front window, making sure to stay out of view. Outside were two small gangs, one wearing yellow, the other wearing green. Both groups were armed with rather outdated weapons such as the Fairfield-11 and Reckson-3. After a few minutes of firing (with very bad accuracy), the yellow gang forced the green gang to retreat and Arkon sat down against the wall. He couldn’t wait to get the hell off the island. Three days on it and he had already killed a man in cold blood, he didn’t know if he would have to kill again. He didn’t want to think about it.
***
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maor, maor, maor, maor, more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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***
Arkon woke up at around four o’clock in the morning and began his day with a somewhat harsh workout. He hadn’t exercised in days and felt the need to. Afterwards, he put on his backpack and walked out to his car. He drove to a local diner and ate a breakfast that tasted worse than the crap that was made back at Fort Jorlen. After eating, he began asking some more questions, trying to learn all he could of the Syndicate. Yurloviski’s death had become common knowledge, and Arkon shuddered when he heard of the Syndicate’s most recent murder. Eventually, he returned to his car to find several men trying to break into it. Arkon walked up to them, pulling out his SA-3 as he did so.
"Back away from my car," said Arkon.
"You had better back off," said the leader of the group as he pulled a Fairfield-15 from his waistline. The others in the gang did the same, and Arkon smiled. He had needed some psychic exercise. Arkon delved deep into the leader’s brain and altered some of his thoughts.
"Hold up," said the leader, "We need to get the hell out of here."
"Why?" asked one of his men.
"Oh *beep*! We gotta go! Now!" yelled the leader before running off, his men followed, not knowing what was happening, and Arkon smiled before walking up to his car and unlocking it. He threw his backpack inside and backed out of his parking space. He then drove off towards the city’s north exit.
***
Arkon reached the gate and showed his pass to the guard, the guard waved him through and Arkon drove off towards the airstrip, following the signs as he went. After a thirty minute drive, he reached his destination. Waiting at the airstrip was a private transport craft owned by Bruce Gray along with four trucks and a large well-armored APC. The transport reminded Arkon of the ones that the military used, and was probably the same model. Phil was already at the airstrip with a LanCo K-50 assault rifle in his hands. He was also wearing combat armor similar to the armor that Arkon had seen the soldiers in the sewers wearing. When Arkon got out of his car, Phil smiled and waved to a tall man in a brown suit.
"Greg! This is that guy I told you about!" yelled Phil.
Greg stopped talking to the soldier he had been talking with and approached Arkon. Arkon could tell from the man’s eyes that he was intelligent.
"Hello, I am Gregory Paulson," said Greg.
"Albert Liasam," said Arkon.
"Pleased to meet you, Albert," said Greg, "You and Phil will be riding in the second car in front of the APC. By the way, we aren’t too worried about the ride to the city. It would be difficult for the resistance to move enough men to ambush a convoy out here. What I’m worried about is the city."
Arkon nodded and looked back at his car.
"Don’t worry about your car, Albert, it will be waiting for you outside of Jim’s bar," said Gregory before walking away. Arkon and Phil turned and walked to the second car where Phil reached into the back seat and threw him a duffel bag.
"There’s security armor in there," said Phil, "Put it on, we aren’t us on this."
"Right," said Arkon before putting it on, it was similar to the army’s combat armor and was very easy for Arkon to put on due to his familiarity with armor. After he had it and the helmet on, Phil threw him a LanCo K-50 assault rifle. After he was suited up, Arkon got into the second vehicle’s passenger seat while Phil got up behind the turret. After five minutes of waiting, a man walked out of the transport. He was around fifty years old with graying black hair. He was wearing a gray suit, which was ironic due to his name. He quietly walked to the APC and walked up the back ramp before it closed. After he was in, the convoy began moving. Arkon kept focused on the brush, looking for any signs of movement. The entire ride back to the city was uneventful as Paulson had anticipated, however, and they were soon riding under the arches of Nexim City. Several other trucks joined them, along with two tanks. As the convoy drove through the narrow streets, people began looking through their windows.
Perfect place for an ambush…narrow streets. All they’d have to do is shoot the front car and the back car and we’d be boxed in.
As they rode through the streets, however, they saw no activity. It was actually pretty quiet.
BOOM!
The front car erupted in an intense inferno and Phil began firing at the rooftops with his turret. Arkon turned to see the back car explode and quickly got out.
"Phil! Get the hell out!" roared Arkon.
Phil saw that the men on the rooftops were aiming at him and quickly did what he was told. Phil, Arkon, and the three other soldiers that had been in the front car jumped behind a stone wall as the car was enveloped in a ball of flames. The soldiers in the last car got out intelligently just before it exploded, they quickly ran into a small shop. One of the tanks in the convoy took aim on the rooftops and fired, causing the building to collapse. The distraction proved enough for Arkon as he got up and sprinted towards the APC. The camera feed showed that it was Albert Liasam running up, which convinced Gray to open the APC.
"Follow me, sir!" yelled Arkon when the doors opened.
"Why!?" asked Gray before one of the trucks exploded.
"That’s why! Now c’mon!" yelled Arkon.
Gray got out and Arkon led him into a small hotel lobby. Arkon quickly led Gray up several sets of stairs before kicking in a hotel door and running inside. The inside was uninhabited to Arkon’s relief. Gray sat down on the bed while Arkon looked out the window. The firefight was still going on.
After a three minute long firefight between the remaining soldiers and the resistance members, air support arrived and helped wipe out the remaining freedom fighters. After the last one was dead, Arkon led Gray outside to the arriving reinforcements.
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Septim has hooked us all, hooked us on the drug of Rogue! More! More! I say!
|
Arkon walked around the ambush site, looking at the dead soldiers. Behind the stone wall was Phil, there were two bullet wounds in his chest. He was sitting against the wall, in his hand was a magnum revolver; his personal sidearm.
"Jesus Al, you…saved Gray?" asked Phil.
"Yeah," said Arkon as he knelt down next to Phil.
"Good," said Phil.
"You’ll be alright," said Arkon.
"Damn right I will, I got worse than this in the Wars," said Phil.
Arkon laughed and called a medic over the Phil. As he was being treated, a black sedan drove up and Paulson stepped out of it. Arkon approached him.
"Where the hell were you!?" asked Arkon.
"Doing my job, guarding Mr. Gray," said Paulson.
"Gray was with us," said Arkon.
"No he wasn’t, that man’s name is Chris and he is one of Mr. Gray’s many decoys. You did a good job," said Paulson.
"Decoy? Where’s the real Gray!?" asked Arkon.
"He was flown in via helicopter after the firefight began," said Paulson.
"You mean you intentionally sent us into an ambush?" asked Arkon.
"Yes. I’m surprised Chris survived, you did extremely well!" said Paulson, "That means that Mr. Gray would have survived through this. Mr. Gray has asked me to extend to you an invitation, you are to become one of his bodyguards."
"A bodyguard? Like you?" asked Arkon.
"No, Mr. Liasam, I am his Chief Bodyguard, you will be one of the eight men under my command," said Paulson.
"I accept," said Arkon.
"Good, allow me to drive you to the citadel," said Paulson before getting into the back seat of the black sedan. Arkon got into the back seat as well and the sedan drove away from the scene.
***
The Citadel was the name for the inner circle of Nexim City. It consisted of two parking garages, three skyscrapers, one larger skyscraper (the infamous Paradise Tower), and two high-rise apartments. The apartments served as the homes of Nexim City’s wealthier citizens and the three smaller skyscrapers served as their offices. Paradise Tower served as the offices for the Syndicate’s highest ranking officers, with Bruce Gray occupying the largest office. All of the buildings were connected by an elevated train system. The sedan pulled into a parking garage and up several stories. It parked near the entrance to the train station and Paulson led Arkon to the train.
"What is your destination?" asked a female voice.
"Paradise Tower," said Paulson.
"Confirmed," said the female voice before the train pulled off.
The train pulled into Paradise Tower’s bay a few minutes later and Arkon stepped out of the train only to be rifle butted in the chest by one of the guards. He was quickly smashed over the head by something hard before falling unconscious.
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Interesting..... despite his 'powers' Akron has 'normal' aspects which serve to make him more human, viable. Love it Septim.... more please!
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***
"Wake up, Mr. Liasam, or should I say…Mr. Arkon," said a dull voice. Arkon looked up at the source, everything was a blur.
"You know me, yes?" asked the voice.
Arkon could not muster any words, his head felt like it had split in half.
"My name is Bruce Gray, your vision will return to normal shortly. It is a side effect of the drug," said Gray, "Please don’t try to use your psychic abilities, they won’t work."
Arkon couldn’t think, where was he?
"What I want to know, is why John Arkon, a psychic soldier, Sericco survivor, and one of CoSec’s best detectives, is doing in my city," said Gray.
"My city," said calm voice.
"His city," said Gray.
"I…Keller," said Arkon.
"Keller?" asked the calm voice, "David Keller, former EROD and STF and now the Commanding Officer of the 1st PSU?"
Arkon couldn’t respond, his voice wasn’t working properly. Wait a minute…how Gray know of Sericco and Psychic abilities. And who was that man in the corner, how did he know so much about Keller?
"Keller," managed Arkon.
"Speak dammit!" yelled Gray.
"Let him rest for a few minutes," said the calm voice.
"Bu-" Gray was cut off.
"If you wish to disobey my orders, then please do so," said the calm voice, "I implore you."
Gray said nothing, and after a few minutes, the calm man in the corner got up and stepped out of the shadows. He was a very pale Caucasian man and completely bald. His eyebrows were black, and a pair of blood red sunglasses blocked his eye color. He was wearing a white business suit with a red tie, covering his hands were a pair of white leather gloves.
"Now, Mr. Arkon, what are you doing in this city?" asked the calm man.
Arkon could find the ability to speak now, and he looked up at the man.
"Who are you?" asked Arkon.
"You know the answer to that," said the Elusive Man.
"I was looking for you," said Arkon.
"Well, here I am," said the Elusive Man.
"What do you know of David Keller?" asked Arkon.
"I know how to find him," said the Elusive Man before assuming a surprised face, "Why? He didn’t murder anybody of importance did he?"
"You know about Braun," said Arkon.
"Yes, but if I didn’t I would now," said the Elusive Man, "I, unfortunately, cannot let you go to hunt him. Mr. Gray, let me see your pistol."
Gray took the pistol from inside his coat and handed it to the Elusive Man. The Elusive Man walked to the corner of the room and looked at the pistol.
"A Fairfield-18?" asked the Elusive Man, "A nice pistol."
"Thank you, sir," said Gray.
The Elusive Man turned around and walked back to the center of the room, handing the pistol to Gray.
"Now, Mr. Arkon. As I was saying, I cannot let you go to hunt him as I don’t know his current location. I do, however, know the location of a man who knows Keller’s location," said the Elusive Man, "Sergeant Major Carlos Ramirez is currently living in Chicago, he is one of Keller’s defectors. If you find him, you find Keller."
"Wait, why are you helping him?" asked Gray.
"Because I am feeling generous," said the Elusive Man.
"You know what? I am tired of listening to you, I should be running the Syndicate!" yelled Gray before pulling his pistol from his coat and aiming it at the Elusive Man. In response, the Elusive Man held up his hands.
"Don’t shoot!" said the Elusive Man, smiling, before Gray pulled the trigger. The gun clicked, but nothing came out.
"Now, Mr. Gray, you should know the weight difference between a loaded gun and an unloaded gun," said the Elusive Man before pulling out his own pistol, a customized Vertel Terzom-4, he aimed it at Mr. Gray with a smile. He then held up the clip that had formerly been in Gray’s pistol and shot Gray between the eyes.
"Now, as I was saying," said the Elusive Man as he put his pistol away, "I’m letting you go with that juicy bit of intelligence. Sergeant Ramirez’s favorite bar is Lucky’s on 4th and Baxter. Goodbye, Mr. Arkon."
With that, the Elusive Man walked out of the room. A few minutes later, two soldiers entered the room and cut Arkon’s bonds. They led him to the rooftop where a helicopter was waiting for him. Arkon walked across the landing pad and got in to find his SA-3 pistol and a note waiting for him.
Mr. Arkon,
I thought you would want this back.
Signed,
Your friend
Arkon put the pistol in its holster. He had no idea why the Elusive Man was helping him, but it really didn’t matter. His mission was one step closer to success.
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The helicopter lifted off, and once it was in the air a man stepped out of the co-pilot’s seat. He then turned around and looked at Arkon. Arkon had seen him before several days ago in Jim’s Bar; the man was Sage.
"Greetings, Mr. Arkon," said Sage with a smile.
"Hello Sage, I’m surprised they didn’t send Ace instead with him being the better assassin," said Arkon, trying to sting Sage’s pride.
"That’d be hard to accomplish, I killed him," said Sage with a smile, "And this isn’t a Syndicate job, this is directly from Mr. Gray."
"Mr. Gray is dead," said Arkon.
"He paid me before the job, so it makes no difference to me," said Sage.
Arkon drew his SA-3 handgun with speed only acquirable from super soldier serum, Sage went for his as well, but he was old and not nearly as fast as Arkon. Arkon pulled the trigger twice, the first struck Sage’s stomach, the second struck his heart. With a gasp, he fell out the side of the helicopter and down into the city below.
"Hey!" yelled the pilot through his microphone.
Arkon put on the helmet in the seat next to him.
"Nothing’s wrong, carry on," said Arkon.
"You killed him, didn’t you?" asked the pilot.
"Yeah," said Arkon.
"Good, the bastard killed my best friend," said the pilot before laughing.
Arkon didn’t join in with him as the helicopter carried on towards the landing strip.
***
The helicopter landed on the airstrip’s landing pad ten minutes later and Arkon stepped out of the helicopter. Waiting for him was a military transport aircraft with the Coalition Marines logo on the sides. Arkon approached it and stepped up the ramp to see three marines already seated inside.
"John Arkon?" asked a Lieutenant.
"Yeah," said Arkon.
"Hold out your finger," said the Lieutenant before pulling out a fingerprint scanner. He scanned Arkon’s fingerprints and looked up.
"Alright, you’re confirmed as John H. Arkon. We were contacted by General Monroe, he said that we had permission from the Freedom Island’s government to come and extract you," said the Lieutenant as the door closed behind Arkon. Arkon strapped himself in and the transport lifted off and zoomed off towards the mainland.
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and yet another twist..... More please!
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The transport landed roughly and Arkon woke with a start.
"Where are we?" asked Arkon.
"Portland, California," said the Lieutenant.
After the end of the Coalition Wars, countries and states became regions. What had been previously Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, and Idaho became the North American Region of California. Arkon sighed and got up. The ramp lowered and Arkon stepped out, followed by the Lieutenant, to see Tyson Bennet waiting for him. With Tyson were about twenty other men that Arkon didn’t recognize.
"Hello John," said Bennet.
"Tyson! Good to see you!" said Arkon as he walked up and shook Tyson’s hand.
"Monroe sent us when we got back from South America," said Bennet, "I know you can fight, but you can’t take on twenty-one psychics on your own."
"In that, you are right, but this group is too big. We’ll take six of your best with us, but we can’t be walking around with twenty guys," said Arkon.
"Fine. So, where are we going?" asked Bennet.
"Chicago," said Arkon, "We’re looking for a Carlos Ramirez."
"I knew Ramirez, one of Keller’s best," said Bennet.
"Good, you guys got some street clothes?" asked Arkon as he examined the PSU fatigues, "We’re supposed to be inconspicuous."
"No, our street clothes are in our lockers back at Fort Monroe," said Bennet, "But we can buy some, we have six million to kill."
"Monroe gave you three more?" asked Arkon.
"No, six million, why?" asked Bennet.
"Gave me three to begin with, he must really want Keller brought down," said Arkon with a snort.
"Didn’t know Keller that much, will make it easier to kill him," said Bennet, "But I still don’t like doing it."
"Well, we’d better get going then. We need some new clothes first," said Arkon.
***
Arkon, Bennet, and the six other PSU soldiers stepped off the plane at O’Hare International Airport. They were wearing street clothes, and had left their rifles behind in Portland. All had LanCo Reaper-12 pistols in their holsters, however, and they had been allowed to carry them on the plane due to Arkon’s NL (No Limitations) ID card that Monroe had given to him. Upon stepping off the plane, they went off in two groups of four, Arkon led one, Bennet led the other. Both groups were to rendezvous at the Farmhouse Motel. Arkon was wearing a brown business suit with a white shirt and a black tie. Covering his head was a brown fedora and dark sunglasses covered his eyes. He led his men to a shuttle and the shuttle took them to the baggage claim. Nobody had any bags to claim and they walked outside where several rental car companies were set up. Arkon rented a dark blue 2043 Sercom Interceptor and got in the driver’s seat. After everybody was in, he drove off towards the Farmhouse Motel.
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Arkon pressed his finger to his ear as he walked across Baxter street.
"Pursuit, in position?" asked Arkon.
"Yes sir," said Tyson.
"Eagle Eye?" asked Arkon.
"We're ready," said Gunnery Sergeant Michael Kessler.
Arkon walked through the front door of Lucky's and sat down in a corner booth. He then looked around. Carlos wasn't there.
"Target is not here yet," whispered Arkon.
After around forty minutes, Carlos Ramirez entered through the front door and sat down at the bar. Arkon got up two minutes later and walked up behind him. Ramirez, due to his sharp training as a super soldier, was able to hear him. He turned around to see John Arkon, the first psychic, standing behind him.
"Oh *beep*!" yelled Ramirez as he sent a psi-blast at Arkon, Arkon managed to block the energy. He saw Ramirez running to the back door and followed him into an alley. Suddenly, a shot rang out, and Ramirez fell to the ground with his leg blown apart. Ramirez began screaming, and Arkon approached.
"Pursuit, we got him," said Arkon, "Send your medic out here."
Suddenly, Ramirez sent a powerful psi-blast at Arkon, which sent him flying backwards. He then rolled behind a dumpster, out of the view of the sniper, as his leg healed. Arkon drew his Psikiller-1 and shot at Ramirez, Ramirez yelled in pain as a bullet struck his arm and Arkon ran up to him. After knocking him out with a pistol whip, Arkon leaned against the wall. Several CoSec cruisers surrounded the alley, but Arkon dismissed them with his NL-ID. After Ramirez was healed and placed in the trunk of the Interceptor, the team drove off.
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As Ramirez woke up, Arkon leaned against the wall. They had found a nice abandoned building to interogate Ramirez in.
"Hello Ramirez," said Arkon.
"*beep* off, I ain't telling you *beep*," said Ramirez.
"Nice language, where is Keller?" asked Arkon.
"I ain't telling you anything!" yelled Ramirez.
"Those questions were just for courtesy, allow me to tear it from your mind," said Arkon as he delved through Ramirez's defenses (which were weak due to the pistol whipping to the head earlier). Arkon went through fragments of memories until he found one where Ramirez was driving through a city, after Ramirez looked up at a large building, Arkon new which city he was in; New York City. Ramirez took a left and drove down several streets until he looked at a street sign and drove down it. He pulled up near a large apartment and got out of his car. The address was 4735 Rwen Street. Ramirez walked up the steps, nodding to a man sitting on the stairs in front, and walked through the front door to see Keller speaking with one of his men. Arkon then withdrew from the mind.
"It's no use, they moved, you'll never find him," said Ramirez, laughing.
"I don't need to know where they are, just where they've been," said Arkon as he raised his Psikiller pistol and aimed it at Ramirez's head.
"Wait!" yelled Ramirez, about to say something. It was too late, the bullet ended his life. Arkon wondered what Ramirez was about to say, but it didn't matter; he was a traitor to the Coalition. Arkon walked out of the room and turned to Tyson.
"Call Monroe, have him get us eight tickets to New York City," said Arkon.
"Alright," said Tyson.
***
Arkon, Tyson, and the six other men stepped onto the curb of JFK Intercontinental Airport, they were in four teams of two, but they were within view of each other. They each got a cab and made off towards Rwen Street, not even bothering with a hotel.
***
They each were dropped off a block from Rwen Street. It was a bad neighborhood: graffiti was everywhere, the buildings were in disrepair, and there was several homeless men living in the alleyways. Arkon stepped out of the cab and paid the man before walking off with Lieutenant Mason. After a short walk, they reached the building, or what was left of it. It looked as if Keller and his team had set fire to the building before leaving. Two teams were already at the building, including Bennet.
"Looks like he burnt it down," said Bennet, "Can you figure out where he went?"
"Hopefully...just be quiet," said Arkon as he delved deep into his mind. A projection of himself left his body and he saw the building as it had been. There had been a lot of intense emotions on the street, but few that were fresh in the building. The last one was that of a soldier as he spread gasoline. The emotion was regret. After the building was ablaze, he got into a van waiting outside.
"Dammit, forgot to get a car. Mason, go get one," said Arkon.
"Yes sir," said Mason as he walked off down the street, a few minutes later he drove up in an old sedan. Arkon jumped in, along with Bennet and Kessler.
"Lorn, you're in charge. Wait for the other team and get a car. We'll call you when we find the place," said Bennet before Mason drove off. Arkon entered his projection and the chase began. The van took several turns and Arkon was forced to navigate Mason across the city. After a long chase, the van stopped at 4528 Marshall Drive. Arkon left the projection and saw a guard sitting outside of the building; the van was gone.
"Keep driving," said Arkon.
Mason did as he was ordered, and they went around the corner. Afterwards, the four got out and Bennet called Lorn.
"Drive to 5621 Narmov Street," said Bennet, not wanting Lorn to drive right up to Keller's hideout.
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NOOO!!! I sense an ending coming! Make it go on! (I love this story)
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There's a #3...
=D
Don't worry, the ending is good. Just gotta work on it...=D
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The team was soon assembled, and as they stood around the corner from Keller’s hideout, a car drove up to Keller’s Hideout. A man walked out and looked around, it was Keller. He got into the back seat of the sedan and the car drove off.
"Shit, Bennet, take out the hideout,” said Arkon.
“Chase his ass down,” said Bennet before turning to the six other men, “Men, prepare for combat. I’m going to call in reinforcements.”
Arkon ran to the car and got in before turning the key, the car started up and Arkon pulled a U-turn onto Marshall Drive. He drove in front of the hideout and turned the corner that Keller’s driver had turned to see the sedan driving off. Arkon tried to stay two car-lengths away, but it didn’t help. Keller’s car sped off and Arkon followed, keeping up only because of his skill at driving. He turned several corners and went into a street with heavy traffic. Keller turned and went onto a sidewalk, using his telekinetic powers to shove pedestrians out of the way as he drove. Arkon drove up behind him and used his powers to reach inside the other c*beep*ngine and pull several wires and tubes. Keller’s car stopped and Keller jumped out, he then saw that it was Arkon that had pursued him. He stared at Arkon, somewhat surprised, before Arkon shot at him. The shot missed and Keller ran towards a building as the driver covered his escape. Arkon ran up to the car, blocking the bullets with telekinesis, and shot the driver without hesitation. He then saw that Keller had entered the Garamim Building; a tall skyscraper and home to the Garanim Industries offices. Arkon ran through the front door and into the lobby to see that Keller had knocked out the woman at the front desk, along with a security guard. Arkon saw that the guard’s keycard was gone and sighed before activating the silent alarm. As security guards poured in, he showed his NL-ID.
“Coalition, a terrorist has just gone up the elevator,” said Arkon, “Give me a keycard, now!”
One of the security guards handed Arkon his keycard, not wanting to interfere with Coalition business, and Arkon also grabbed a guard’s Narnum Redfield-8 shotgun. He called the elevator, and while waiting he checked the shotgun. It was fully loaded with eight shells, it would help “unlock” any old-style doors in his way. The elevator opened and Arkon ran in. He then entered his projection to see through the wall and into the other shaft. The emotion that Keller had felt was surprise and fear. The elevator went to the roof, why did he go up there? Arkon slid the keycard and selected the roof before going up.
***
The doors opened to the top of the building and Arkon peeked out to see Keller standing at the edge, looking out over the city. Arkon drew his pistol and aimed it at Keller.
“Don’t move,” said Arkon, though he knew that he would have to kill his old friend. Keller turned to his friend with a tear sliding down his cheek. He then dropped a phone that was in his right hand.
“Goodbye John,” said Keller before dropping a piece of paper from his left hand and falling backwards, over the rail and off the building. [[OOC: Don't know why that line below is there, this isn't the end. One more post.]]
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John approached the rail and looked down to see that David had collided with the street below. Several police cruisers were also arriving, along with an armored SWAT van. Arkon grabbed the piece of paper and looked at it, and what he read shocked him.
John,
I wrote this letter in preparation that they would send you after me. I can't kill you John, I just can't. If you're reading this, then I'm dead. You're probably wondering why I did this, why I betrayed the Coalition, and I will explain in this letter because I know we won't be able to speak in person.
The Coalition planned the Sericco Incident, down to the last detail. They let that murderous *beep* out. A month before the escape, they pulled the entire Army Company that was garrisoned there, leaving only a small crew of security guards behind. They knew that the Highmind would overpower them with ease. Then they sent us in as part of some sick experiment, having Braun inject us with that super soldier crap. Their entire goal was to create the first psychic soldiers, and it worked.
Rhodes, Masters, Xarxes, Farilor, and Winston...all of them are dead for that! All of them are dead because the Coalition wanted their super soldiers. I have proof, I have lots of proof, I squeezed it out of Braun before he died...I have it all on a recording. The Coalition is insane, everybody on the Council, all of them are freakin' crazy! They nuked Sydney, Grant wasn't a traitor, he was following orders! They sacrificed seven million people and their best General to create four super soldiers! Now you see why I betrayed them! They must be brought down, and you must be the one to do it. I am sorry that I could not live to fight beside you. Good luck Sir.
Signed,
David Keller
Arkon fell to the floor in complete and utter shock as he sat there, the SWAT ran onto the roof and aimed their weapons at him.
“John Arkon?” the team leader asked.
“Yeah,” said Arkon.
With no other words, they dropped their shotguns and submachine guns and readied several Psikiller pistols. Arkon sent out a massive psi-wave that sent them flying. He then invaded their minds and caused them to fall unconscious.
Don’t want to kill these men…they are slaves, nothing more.
Arkon then walked over and dropped his shotgun, exchanging it for one of their nicer Sercom-8 Combat Shotguns. He grabbed several clips for it and walked into the elevator. As it descended, he sensed EROD forces waiting in the lobby with Psikiller pistols at the ready. He sighed, he would have to kill. There was no alternative. As the elevator opened, Arkon walked out and jumped behind the front desk. The EROD soldiers opened fire, and Arkon returned it with the shotgun. The spread was low, and the buckshot made contact, piercing their Kevlar and killing several. When the coast was clear, Arkon made a break for the side exit. He increased his speed with telekinesis and opened the door with it as well, luckily, none of the bullet*beep* him. He walked into a parking garage and saw that several SWAT teams were waiting. He used a psi-blast to sent them all flying, but that severely weakened him. He stumbled to a green sedan, he couldn’t pay attention to the make, and broke the window. Using telekinesis, he hotwired the car and drove towards the exit. Waiting for him were several cruisers. He sent them flying out of the way with an indirect psi-blast and drove off down the street whilst being pursued by CoSec forces. He took several streets, sidestreets, and alleyways before finally losing them . Afterwards, he switched cars and made his way to Marshall Drive to check on how Bennet and his team was doing.
***
Upon arrival, he saw the same guard from before standing outside. Though this time, he was waiting for somebody.
“Hello Mr. Arkon, my name is Kaine,” said the guard, “Keller is dead, we know this. He told us to show you a recording and that you would lead us now. He said that you were a far better man then him when he contacted us in the elevator.”
“Lead on,” said Arkon.
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The End
What was everybody's opinions? Rate it on a scale from one to ten.
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9.5 (only because there is not more)
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8... sorry, just not as good as Serrico... that's how it is with writing multiple books. The first one rocks, second one sucks, and the final one is badass...
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Mr. Bill Larson
Report
3/18/2009 6:33:48 PM |
8... sorry, just not as good as Serrico... that's how it is with writing multiple books. The first one rocks, second one sucks, and the final one is badass... |
*scowls and cracks whip*
Joking! Thanks for the reviews, I enjoyed writing it. Hopefully I will start Infiltration, the third one, tomorrow.
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*Bill suddenly turns into a demon and grabs two giant boradswords and lights them on fire!*
"YOU SHALL NOT COPY MY RP'S NAME!!!!!"
*The demon then slices the Septim clone in this thread in half, and eventually reverts back to normal.*
[[Copycat >_<]]
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Okay, will find a new name.
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This is the 2nd story of the Arkon series, right before Revolution.
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Managed to follow up well.
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