A Long Way to Fall

by Cinders of War

Chapter 100: A Heated Exchange

It was late in the night when the car pulled up next to the bureau in Trottingham, loaded with tired Assassins and their equipment. The two on guard duty rushed over to help them unpack, asking everything they could as they did so.

Frigid Night focused on moving the gear, tuning out all the buzzing questions around his ears. He had no stomach to deal with pointless talk; it was almost three o’clock now, and he really wanted to get to bed. The next week, he would be heading back to Masyaf with the Mentor again.

Honestly, he didn’t want to go back and listen to more criticism for every little thing he did wrong. So what if his methods were different from the ones used in Saddle Arabia; they got results, didn’t they?

After placing everything in the lobby, the others gathered around the Mentor, waiting to hear what she had to say.

“The Templars have the upper hand at the moment, but next week will decide who wins. Assassins from all bureaus will be heading to Saddle Arabia, and that is when we will make our attack on the ancient palace. Currently, the Templars control it, but that’ll change. We will not let them get the artifacts, and we will defeat them.”

“I’m with you Mentor!” one of the Assassins put a fist to his chest.

“As am I!” another shouted.

“I’ve gathered all the other bureaus, and together, we will take back Masyaf from the Templar hands, but tonight, we will rest, and I will see all of you shortly.”

Frigid Night left the lobby, pleased to be able to return to his room after their long journey away. Morning Blade wished him goodnight and stopped off at her floor while Frigid kept going, almost dragging his feet up the stairs. Normally, he would try to look as strong as he could, just so the lower ranked Assassins knew not to mess with him, but tonight, he just wanted to get some sleep.

Whatever tomorrow, or next week brought, would test him. But he had to stay strong for what few friends he had left. Rose Petal and Trueshot were counting on him, and he couldn’t let them down.

---

Star Lance kept to the rooftops as he watched a group of Templar soldiers down below. He looked back to Keila and Ikram before pointing a finger down to the Templars before lifting an arm.

They nodded as he unsheathed a hidden spear, the mechanism clicking faintly as the weapon extended to its full length, the blade snapping open into its arrowhead formation and the shaft untelescoping to match. With a flick, Star Lance detached the spear from its bracer, throwing it up once in the air before catching with his hand underneath. He picked a target and with a lightning fast toss, one of the soldiers immediately fell to his knees as he looked down at the spear piercing out of his chest.

Star Lance and the others took the chance to attack, hopping down the roofs silently, their weapons ready. Star Lance placed another spear into its holder before extending his hidden blade.

Keila and Ikram had already taken down a guard each, cutting at their necks from behind while Star Lance kicked off the speared Templar and jammed his hidden blade through one man’s back, while his extended spear caught another Templar in the neck, punching through completely in a spray of red.

He didn’t give the last soldier a chance to pull out his black blade and ran him through with his spear. The dark crystal weapon bubbled and dissolved into smoke as its owner died, just like all the rest.

“All clear,” Keila said behind him, cleaning her daggers on a Templar’s coat.

“Hmm.” Star Lance retrieved his first spear and bent down to look at the spot the black blade had disappeared. “There it is again. These blades don’t stay. Could it be tied to the user’s life?”

“But that sounds impossible,” Ikram sheathed his scimitars. “Doesn’t it?”

“Well, impossible isn’t something we should use so lightly. They’ve got a Grand Master who can transform into shadows after all.”

“True.”

“Alright, keep moving,” Star Lance said as he stood. “Just a few more miles for today. This’ll make things easier for Mentor Steel Shine when she returns.”

The plan was to push to the old palace up ahead, taking back as much as they could on the way there. The day had gone a lot better than expected. Almost too good. In Star Lance’s experience, Templars were like cornered foxes when it came to territory; they’d fight to the last to get to it, but now, all it took was a few kills to send whole camps running. Maybe they were finally losing their nerve, but something wasn’t adding up.

“Do the Templars know where we’re headed?” Keila mused.

“I doubt it…” Star Lance looked around, noticing a Templar outpost just up ahead looked very empty. “But… This is odd. I expected more resistance.”

“Might be a trap up in there,” Ikram pointed at the outpost.

“Shall we investigate then?” Star Lance started ahead, taking to the buildings to traverse more quickly. If it was a trap, he’d rather he be caught in it than Steel Shine.

There were two guardtowers on both sides of the gate, but both were empty, along with the entire courtyard of the place.

Must all be hiding inside. Star Lance activated his eagle vision and looked about, noticing nothing was coming up in red or gold. How strange…

He took two steps back and ran forward, leaping off at the end of the building. The Master Assassin sailed through the air for a couple of seconds before his hands found the roof of the guardtower. He hooked his fingers over the ledge and let the momentum carry his body into the tower before letting go. Star Lance looked back to Keila and Ikram and waved them over before climbing down the tower, scanning his surroundings for signs of life.

Still nothing.

“Keila,” Star Lance said as the Saddle Arabian Assassins joined him inside the compound. “You check that building,” he pointed to the main building. “Ikram, you search the tents.”

“On it.” Both sprinted to their targeted zones to search for Templars while Star Lance walked around the outer perimeter, looking for patrols or anyone he could find.

When their searches turned up empty, the three Assassins regrouped in the courtyard.

“It’s like the camp’s been completely deserted,” Ikram scratched his head with confusion. “Why?”

“I definitely smell a trap now,” Star Lance grunted and darted his eyes around, looking for anything that might tell them what was about to happen. “Stay on your toes.”

And then, all of a sudden, the far gates to the camp exploded into flames, showering all three of them with burning debris.

“What?” Keila swatted dust off her coat as a beige tank rode in towards them.

“Tank! Get to cover!” Star Lance pushed both Assassins ahead of him, vaulting over a crate and sprinting behind a tent. Hopefully the tank wouldn’t see them.

The tank’s next shot ripped through the canvas and impacted the far wall, blowing it to smithereens. So much for that.

“Why are they even blowing up their own base?” Keila yelled over as they made for one of the storehouses. “This is crazy!”

The tank’s cannon turned to them and another row of tents went up in flames. The Assassins hid behind the storehouse, watching as the tank rolled over a charred table, its turret revolving as its gunner searched for its quarry.

“There must be something here we can use to take that down!” Ikram whispered over as they moved behind the concrete walls of the small building.

“There’s bound to be some weapons in these stores,” Star Lance pointed out, heading around to the backdoor to look inside.

The small rectangular buildings were stacked with crates of all sizes, from floor to ceiling. Making sure that the tank didn’t see them, the Assassins crept into the nearest one and began rifling through them.

Keila was the first to get her crate open, but it was only full of whiskey and rope.

“Who the hay packs whiskey with rope?!” she hissed, throwing aside the crate.

“Keila, no!”

But it was too late, as Keila had failed to realize that as the wooden box hit the floor, it made a loud and attention drawing crash.

“Oh fu-”

“Get down!” Star Lance ordered, and not a moment too soon. The Assassins had barely just hit the dirt when the entire roof was torn from above them with a deafening blast as small spurts of fire spread among the wooden crates.

The Master Assassin pulled a shard of wood from his arm as he noticed the armored vehicle slowly rolling its way over to the storehouse before its machine gun began firing at them. The three Assassins threw themselves out of the line of fire and ran in different directions.

“See what you can find!” Star Lance yelled to them as he ran in an arc around the tank.

Ikram nodded, throwing aside the smashed remains of a crate a few meters away from its previous housing. Inside were assault rifles and empty magazines. Snatching up one of the rifles, the Assassin circled around the tank and jammed the stock of the gun into the tank’s treads, while Star Lance distracted the gunner. It broke almost instantly, the treads grinding up the gun like a twig.

“Oh come on!” Ikram shouted, jumping back as the machine gun turret turned to him.

Star Lance took this chance and leapt for the back of the tank, climbing up its engine as he made for the top. He grabbed ahold of the machine gun with his hands, holding it still as it tried to follow Ikram, stopping it. It took all of the Master Assassin’s strength to restrain it, but he held strong.

Then Star Lance heard the hatch opening behind him. He let go of the turret and hopped to the side as the Templar who came out shot and missed with a pistol. Lance took his chance and charged at the man, unsheathing his hidden spear and throwing it with all his might at the man. The spear grazed his arm and the gun fell from his grip and down into the tank. There was a bang and the entire vehicle went still.

Oh no way.

A grin formed on the left side of his mouth as he finished the exposed Templar with his hidden blade before carefully looking down the tank hatch. Two more men sat inside, shooting their guns at the Assassin, who dodged back and retrieved his thrown spear.

“Woah, Star Lance,” Ikram marveled as he crawled up the tank to join him. “What did you do?”

“Lucky strike,” he said and placed the spear back into his arm sheath. “Two more inside and we can call it a day.”

“I think Keila can handle that,” Ikram pointed to his partner.

The black haired Assassin was running over, carrying a satchel in one hand, and a small black device in her other.

“Wait, did you get it already?” Keila asked, wide-eyed. “And I had found all these explosives too.”

“Toss it up, Keila,” Star Lance beckoned, a hand out to receive it.

Keila did as she was told, throwing the satchel of explosives to the senior Assassin. Star Lance wasted no time in throwing it in and closing the hatch before pointing for the Assassins to get away.

Once Star Lance decided they were far enough, he signaled for Keila to push the button on her detonator. The explosion rocked the ground underneath them as the tank went up in a ball of fire and smoke.

“Well,” Star Lance said at last. “Now we know why this place was deserted.”

“Is that it?” Ikram asked as he looked around to the outpost’s fence. “Just one tank?”

“I’m glad it’s just one tank,” Keila scowled at him. “Be careful what you wish for.”

After ascertaining that there were no more Templars to be found, Star Lance pulled out his radio.

“HQ, this is Star Lance. We’ve captured another Templar outpost. Send some guys to collect and secure the area.”

“Roger that, Star Lance,” the other side said. “Stand by until the team arrives, over.”

Star Lance kept his radio and turned his head to their real objective. The palace stood taller than all the buildings surrounding it, untouched by any modern remodeling like most of the city had undergone.

“We’re close,” he told the other two. “Come on. Let’s go see what else the Templars have left for us.”

---

Mahogany Wood had left his quarters after a good hour on his piano. Crescent Wing followed closely behind, always ready to defend the chairman.

That was one thing Mahogany liked about his bodyguard.

He walked along to his office, his leather shoes clacking against the smooth tiled floors. He had a meeting with the principals again in about an hour, so he had some time to prepare what he needed. Mahogany pushed open his office door, just in time to see Mirror Match close one of his files on his desk.

“Oh. Good afternoon, chairman,” she asked, no tinge of surprise in her voice. “Busy day ahead?”

“And what do you think you’re doing in my office, Mirror Match?” he asked as he walked over around his desk and looked down at her.

“Queen’s orders,” Mirror said, promptly standing up. “Someone’s got to make sure everything is being managed properly, and since King Sombra is away, I thought I’d take a crack at it.”

“And might I ask who this queen is? All the years you’ve served our cause, you’ve never explained who she really is.”

Mirror thought for a moment.

“No,” she said at last. “I don’t think you should.”

“And why is that?” Mahogany raised a suspicious eyebrow. “What are you really doing here, Mirror Match? Why did you join us?”

“I’ve told you, I am searching for someone. It’s not my fault you Templars haven’t been helpful in that regard in the slightest.”

“Are you planning on betraying us, then? Like you did with the Assassins?”

“Pft. For your information, I didn’t plan on betraying the Assassins; it just happened to play out that way. They’ve lost sight of what their organization is meant to do, much like the Templars before King Sombra came along. While I have nothing against betraying you, chairman, I’m serving King Sombra, and if you’ll recall what happened to your brother, he doesn’t take traitors lightly.”

The chairman folded his arms and frowned. Mirror Match had a way with words and they were rarely used to make you feel good.

“Yes. He does not. So don’t try it. That’s what I’m paying you for anyway.”

“And you’re paying me quite a lot, aren’t you,” Mirror flashed Mahogany a bright smile and sidled out toward the exit. “By the way, you really need to alphabetize your files. They’re hugely disorganized; get a secretary or something.”

Mahogany Wood watched the woman leave, only sitting down once her fluttering cape disappeared behind his door frame. The first thing he did was check his desk, just in case he was missing something. Instead of that, he realized everything had been filed back in place, but alphabetized like Mirror Match said. The ‘C’ category was slightly ruffled, as if it had been recently rifled through.

“Sir, did she take anything?” Crescent stopped at Mahogany’s side.

“No.” The chairman couldn’t believe it himself. “No she didn’t… Crescent? Send someone to watch Mirror Match. I want to know exactly what she’s up to.”

“Are you sure that’s wise, sir? I mean, it is Mirror Match we’re talking about here.”

“Just do it, Crescent. I have a bad feeling about her right now.”

---

---

"Things sure are heating up, huh?" Morning Blade sighed, her breath visible before her face.

"Surely you don't mean this weather..." Twilight Sparkle rubbed at her shoulders.

They'd been out here almost all morning and part of the afternoon now and the temperature was already beginning to drop. Perhaps it was time to find somewhere else to continue the story.

"I could use a cup of coffee. Would you be interested, princess?" Morning rubbed her hands together and stood up, taking one more look at the quiet pond.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind." Twilight got up as well. "Your world's coffee is different from ours. I like this difference. Let's go."

Comments

[Jaxxon Markus Citadel]

The whole tank business reminds me of the Da Vinci tank mission in AC:Brotherhood. Nice work.

The ‘C’ category was slightly ruffled, as if it had been recently rifled through.

C for Chrysalis!

[Marcthelightspark2004]

9018602
Maybe. Who knows?

Another 10/10!

[MoonlightRift]

Mahogany Wood watched the woman leave, only sitting down once her fluttering cape disappeared behind his door frame. The first thing he did was check his desk, just in case he was missing something. Instead of that, he realized everything had been filed back in place, but alphabetized like Mirror Match said. The ‘C’ category was slightly ruffled, as if it had been recently rifled through.

Chrysalis.

Also Chapter 100! So close to the end.