//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Two for the Kill // Story: A Long Way to Fall // by Cinders of War //------------------------------// Dust Fencer leaned around the corner, determining the number of Templars in the bridge. There were nine guards along with two other men in there. One of them wore a white suit, and had shoulder length purple hair, covering his ears. The other had green hair and wore a dark blue suit. “Redwood,” Dust Fencer confirmed. He turned to his team. “He’s here. Along with his bodyguard, Fell Horizon.” “We probably shouldn’t rush in there, yeah?” one of the Assassins asked. "They might have more guys in there." “Nope,” Trueshot replied. “We could use a distraction.” “That gives me an idea, buddy,” Dust Fencer said, his face lighting up metaphorically. He went to his earpiece. “Pierce. Are you able to cause a blackout?” Pierce Network responded almost immediately. “Who do you think I am, Dust? Blackouts are one of my specialties. If I blackout this ship, the Templars are not going to know-” “Alright, alright,” Dust said, cutting the hacker off from his monologue. “Be ready on my signal.” “Right.” Dust turned to the Assassins. “Ready your weapons. We’ll have one shot at surprise here. Trueshot. Redwood’s all yours.” “My pleasure,” the Stalliongrad Assassin smiled, unslinging his sniper rifle. “Do it, Pierce,” Dust Fencer ordered. The Assassins readied their blades as the lights around them died out, plunging the whole bridge into complete darkness, slightly illuminated only by the moon. Without any signal or orders, the Assassins moved in, taking down Templars on their way to Redwood. Dust Fencer stabbed his blade through two guards before heading towards Fell Horizon. Dust saw the bodyguard whip out his magnum before taking a dodge to the ground as the man started firing blindly in a few directions. “Where are you!” Fell Horizon shouted as he ran out of bullets. Dust saw his chance and charged the purple haired bodyguard. He swung both hidden blades to the bodyguard, stabbing him in the chest as he pushed down, knocking the man to the ground. He removed a blade and aimed it for Fell’s neck, taking him out. “Trueshot!” Dust called to the darkness. “Mission complete?” “He moved,” Trueshot admitted. “I hit him, but he got away. I saw him heading for the door.” “Great...” Dust sighed. He put a hand to his earpiece. “Rookies! Redwood got out. He’ll be heading your way. Don’t let him get away!” “Y’all heard that?” Wreckhouse asked. “Sure did,” Frigid nodded. “There!” Tangent pointed. The team looked to see a small blip of a man leap over a generator and sprint down the bridge leading to the ship. “Let’s go,” Frigid instructed, the first of the rookies to break off after the Templar. Frigid bounded after Redwood, catching up to him rapidly. He noticed one of the Templar’s arms was wounded, blood dripping down the length of it to the ground. Redwood looked back and saw the rookies headed towards him. He turned from them and ran faster, forcing the rookies to quicken their pace. Rushing past a stack of crates, Redwood used his good arm to yank the pile down, forcing the Assassins to leap over the objects, buying the Templar a few more seconds to increase his distance. “Don’t lose him!” Frigid warned the others. “We can’t let him get away.” Frigid and Mirror continued after the man from the bottom, while Wreckhouse and Tangent took to the roofs. They trailed the man as he headed down a staircase to the next street. Redwood pushed past two civilians, forcing Frigid Night and Mirror Match to take a different path. They couldn’t let the civilians know of the secret war they were fighting in. “Left!” Mirror Match directed as she saw the Templar running on the main street. They spotted the man, running straight into the lobby of the Metro Hotel. They carefully followed him in, not wanted to attract unwanted attention from the civilians. “He’s smart,” Mirror acknowledged. “He knows we can’t let the civilians find us.” “Yeah,” Frigid nodded. He watched as the man halted his run, taking his stand in the lobby. “Right in front of their eyes. Wreckhouse, Tangent. What’s your position?” “We’re right above you,” Tangent replied. “What do we do now?” “He’s not making his move yet,” Frigid briefed. “So maybe his plan is to hole up in there until we leave, or until he calls for reinforcements.” “We can’t let him do that!” Wreckhouse barked. “I know, Wreckhouse,” Frigid answered. “But unless you have a plan to take him down without the civilian eye, then we’ll have to wait.” “I have a plan,” Mirror Match sounded. “I can use my copy skill to disguise myself to get close enough.” “You can do that?” Frigid asked, surprised at his friend’s skills. She really was something else. “Of course!” she smiled. “I’ll just need to study my target for a while.” “But he has no one else here. You’ll have to take out a civilian.” “Well, what other choice do we have? Wait for his reinforcements to arrive?” Frigid didn’t add anything more. Mirror was right. They had to act fast or risk losing the Templar. He really didn’t want to have to hurt the civilians, but it looked like there wasn’t a choice this time. “Looks like that’s our plan,” he told the other two Assassins. “Affirmative,” Tangent replied. “Wreckhouse and I will keep an eye out up here.” Frigid Night followed Mirror Match towards the back of the building, looking for a secondary way in. They found the entrance to the kitchens of some fancy restaurant in the hotel. “Perfect,” Mirror said, keeping a close eye on the people going in and out. She studied a woman with indigo skin, as she moved around, collecting plates and bringing them to the sink. She studied the way she walked, and the gestures she performed. “Got it. That woman over there. I’ll impersonate her.” “Alright,” Frigid said, a part of him still not wanting to do this. “That was quick. How do you plan to get to her?” “We’ll have to lure her out,” Mirror told him. “Or… if she comes out on her own, that’d be perfect!” Just as she said it, the woman began walking towards the glass door they were standing behind. “Well now, that’s a little perfect…” Frigid mumbled. “Wow.” They got behind cover as the woman opened the door, carrying a huge bag of food waste towards the dumpster. Mirror Match took the chance to grab the woman from behind, knocking her out before she had a chance to struggle. She settled the woman on the ground before returning to Frigid. “You go cover the side. I’m gonna change with this woman first.” “Right,” Frigid semi-nodded. “Got it. I’ll be over there.” Frigid walked over to another side entrance, making sure to get in without anyone seeing him. He found a room behind an alcove, stashing himself in it, leaving the door slightly ajar to check for people. “I’m ready,” Mirror Match spoke in his earpiece. “I’m moving in through the kitchen.” “By the way, Mirror,” Frigid asked, curious of her abilities. “How are you so good at copying things?” “Practice,” was all his partner said. “Right,” Frigid nodded. With practice, you could master just about anything. He pushed the door open slightly more, testing if he could see the lobby from where he was. He couldn’t. “Tangent, Wreckhouse,” he contacted, putting a hand to his earpiece. “Do you still have sights on Redwood?” “Yes, Frigid,” Tangent replied. “He’s still in the lobby, but his wounded arm’s attracted some attention. Some of the hotel staff are tending to him right now.” “Perfect,” Mirror added on from her location. “Just what we needed. We need to change plans, Frigid. We need to get him to an isolated position where no one will see us. Perhaps I can lead him somewhere, but if he catches on, you’ll need to take him.” “We can try that,” Frigid agreed. “Try to lead him over to my location. I’m in some storage room at the south exit. It’s a small room in the corner.” “On it,” Mirror Match said in his earpiece. “I’m entering.” Redwood waited as the staff wiped the blood on his arm. He had told them he got it when he fell off the docks, not wanting to tell them it was from a bullet. He looked at the wound, clearly looking like a bullet wound. It would only be a matter of time before they figured it out, but he hoped his reinforcements would get here before they found out. “Thank you for this,” he told one of them. “But this isn’t necessary. My men are on the way. They’ll get me to a hospital.” “It’s fine, sir,” a woman assured. “We’ll get you patched up.” “If you insist,” he sighed. “But please, don’t try to touch my wound. It still hurts. I want to be at a real medical center to fix that one.” “Of course, sir,” she told him. “Please, come with me. We’ll get you to a more comfortable place.” Redwood saw no harm in getting more comfortable. Even if it was a quieter space, the Assassins wouldn’t dare do anything with these hotel staff around. Then he realized something. Only one hotel staff was taking him to the room. “Where are we going?” he decided to ask, sensing something was wrong. “Oh, nowhere special,” she told him, revealing a small smile at the corner of her mouth. The woman shoved him into a hallway, sending him sprawling to the ground. Redwood quickly got to his feet, facing his attacker. She pulled off her cap, revealing long orange-green hair. “Assassin!” he shouted, recognizing her as one of them that chased him to the hotel. He tried to call for help, but before he knew it, he felt a cold, sharp object in his back going through him. He opened his mouth, but only blood came out. A second Assassin stepped out from behind him, the tip of his blade gleaming with the Templar's blood. No… not like this… He felt his body growing weaker before falling down into the dark pit of death. “Good job, rookies,” Sparkplug congratulated, giving them each a firm handshake. “Didn’t think you’d have it in you to chase down a Templar, but you did. Perfect work!” “How about the shipment?” Wreckhouse asked, wondering about the containers of money. “Did you manage to destroy them all?” “Sure did, kid,” Ice Flake replied, folding her arms across her chest. “And… we bagged ourselves some loot!” “Do we get some?” Mirror Match asked, her eyes lighting up after hearing about extra loot. “You’ve all done a good job,” Dust Fencer said, walking up to the front. “You’ll be getting a share, and even a recommendation from all of us. Right, guys?” “Yeah, you got mine,” Sparkplug smiled, folding his arms together. “Mine too,” Trueshot added from the corner, checking the parts of his rifle. Pierce Network stepped forward, not taking his eyes away from his phone. “I watched everything from the security cameras. Even the ones at the Metro Hotel. I have to say, that was some good work. Reminds me of my old days. Templars are always messing around, thinking the civilians are their personal human shields from us. Well, they were wrong again. I-” “Pierce,” Dust interrupted. “I think you can save the talking for later.” “Fine.” Dust turned back to the rookies. “You’ve all done a good job here today. Keep it up, and perhaps you’ll live to be my age. Maybe older if you're good.” Sparkplug climbed to the top of a crate before facing the other Assassins. “Good job, Assassins! I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all done Mentor proud today! Let’s get back and tell her the good news. After that, perhaps we’ll have a little celebration!” Morning Blade followed Twilight Sparkle down the corridor, heading back to Canterlot High’s entrance. They’d already spent a lot of time talking about the past today and it was time for the princess to return to her world. She had said she had more duties to perform. “Thank you for your time today, Morning Blade.” Twilight gave her a smile as they passed Mr. Crankee Doodle in the hall. “I’ve learnt a lot. Can’t say I agree with your Assassin methods, but the past is the past and I did want to know more about Captain Frigid’s counterpart.” “Yeah…” Morning looked through a glass cabinet containing some of the school’s trophies. They had a second place for a half-marathon all those years ago when Morning was still here. “I know it seems bad what we do and I do agree with you, but sometimes… you just have to go around the law to get something done. I’m glad that’s all behind me now at least.” “Yeah, how’s life been?” Twilight asked her. “Since you’ve stopped all that business, I mean.” “I’ll be going to college soon,” Morning told the lavender princess. “I’ve applied for a history major. I guess I don’t have to say why.” “No you don’t,” Twilight chuckled. “You really love this stuff. It’s good that you decided to follow up with it.” The two girls arrived outside at the Wondercolt statue base. Morning looked around at the remains of the auditorium. It had only been a while ago, but she felt like it had been ages since they had beaten Sombra and longer since she had joined up with the Assassins. “So I will see you tomorrow, Morning Blade?” Twilight stepped to the portal and stuck a hand through. “For more of the story?” “Of course, princess.” Morning Blade bowed slightly. The purple haired girl smiled. “You’re just like your pony counterpart. I’ll see you tomorrow!” Then she disappeared through the portal. Morning watched as the reflective base shimmered once, then returned to normal. Morning would’ve never believed what she had just seen if not for the fact she’d seen weirder stuff before. Turning back to the school building, Morning began making her way to the principal’s office. She wanted to see if Principal Celestia still wanted to catch up. There was so much she wanted to tell her former principal, but at the same time, so much she didn't want to. She still missed Frigid and she felt like she was still struggling getting over all her friends' deaths. Maybe a talk with Principal Celestia could set things straight for her.