//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: No Turning Back // Story: A Long Way to Fall // by Cinders of War //------------------------------// Pierce Network parked the van on the street, just outside the Marelaut Hotel. It was one of the few hotels in Chicoltgo, but probably the most famous one, because of Lucky Deck's control in the city, even if it was a smaller establishment. "So..." High Noon checked his gear and pulled his hood up. "What's the plan?" Pierce checked his sidearm and stuffed a few extra magazines in his coat pocket. "The plan. You stay near the van, just in case. I'm going in, and I'm taking Lucky Deck down." "Wait, what?" High Noon realized he wasn't going to be of much help in this. "I don't get to help you out?" "Oh you'll be helping plenty. Watch the van. Keep an eye out for things in the lobby." High Noon shrugged and threw up his hands. "Whatever you think is best." Pierce nodded and headed to the front entrance, keeping his eyes on the phone at all times. The first obstacle was the metal detector. He couldn't have the guards taking away his weapons, so as he neared it, he downed the power, walking through without a beep, activating it again as soon as he was a safe distance away. "High Noon," he contacted over the earpiece. "I'm in. Just watch the lobby for me. I have a pair of binoculars in one of the compartments in the van." "Right," High Noon replied, a little bit of dissatisfaction in his voice. “Uhh… There are just three guards in there with you, but they shouldn’t suspect you of anything. There’s so many people around.” Pierce shook his head. "Assassins these days... They're definitely not what they used to be. This kid can't even work under pressure, or even do petty things like being a lookout. Sometimes, all they need is someone to kick them over before they learn the simple things." He proceeded in, using his phone to bypass the security camera's' inner workings. Soon, he was in the system, watching out for the old Templar, switching through the many cameras to find him. "Where are you hiding, Lucky Deck? You've been lucky all this time, but today, your luck has run out. I'm here to make sure of it." Pierce eventually found the Templar in the meeting room, talking to someone else. A familiar man with pale-green skin and brown hair. Mahogany Wood. “The usual transaction, Mr. Lucky?” Mahogany asked, putting his arms behind his back. “Yes, Chairman Wood,” the older Templar nodded, walking behind a desk to pull out a silver suitcase. “Everything’s in here.” “Crescent Wing,” Mahogany summoned. The orange haired bodyguard stepped forward and pried open the case, taking a look inside. “All in order, chairman.” “Thank you kindly.” Mahogany turned his back to the camera. “The weapons are already downstairs. This time, the Assassins will pay for what they’ve done.” “Yes, chairman.” Lucky shook Mahogany’s hand. “I’ll be sure to fit them as soon as possible.” Pierce quickly swapped to his earpiece and contacted his partner. “High Noon. Mahogany Wood and Crescent Wing are here. They’ve just collected one of their Templar payments, I believe.” “Right,” High Noon replied. “Templars outside the inner circle pull some of their funds towards the artifact research and resource fund. Should we take him down?” “No. Stick to the plan. If we can get Mahogany, then we go for it. We will not go out of our way to kill him. Mahogany also said he brought weapons downstairs,” Pierce added. “Probably in the basement. We’ll have to check that out too. Do you think you can find it?” “Well, better than sitting out here next to the van,” High Noon put a little excitement in his voice. “I’ll let you know if I find something.” “Be careful, rookie. Don’t want to get caught to early.” “Hey, that’s what I’ve been training for. Not getting caught. I’ll do my best.” Pierce acknowledged and began looking for a staircase. He found one in the corner, locked by a datapad. Pierce scoffed and tapped away on his phone, changing the datapad’s light from red to green. He looked around before pushing the door open and slipped behind it as fast as he could. He’d made it into the hotel, but he still had to disable to security. If his schematics were right, the security room was on the second floor. He moved up the staircase, listening out for any footsteps or breathing. “Not going to surprise me in here, Templars. I know your base. I know where everything is.” Pierce opened the door to the third floor, scouting around the room before entering. One guard stood by the door on the far side, looking into another room. The Assassin quietly made his way to a nearby couch, concealing himself behind it. “Great,” Pierce muttered under his breath after looking around. “The only way through is past that guard. Gotta find something to distract him with…” On the other side, Pierce sighted a vending machine. Just what he needed. With a tap of his phone, the machine began spewing out snacks onto the ground, the rickety noise attracting the guard’s attention. The guard slowly walked over, getting closer to Pierce’s position. As soon as he saw the guard’s boot pass the couch, Pierce immediately leapt up and grabbed the man from behind with one hand and bashing him on the head with his baton in his other hand. He let the body fall over the couch as he headed for the door. Another locking mechanism kept the door closed, but with a few buttons on his phone, Pierce got the door to open, letting him out into the hotel’s well-known rooftop garden. “Alright,” Pierce said to himself as he looked at the map of the building on his phone. “Just need to cross this garden and the office should be on the other side.” “Pierce?” High Noon’s voice came on. “Are you talking to yourself again?” “What are you saying? Of course not. What’s your status?” Pierce changed the subject. “Have you gotten to the basement?” “Yeah,” High Noon replied the bored hacker. “I think I found a door, but it’s guarded by two guards.” “Well, do something about it. You’re an Assassin are you not?” Pierce replied harshly. High Noon flinched at the voice, but agreed. He had trained the last three years to be an Assassin. If two guards were a problem for him, then he had wasted his time. The cowboy ducked back around the corner and let out a shrill whistle. “What was that sound?” he heard one of the guards say. “I didn’t hear anything,” the second one replied. High Noon heard footsteps approaching his location. He waited till the guard turned the corner before pulling him in and grabbing him in a choking position. He slowly inserted his hidden blade into the side of the man’s neck, quieting him before setting him down on the ground. The cowboy returned to the corner and peeked over it. The second guard was still standing there like nothing had happened. High Noon smiled. That was good. It just made his job a lot easier. He took a deep breath before sprinting from his cover. The second guard widened his eyes, but brought the gun up too slowly, allowing High Noon to barrel straight into him, ramming him against the wall. He slotted his hidden blade into the man’s chest, making sure he was dead before hiding the body with the previous one. “High Noon,” Pierce called again. “What’s your status?” “Just took care of the guards,” he affirmed. “Heading in now.” “Good, because I’m almost to the office. I’ll let you-” “Hey! Who are you?” a voice interrupted Pierce’s. “Call you back, High Noon!” Pierce signed off. “Great…” High Noon muttered. He quickly pushed open the basement door, taking in the full sight of the place. It was a massive rectangular box with crates of weapons stacked along the length of it, like a full armory. Noon remembered one of the Templars, Talon, smuggled weapons out of his army base. This time it seems, Talon had gotten the bigger firearms out. High Noon knew he couldn’t let the Templars have these. He had to destroy them. Guards patrolled the lanes along the crates, walking back and forth, carrying some of the new rifles with them. At the back, under a huge Templar flag, High Noon noticed a familiar man and his bodyguard. “Mahogany…” High Noon breathed quietly. If the chairman was here, perhaps he could blow him up along with all the weapons in here. High Noon thought out his plan. He looked at the different crates, each row carrying a different gun. There were rifles, bigger rifles, grenade launchers, rocket launchers, and a bunch of explosives in the last row. An idea lit up in Noon’s head. Exactly what I need. He carefully made his way across the first few crates, ducking low to avoid being seen by the patrolling guards as he made his way towards the explosives. His heartbeat pulsed faster after a close call with one of the guards. He managed to throw himself in between two crates as the guard turned the corner, walking down the lane he had just been in. He wiped the sweat off his face and continued, trying not to make the same mistake again. He crouched behind one of the crates as the guard walked towards him. “Hey!” High Noon jumped as he turned around, watching a guard raise his gun at him. “Hands up!” the man beckoned with the gun. “Who are you? What are you doing here?” High Noon flashed him a nervous smile. “Who, me? I’m supposed to be here. I’ve got my pass right here…” Keeping his eyes on the guard, the Assassin’s right hand strayed for his belt. The guard hesitated, lowering his rifle a fraction, which was all the cue High Noon needed. He whipped his coat aside and in one smooth motion, drew his revolver, thumbed back the hammer and fired a single, deafening shot. Guard and rifle fell to the ground, the former with a gaping hole in his forehead. The effect was immediate. Every single guard instantly zeroed in on the source of the noise and the air was filled with bullets. High Noon barely had time to throw himself flat as the first volley perforated the space he had just been occupying. Splinters tore out of the crates as bullets whizzed through them. “Ah, crap.” The Assassin flattened himself against the crates as splinters flew in a storm of wood about and over his body, hissing as a sliver nicked his cheek. He swore and wiped the blood off. Blindly, he poked the muzzle of his revolver between two crates and fired three times, the gun bucking in his hand. None of the bullets hit anyone but it had the desired effect of making the guards take cover, allowing him to slide behind a larger stack of crates and reload his own gun. He looked over it, spying the explosives, still two lanes away. The chatter of a rifle rang out from the far end of the room and High Noon emptied his gun in that direction, smiling as he heard them hit twice, the man going down in a heap. Still got it. He was out, and reloading meant wasting more time, so he stowed his revolver and jumped over to the next crate. The remaining guards must have understood that too, advancing on his position while firing at him again. He was just one row away from the explosives now, but he was pinned down, unable to do anything as the barrage of hot lead ate away at his cover. "Surrender, High Noon!" he heard the chairman call to him. "I know it's you! Come out, and I'll make this painless!" Yeah, go jump in a lake. High Noon was many things, but gullible was not one of them. He stayed put. One of the guards reloaded and rounded on High Noon’s cover, bringing the rifle’s sights up to his face. In that split second, the Assassin unclipped his lasso from his side and threw it, the loop of rope closing in a tight noose around the man’s neck. He pulled, hard, and heard a satisfying crunch as the guard hit the concrete floor face first. High Noon snatched up the rifle, putting a burst into the prone guard’s back just in case and went back to sitting against the crate. Come on, fellas. Let’s make this interesting. The remaining three guards were being cautious now, only popping out from behind cover to take a few shots at his position before ducking out of range. He returned fire at intervals, using the lull as a chance to reload his revolver. He frowned as he snapped the cylinder back into place; he was running low on bullets, but at least the rifle still had at least half a mag left. He darted towards the explosive crates, firing the rifle as he ran. The kick sprayed the bullets all over the place, but he kept the guards back behind their cover, the men afraid of getting hit by a stray bullet. The cowboy arrived at the explosives crate and yanked the first one open. Inside lay boxes of C4, stacked to the brim. Noon grabbed one before ducking back down to avoid more rifle fire. "Do you think I'll allow you to blow all these up?" Mahogany taunted again. "We'll kill you before you even take out one charge!" High Noon spat at Mahogany's words, but the chairman was right. No way he was going to be able to blow everything up with the guards and Crescent actively trying to end him. "High Noon," Pierce said on the radio. "Where are you? What's going on?" "Pinned down right now, Pierce!" he shouted back over the small gunfire. "Not a good time to chat." "Oh, that's perfect. I'm activating a blackout. Use that chance to get to me. I'm on the third floor. Get ready to move." High Noon opened the box of C4 and counted. There were at least ten pieces inside, maybe more. He could afford to drop a few in this room. "Ready whenever, Pierce." Two of the guards began approaching High Noon position from both directions, hoping to cut off his escape route. High Noon put the rifle over the crate and fired in a fanying to neutralize the guards or scare them back to cover. He didn't hear any of them scream in pain, but he heard his gun click. He brought it back down and looked at the mag. Empty. Wonderful. He pulled out his revolver again, quickly inserting a few bullets in, readying to fire it just as the lights in the whole room shorted out, plunging the whole room into total darkness. High Noon saw his chance and crouched forward, focusing his vision. Soon, the red aura of the guards and the bluish-white aura of his surroundings appeared in his vision, allowing him to navigate the room while the guards fired at his previous location. High Noon took the chance to plant a piece of C4 on one of the crates. He quickly armed it and moved on, firing two shots out of his revolver, hitting one of the guards in the back, sending him down. The remaining two and Crescent Wing fired towards his newer location, forcing High Noon down to the floor to avoid the speeding bullets. He slowly made his way to the exit, making sure to arm one more C4 on the closest crate. "High Noon!" he heard Mahogany roar as he slammed the door open and sped up the flight of stairs, heading to the third floor. Pierce grappled a guard by the arm before spinning around to his back and beating him down with his baton. A second guard approached him with a rifle drawn, but Pierce spun to the left and whipped out his pistol at the same time, dodging the man’s burst of bullets and taking him down with a few of his own. After making sure they were both down, he reactivated the power, bringing all the lights back on. "Noon, where are you?" Pierce contacted as he headed through the office doors. "Some hallway. I should get to you soon. I hope." Pierce grumbled to himself, but got over it. He had worse Assassins to deal with before. The office before him was empty. There was a meeting room and a resting space next to Lucky's desk room, but there were no signs of anyone. "Strange..." Pierce muttered out loud. "Where are you hiding, Lucky? There's gotta be something in here that'll help." Pierce headed over to Lucky's personal computer. The machine was still on, allowing Pierce to access it without having to hack his way in. He tapped away on the keys, bringing up pages of data. Soon, the Assassin found his way into the main database, detailing him the mainframe of Lucky Deck's office. Finding what he wanted, Pierce hit the button, opening up a fake wall, revealing the Templar and a set of screens in a panic room, nothing but a wall of glass separating them. "Welcome, Mr. Pierce," he smiled at the man, walking over to the glass. "I've been expecting you." "Have you now?" Pierce replied, staring the man in the eyes. "I know what you've been doing, Lucky. You think you have the whole city under your thumb just because you're with the Templars. Well, let me tell you. You're wrong. You didn't expect resistance, and besides. This is my city. I'm not going to let you do what you please here." The old man laughed at the hacker. "You think you alone can stop me? I've been watching you. You're not the only one with eyes everywhere, and I have many more cards in my deck. I have all the gangs under me. Even the cops! I could have them arrest you right now, all with the push of a button. And you're not going to get me! This glass is heavily bulletproof, made to withstand high caliber rounds. You're simple, little gun can do nothing against it." Pierce tapped at his phone, bringing up the schematics again. "Every structure has its weakness, Lucky. I'm going to find yours." "Good luck with that, Mr. Pierce," Lucky Deck grinned. The Templar turned around and walked to his small desk. "In the meantime, perhaps I'll get the police on the line." Pierce reviewed the small box the man had placed himself in. There was no way in from his current location, but the floor caught his eye. Planks. There were planks under the man's panic room. Pierce quickly pivoted and headed out the way he came. "So long, Mr. Pierce!" Lucky Deck cackled behind him. "I say you have about ten minutes before the cops show up!" Pierce scoffed at the Templar's taunting. "Throw as many insults as you want, but nothing will save you." He put a hand to his earpiece to contact his partner. "High Noon, change of plans. Meet me on the second floor. Make sure to bring some explosives." "Way ahead of you, Pierce," the cowboy replied. "I'm still on the second floor, and I bagged myself a box of C4." "Excellent. I'll meet you at the stairwell." Pierce didn't want to waste anymore time, and the Templars already knew they were here, so he pulled up his hood and whipped out his pistol. Sneaking was unnecessary from here. He sprinted back through the garden, pointing his gun around every corner, making sure no guards were on their way to him before pushing through the next door. Two guards stood on the other side, immediately lifting their rifles at him. With his gun already pointed at them, Pierce fired first, taking one guard down with four bullets, before sliding under the rifle fire, getting behind the same couch he had used before. He searched through his phone's functions as bullets began tearing up the couch, spewing fluff over his body. Pierce found what he was looking for and activated it, bursting a circuit box next to the guard. He heard the guard yell and fall, giving him a chance to leap over the couch and stab the man in the back with his hidden blade. "Takes care of that..." Pierce Network pushed open the next door and slid down the railing to the second floor. He threw the door open, looking at the back of a guard, directing his attention and bullets elsewhere. Pierce took the chance and stabbed the guard in the back. "Glad to see you, Pierce," High Noon got up from his hiding spot. "He had me pinned down here." "No time to waste now," Pierce got straight to work finding the exact location of Lucky's panic room. "We've got cops on the way. If you don't want to break the Creed, I suggest we work fast." "What do you need me to do?" the young Assassin asked, following behind. Pierce eventually found what he was looking for, stopping in a room with a single oaken table and six chairs. "Plant the C4 in the four corners of this room. Lucky Deck is going to be in for a surprise. These Templars think their little gadgets can save them. They're almost correct, but they forget to put me in the equation." Pierce looked up at the ceiling camera and fired a single bullet, shredding the device. High Noon did what the hacker told him, setting up the explosives in the four corners of the ceiling. Luckily, there was enough tables, cabinets, and chairs for him to stand on to get to the ceiling. “All done, Pierce,” High Noon said, jumping off the oak table. “Now what? Oh, and I did set a few down where the Templar kept all their weapons.” Pierce grabbed him by the hood and pulled him out of the room, pushing him against the back wall in the hallway. He peeled the detonator from High Noon’s hand and put a thumb over the button. “Brace yourself.” The explosion was deafening, sending a small shockwave through their bodies. Pierce could feel the vibration move from his eyes and ears to his toes as he waited for the rumbling to die down. There were also some tremors coming from under them. Probably the C4 High Noon had planted downstairs. "Help! Help!" a frail voice entered his ears as the ringing stopped. Pierce left the wall and headed back into the room, smiling at Lucky Deck, trapped under a pile of broken cement and beams. "Money... People think money will get them anything. You Templars are wrong. Money might get you resources and people, but it will never get you away from the Assassins." "...What?" Lucky wheezed from under a piece of debris, a lung likely crushed. "I didn't say anything about money." "Doesn't matter," Pierce scowled. He pulled back his hood and put a palm out to High Noon. "Hand me a charge." High Noon dug around the box and pulled out a wad of C4 for the veteran Assassin. Pierce took it without looking and stuffed it a few inches away from Lucky's reach before arming it. "You Templars disgust me," Pierce turned to leave, pushing High Noon in front of him. "Think you can bend the world to your liking. Well, I have news for you. It's a lot harder than you think. You've played your last card. Rest well, Lucky Deck." The Assassins quickly left the room, heading down to the lobby to get back to the van as the first blare of sirens slowly grew as soon as he got into the driver's seat, Pierce started the van and detonated the C4, hearing the faint boom from Lucky Deck's office go off. He pressed down on the reverse pedal and sped his way out of the alley. The first two police cars turned the corner, sliding to the sides to block the road as they stopped behind the Assassins' van. "Seatbelt on?" Pierce asked, keeping his eyes at the back. "Yeah..." High Noon slowly said. "Why?" Pierce smiled at the cop cars. "Hang on tight." He shifted the gear back to drive and mashed the pedal down, boosting the van forward as fast as it could go. The cops quickly got out of their cars are fired at their van, some bullets pinging off the steel surface. High Noon turned back to the front, the hacker holding on to his phone with one hand and the wheel in the other. "Pierce! Keep your eyes on the road!" "I got this," Pierce grumbled, narrowingly avoiding a blue car. "Been doing this for a long time, kid. I'm still alive." High Noon leaned back in his seat, clenching the armrests as Pierce continued to swerve around all kinds of traffic. One time, he'd thought they weren't going to make it when a cop car turned out of another road, straight into their path. Pierce had swerved the van so hard that they almost flipped, but somehow managed to get away as another car hit into their van, straightening the car. The Assassins sped down a side road, heading away from the police. As soon as he felt safer, High Noon had put a hand to his chest, checking if his heart was still in one piece. "See?" Pierce shifted the gear. "Told you I can manage." As they continued away from the main road, a bright light flashed down in a circle around them, with a loud rotor overhead. "Seriously?" High Noon looked out the window. "Helicopters? For a single van?" "That's how the city is," Pierce simply told him, pushing harder on the accelerator. The hacker suddenly leaned out the window with his phone, but still kept a foot on the pedal. "Pierce! What!" High Noon shouted in horror as the hacker steered without looking. He tapped on the phone, hitting a button with a helicopter icon on it. Soon, the metal monster above them lost its light and started sparking as it swerves in circles. "See? I've been doing this for years-" "Stop the van!" High Noon shouted, his voice rising a pitch. "Give me the wheel! You can focus on your phone all you want, but let me drive." Pierce stared at the younger Assassin and sighed. He relented, stepping on the brakes, bringing the van to a sudden stop. "Fine. Take over." Pierce climbed over to the back as High Noon got into the driver's seat. Buckling down, High Noon hit the accelerator, speeding down the narrow road as another cop car caught up behind them, the sirens piercing the air. "Let's see what you got, kid," Pierce said from the back, buckling up and tapping away on his phone. High Noon smiled to himself. He'd show the older Assassin exactly what he's got. He hadn't been driving Templars around the last few years for nothing. He depressed the pedal and skillfully navigated his way through the narrow side roads at a high speed, easily losing the cops as the van kept going, turn after turn. Another car came out of the next road, stopping in front of the van, blocking their exit. High Noon squinted, but turned the wheel towards a pile of wood and trashbags. The van's left side went up on the items as High Noon turned hard on the wheel, lifting the van up on its right wheels as it kept going. "Noon, what are you doing?" Pierce demanded from the back. Even with his monotonous voice, High Noon heard a hint of surprise in it. "You're going to get us killed!" "Nope," was all High Noon said, continuing towards the stationary police car. Two cops got out and started blasting the van with bullets, but High Noon didn't stop. Soon, the van passed over the vehicle, its right wheels had just enough room to squeeze in between the car and the wall. After clearing the car, High Noon brought the van back down to all fours, turning at the next road, back to the main road. "Not bad. Not bad at all," Pierce smiled as he brought up some bollards behind them with his phone. "Maybe I'll get you to drive from now on." The Assassins sped down to the highway, losing the cops behind them as they headed back to Trottingham, thanks to High Noon's driving skill and Pierce's hacking. "Well done, High Noon," Pierce patted the cowboy on the back. "We've liberated my hometown from Lucky Deck's greedy hands. The Templars are gonna lose their power in Chicoltgo. Might be exactly what we need to kick them out for good. One day, I'll be back, and the Templars will have no hold left here." "Right," High Noon replied without really listening to what Pierce said. After being around the hacker long enough, most Assassins tend to tune a lot of his words out. But he got the rough idea. Pierce wanted the Templars out of his home. "We'll take them down. That's for sure." High Noon smiled at the thought. He didn't want them messing with Appleloosa too. That was the reason why he fought, and he would never forget it.