//------------------------------// // Chapter 42: Beware the Nice Ones // Story: A Long Way to Fall // by Cinders of War //------------------------------// “Is that all, Pierce?” Sparkplug asked as the hacker began turning the pressure valves on the water tanks. “It’s that simple?” “Of course,” Pierce grunted as he finished turning the last one. Immediately releasing his hands from the wheel and returning one of them to his phone. “When I say so, Broadside, Smokestack, you two will open the door. Then we’ll watch the magic happen. This is a simple trick I picked up when I first started my work in Chicoltgo. That flamethrower guy is going to be in for one big surprise.” “Do it already!” Fire Frenzy shouted, tired of Pierce’s stalling. Smokestack and Broadside shrugged and pushed the cabinet away before opening the door. As soon as the door flew open, the Assassins took in the sight of the Templar outside. “Ready to burn? There’s no other way out, Assassins!” Pierce pushed a button on his phone as the pipes gave way, unleashing a torrent of water down from the ceiling as a long steady stream began flowing out the door. The Templar looked down at his feet before pointing his gun back up. He clicked down on the trigger, but the high current of water prevented his flames from reaching the Assassins. “Do it, Sparkplug,” Pierce nodded. The brown haired Assassin spun both cattle prods before shoving them into the stream of water. The electrical current immediately followed along, sparking its way down the stream and to the Templar’s legs. A scream emerged from the man’s mouth as sparks began flying from the metal around his body, forcing him down to his knees and soon, his back. Pierce stopped the flow of water as the other Assassins waited for the electricity to wear off. As soon as it was clear, they continued down the hall, watching out for anymore surprises. “Good idea, Pierce,” Broadside said as he checked his ammunition. “That’s one way to get things done. Flashy.” “You just need to know to study your environment.” Pierce didn’t take his eyes off his phone as they made their way through a set of glass doors. “Sometimes, your weapons are not enough. You need to take in what the place has to offer, or you’ll end up dead, most times.” “Right…” Sparkplug rolled his eyes as they slowed to a walking speed. The next room was an open-air room with pipes and beams going up past three floors to the top of the building. Reactors that haven’t been used in years took up most of the first floor, but what caught the Assassins’ eyes was the big metal object straight up ahead. It was cone shaped and stood at least two heads taller than Sparkplug. It had a small circular holder in the middle, probably made to house the artifact. A few guards stood on the other side, immediately brandishing their rifles as two more Templars clad in black robes jumped down from the second floor, both of them wielding a katana each. “What the… Ninjas?” Smokestack rubbed at his eyes with his free hand before they retreated behind some metal beams as bullets began hammering themselves into the metal around them. “What is this? A video game?” “Pierce! Broadside!” Sparkplug yelled as he maneuvered himself to another beam. “Cover fire! Take down the gunners!” “Better idea,” Pierce voiced over as he fired his rifle at the ninjas heading towards them. One dodged the bullets while the other took one to the knee, sending him crashing down to the floor, his blade spinning away from him. A well placed knife from Sparkplug made sure the man wasn’t going to be giving them anymore trouble. “Eagle vision. Now.” He pointed his rifle up and used the remaining bullets to shoot out all the lights on the first floor, tossing the empty gun away when he was done. He pulled out his pistol and baton before focusing his eagle vision. As soon as everything turned dark blue, Pierce left his hiding spot with the other Assassins, firing his gun over his left hand, using it as support as he ran. He watched as a guard fell from three of his bullets, while a battleaxe flew past his face and jammed itself in another guard’s chest, sending him tumbling back against the Templar machine. The remaining ninja seemed unfazed, most likely trained in seeing in the dark. Frenzy had swung his sword at the ninja, but the Templar had brought his blade up and slid around Frenzy, gutting a gash along his left arm. “Agh!” Frenzy yelled as he spun around and jammed his hidden blade into the ninja’s back, pushing him down, stopping only when the ninja lay dead at his feet. He spat at the Templar before pulling his blade out and facing the machine. Broadside and Pierce had already taken care of the remaining guards, taking them all down with gunfire. Stowing his weapons, Pierce ran along to the machine, while the other Assassins formed up around him, each one facing a different direction as the Chicoltgo Assassin got to setting up the C4. More guards began pouring in, but Pierce wasn’t going to let a few Templars stop him from finishing his mission. He moved faster, pasting the C4 on the machine while using his other hand to arm the ones that were ready through his phone. “Come on, Pierce!” Sparkplug shouted as he tossed another knife into a Templar’s head. “We’ve got to hurry! They’re gonna overwhelm us at this rate!” “Just about done,” Pierce droned as he attached another plastique. “Don’t rush me. Explosives take time. If you mess up, you could all very well die right now. These things require finesse and focus, not to be-” “Pierce!” Frenzy shouted near the hacker’s ear. “Just get it done! We don’t have time for your rubbish now!” “Done,” Pierce said as he attached the last bit of wiring on the last C4. “Go. I’ve set the timer for two minutes. Make sure you’re not here when it goes off. This explosion will scatter you all across the room.” He radioed in to the others and warned them of the coming explosion, telling those who were in the building to get out while they could. “Yeah, we know that…” Frenzy said as he lead the escape, cutting down another Templar in his path. As they made their way forward, the second floor doors burst open as more Templars filed in. They fired down at the Assassins as the hooded men beelined for cover. “Aagh!” Pierce turned to see Smokestack go down, a hand at his side. “Smokestack!” Broadside ran back to help his brother, firing his LMG one-handed at the Templars above. “No, there’s too many,” Smokestack shook his head and pushed his brother away. “Go. I’ll only slow you down.” “No, I’m not leaving you here!” he barked as he tried to haul his brother up. “No time.” Smokestack grabbed his axe in both hands and gave his brother a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. This isn’t over. Just go! I’ve got this.” Broadside was reluctant, but eventually he left his brother’s side and joined up with the rest near the door before clubbing a guard over the head with his rifle’s barrel. “We need to leave the room.” Pierce smashed a guard in the mouth with his baton, watching as a tooth flew out and clattered on the floor somewhere in the dark. “Who knows how this room’s going to hold out after the explosion.” “Smokestack?” Sparkplug asked as he looked behind to see the wounded Assassin cutting down a pillar with his axe, sending a group of Templars falling off from the walkway above. “He didn’t want to come...” Broadside said solemnly. “Said he’ll just slow us down.” Sparkplug gritted his teeth and smashed another Templar with his prods as Pierce led the way out. They’d lost too many Assassins to the Templars. When it was all over, they were going to pay for every death. For every Assassin they’ve killed. Soon, the team cleared the exit and headed out as fast as they could just as the explosives went off, sending a deafening blast across the inside of the power plant, knocking the lights out, plunging the hallway into darkness. The explosion sent Frigid falling on his back while Mirror dropped to one knee, trying to keep steady. “No…” she muttered as realization dawned on her. “What in the queen’s name have you done?!” Frigid Night shook his head to clear it while Mirror Match turned on her heel to gape at the sooty column that pierced the sky. He took the chance to close the distance between them, readying both his trident blades and his shoe blades. Mirror turned to him one second too late as he swung, only managing to catch one of his hands. Frigid’s other blade tore into her shoulder, forcing her back a step. She quickly kicked out at his chest, but the Assassin turned his body before kicking up with his own leg, stabbing his shoe blade into the arm she had caught him with. Mirror let go and stumbled back as Frigid pressed the offense. The explosion had taken away her focus, allowing Frigid a much easier time to wound her as he continued to push forward. Cuts began appearing all over Mirror’s outfit as Frigid swung all his blades, even jumping up to do a roundhouse with a shoe blade, nicking Mirror across the cheek as she leaned back. The ex-Assassin continued to make all the wrong moves, until Frigid finally kicked her legs out from under her, sending her falling flat on her back. He got on top of her and held her down with an arm and both legs while bringing his other arm way over his head, clicking the trident blades back into the main blade, ready to deal the final blow. “Well, well, well…” Mirror stared into his eyes. Frigid saw no fear in them, instead, he saw defiance and almost what looked like tiny green flames flickering in her irises. “Looks like you got me.” “You’re going to get what you deserve, Mirror,” Frigid growled as he curled his fingers into a fist. “Then do it!” she yelled at him, baring her teeth. The explosion must have damaged his ears, because for a moment it sounded like there were two voices speaking to him at once, just out of sync. “Finish this!” This was the moment Frigid had been waiting for. His chance to finally avenge his teacher. All he had to do now was bring his blade down the final few feet and it would be over. He’d prepared so long for this day… when he could at last jam his weapon into her neck, just like he’d done to the Templars all those times before. So why couldn’t he move his arm? Why wasn't it doing what he wanted? Below him, Mirror Match stared at Frigid coolly. “Go on,” she prompted. “Strike me down. Take your revenge.” Frigid’s breathing grew hard and heavy. His pulse pounded inside his head. One final twitch of a muscle was all he needed. One final effort. And yet… Taking advantage of the hesitation, Mirror Match slipped one leg beneath herself and kicked out, catching Frigid in the chest like a spring and launching him clear across the rooftop. The breath knocked out of him, the Assassin watched through bleary eyes as Mirror stood up and daintily wiped the blood off her face with a handkerchief. “Hard luck, Friggy.” Mirror Match put her linen square away and advanced on him, drawing out a short, black dagger that somehow scared him more than anything else he had seen in his entire career as an Assassin. Holding him down with one foot, Mirror bent down and held the weapon’s jagged edge so close that he could see the thin layer of green liquid that coated it. Then she kicked him in the head and walked away, the dagger vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. “Nevermind,” he heard her say with restrained rage. “You’re not worth it.” Mirror Match walked to the edge of the rooftop and picked up her rifle, disassembling it and putting the parts into various pockets. Frigid struggled to his feet, only for Mirror to toss an empty magazine at his forehead hard enough to knock him down again. “I hope you Assassins are happy with your work tonight,” the Templar hissed with a venomous smile. “It was a good plan. Very well executed.” She balanced herself on the edge and growled, “I hope I can return the favour.” Then she jumped off into the darkness, leaving Frigid all alone. He stared up into the night sky and groaned. He had her. He could've ended it, but he wasted his chance. Why? His forehead was stinging, and he put a hand up to where the magazine had struck him. It was sticky and warm. Frigid slid his hand over his face, groaning before slumping over to the side, right onto a small plastic object. His radio. Somewhere during the fight it must have fallen out of his ear. He picked it up and put it back as voices began popping up in his head. "Frigid? Respond! Are you there?" It was Glimpse, and by the sound of it, she must have been trying to get him for quite some time now. "I'm here Glimpse." "Ah, there you are..." the female Assassin sighed with relief. "Are you alright? Did you get Mirror?" Frigid put his hands down and slowly pushed himself up. "She... Got away. I'm sorry. I wasn't good enough." "Don't blame yourself, Frigid. She was a strong opponent, even for us. I don't know what the Templars have taught her, but it doesn't matter. We are victorious today. The machine's gone." Glimpse was right. The Assassins had taken a big lead ahead this day. But why didn't it feel like a victory to him? There were still too many unanswered questions for Frigid to feel happy at this point. He lifted himself off the ground and pulled back his hood; the heat of the fires below made the roof much warmer than before. There was nothing more he could do here. “I’m heading back, Glimpse,” Frigid informed as he slowly made his way to the escape ladder. During his fight with Mirror, he had plenty of adrenaline and energy fueling him, but now that it was over, he felt as if he’d been carrying an elephant across the rooftops for the past two hours. “I’ll meet you both on the ground.” Frigid tried to look at the bright side as he went down one rung at a time, making sure his grip on the ladder was secure before every step. The Templars’ machine was destroyed, and with it, their chance of using that artifact they had, at least for the time being. Sure, they could always build a second one, but Frigid reminded himself that that was the reason why he and the others were around. When the need arises, they would stop the Templars again, but what was that feeling pulling at him from inside? That was a question Frigid would have to find out when he got back.