"Alright, Alpha Squad in position." I say into my headset.
"Bravo Squad ready." I hear back.
"Charlie Squad standing by."
"Delta Squad locked and loaded."
"Charlie Leader to all: Are we ready?"
"Alpha Leader to all: Affirmative. Move in." I order. Curden Cay is going down. Alpha Squad heads to the North wall, throwing a grappling hook over a blind spot. The twelve of us each climb up in succession. We enter the roof through a ventilation shaft and climb down into an office.
"Alright, by now Bravo Squad should be on the third floor cell block." David, a tanned skinned and dark haired man. says.
"OK, divide up like we planned. Jared and Olivia- you two head to the third floor control room. David, you and I will go to the high security cells on the other end of the Station once we get uniforms. The rest of you go to the cells and make sure the Conduits get out alright. Go!" I whisper loudly. Everyone nods and files out. With the majority of the DUP's in Seattle, the Station only has around six to eight hundred troops. For now, stealth and speed are the name of the game. Once the Conduits are free, however, we'll be able to fight our way out.
David and I ambush two passing low-level DUP's and steal their uniforms. We pull up their masks and take off down the hallway.
"Hey, Ian?" He asks as we jog down the concrete lined halls.
"Yeah?"
"You ain't really 23, are you?" he asks. I stop."So, no then?" Even though his mouth is covered, I can feel his smirk.
"No." I finally sigh."How could you tell?"
"You don't look it. Maybe...19 at most." he explains.
"I'm only 16. I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have signed up for this-"
"It's a girl, isn't it?" he says. I can once more feel his smirk.
"Yeah." I sigh, head down.
"Don't sweat it. You're young, you're gonna do stupid things. Just try not to get shot. You want to live to see her, don't ya?" again with that unseen smirk.
"Delta Leader to Alpha Leader: Are ya'll in position, yet?" we hear on the com links.
"Not-" I am cut off by a blaring alarm and flashing red lights. After a moment, the sound shuts off, but the lights keep flashing."Change of plans! Open all the cells! Draw their attention over there and hold them off until we can get the high security detainees for backup!" I yell into the mic. David and I take off in a sprint to get across the compound in time. We rush past DUP officers everywhere on our way. Luckily, none stop to question us. We finally get to the high security section of the prison. There is a deadend hallway cut off by a huge metal door -which is now open- and several more big metal doors lining each side of the hall. About five guards stand within the hall.
"Do we just shoot em'?" David asks.
"Well, if we don't I bet a pissed off Conduit will." I say. As we enter the room, we hear shouting of the eight high-risk Conduits from within their cells. David shoots me a glance, which I return, and we raise our rifles. The DUP's in the room are too distracted exchanging information or trying to calm the Conduits.
We unleash Hell.
The DUP's fall to the ground before they know what hit them.
"Get the keys!" I yell. David and I search each guard for their key rings. To unlock the cells, we need the two master keys- the keys that uncover all the other keyholes. Then, each lock can be unlocked separately. We fumble with the keys for a minute before finally finding the right ones.
"One. Two. Three!" David calls. We turn in sync and small metal plates slide open next to each door. "Go get your girlfriend, I'll get these others and explain the situation." I nod and run to the cell at the end of the hall. I find the key for the lock and the door slides open. She sits there in the chair, unmoving, wearing the orange prison jumpsuit with the words "D.U.P. DETAINEE" on the back and down the legs. Adria. I rush up and unlock the bulky yellow cuffs on her hands.
I put my arms around her in a huge hug, but am thrown back into the concrete wall.
"What do you want?" she says bitterly, holding an arm out. It swirls with a rough, shiny material. Crystal. I slowly stand up.
"What's gotten into you?" I ask.
"I'm not a fan of the DUP. Now, step aside or lose your head." she threatens, training her one hand on me while she adjusts he black hair with the other. That's when I realize: I never removed my mask.
"I thought you'd miss me." I pant, pulling off the helmet to reveal my dirty blond hair. I throw off the sunglasses and pull down the lower face mask. Her face changes to that of pure shock. The crystal around her arm disappears as we pull into a tight embrace.
"What are you doing here?" she almost yells.
"Getting you out. Come on, we're almost out of time. The other Conduits need our help." I explain.
"You two done in there?" David yells from the hallway.
"On our way!" I reply. We join the others in the hall. David has all the Conduits there and listening.
"You're the Squad Leader. This was your suicidal idea. You explain the situation."
"Alright. On the other side of the station are the other Conduits and the rest of our men. We need your help to get all of us out." I explain. Normally, I doubt they would have trusted me. But Adria by my side seemed to get me the benefit of the doubt.
"Then why are we standing around?!" This was from a tall, pale man with black hair and a gruff voice. With that, the small crowd of Conduits cheer and run out the door, leaving Adria, David, and me behind.
"So much for sneaking over there!" David yells as we take off after them.
"Aw, you knew as well as I did we weren't getting out of here quietly!"I yell. Adria creates a platform of crystal beneath our feet that lifts off the ground and gets us through the halls in only minutes. We come across what appears to be some kind of arena. In it, Conduits are battling DUP's left and right. Absolute chaos.
"What should we do?!" David yells over the shouting.
"The Conduits have the upper hand here, let's get moving! We need to clear a path to the exit!" I reply.
"The main entrance has several gates! It would take a high risk Conduit like me to break them!" Adria yells.
"Then let's get breaking! David and I'll cover while you do your thing!" I shout. We slip past the action and move to the main entrance- a concrete hallway about forty feet wide and thirty feet high. There is a huge yellow steel door with black stripes.
"Alright, I'll get to it, you guys make sure no DUP's show up." Adria says. Crystal swarms her arms and she gets to work on the door. A few DUP troops show up, only to be quickly dispatched. Adria gets the door open easy enough, chipping away at the concrete covering the gears that move the door, destroying those, and wedging a few pillars of crystal underneath. But there are more doors.
A few Conduits come by to help with the second door and it is open much quicker. There is one third and final door. This one is much larger than the rest. If my intel is correct, it should weigh around 120 tons. That's 240,000 pounds. Still, probably not enough to stop us. The twenty or so Conduits along with Adria get to work.
"Bravo Leader to Alpha Leader: The Conduits have taken down most of the D.U.P. and are headed for your position, do you copy?" I hear on my headset.
"Alpha Leader to All: Copy that! We're working on the main entrance, it should be open any second! Send all Conduits and CRA to the entrance and we'll hold up here until we can get everyone to the buses!" I yell back. In only moments a few orange uniforms trickle around the corner. Soon, whole waves of Conduits are rushing around the corner escorted by Conduit Rights Activists.
"Oh, man. If Delsin Rowe were around to see this." I say to David.
"Yeah. That's a lot of powers to drain. Good thing he used his powers for good, because I wouldn't want to mess with him!" David replies.
A loud cranking noise sounds behind us. Several Conduits, including Adria, have gotten the door a few feet off the ground.
"Go to the buses! To the Buses!" I scream at the top of my lungs. Conduits start slipping through the gap and out to the buses waiting to take all 300 of them out of the mountains and to civilization. A few stop and thank us, patting us on the shoulders and shaking our hands. Once about two-thirds of the Conduits are out, some CRA start to go with them.
This whole time, Adria and a few other Conduits had been holding the door up themselves, but with all of them having fled, only Adria remains, using crystal pillars and her own Conduit strength to keep it waist high.
"Come on!" she screams. David rushes and slides out.
"Are you coming?" the black-haired man asks.
"I need to make sure all the Conduits are out!" I reply. Adria slips in and drops the door, crushing the crystal pillars that remained in the place of the fleeing supporters.
"I'm going with you. Mostly so I don't have to hold that door." she pants.
"OK, come on!" I reply."Alpha Leader to All: Do a head count I need to know what I'm looking for!"
A moment of silence rewards me with a,"Delta Leader to Alpha Leader: We got 39 CRA and 324 Conduits!"
"Thanks Delta!"
"How many are we missing?" Adria says, jogging along side me.
"We're missing four Conduits and nine Activists." I reply. We get back to the arena area, were we find out why. The thirteen we are missing are all here.
But they are all dead.
Four Conduit's bodies and nine CRA bodies lay strewn among countless DUP bodies. Blood flows and pools around the room.
"Oh, God..." Adria says, cupping her hands over her mouth as a few tears come to her eyes.
"So many dead..." I finish for her. She pulls her arms around me and buries her face in my neck. As for me, I can't take my eyes off the carnage. Most of the men were just following orders. Orders, however, that they chose to follow.
"What to we have here?" we turn around to see none other than Augustine.
"Shhh..." I trail off this time.
"And so close to escape, too. You have guts, kid. I might even enlist you if you survive." she says, pointing at me.
"Augustine!" Adria has snapped out of it and turned to face the tyrant, arms swirling with crystal.
"Moore! I see you chose to return to a place of safety." the red-headed Conduit says.
"As if! I'm just here to find those we left behind. And, now that I have a chance, to take you down!"
"Ha! That's very funny Ms. Moore."
"Ian, you want to know why I'm a high security detainee?" she asks.
"Why?"
"Because I was the only Conduit who ever threatened Augustine in terms of power. Isn't that right?" She replies.
"Yes, it's true you were above the rest, but you were never quite at my level." Augustine chuckles.
"You locked innocent Conduits here against their will. Called them Bioterrorists. You're the real Bioterrorist." I accuse.
Everything slows as the wave of concrete flies toward me. However, a wave of crystal cuts it off. The two engage in a face paced combat like nothing I've never seen before. Now, I know from experience that Adria can drain her crystal from a variety of things: glass, mirrors, digital clocks, and a few others, and a little bit goes a surprisingly long way. But the lights in here are far overhead, there are no windows, mirrors, or clocks. The only other glass I see is the bullet-proof glass to the observation room thirty feet up. I know before she spent two years with those cuffs on, Adria had drained an entire jewelry store worth of crystal. That will hold her for a while, but Augustine has all the Concrete she'd ever need here. Without a word, I slip out of the arena and search for a staircase. When I do find it, I hear a loud crash in the arena.
"Alpha Leader, what was that?!" I hear in my earpiece.
"Get out of here! We'll find an APC!" I yell, running into the observation room. I don't give whoever commed in a chance to object, as I pull the speaker out of my ear and toss it over my shoulder, hanging by the coiled wire.
I rush over to the bolts in the window and give them each a few good hits with my rifle. Once the window is good and loose, I try to push it out, to no avail. Adria won't last much longer.
"Screw it." I mutter at I run and body slam the window, throwing it out and taking me with it. I land hard on the now shattered glass, cutting up my right arm and possibly breaking a few bones. Luckily, only my left arm is hurt and the DUP armor protects the rest of my body. Adria rushes over, obviously more concerned with me than the glass.
"What the hell are you doing?!" she yells before realizing herself what I did. She drains the glass shards quickly and turns to face Augustine. She fires crystal shrapnel, stunning he target before phasing into crystal dust and back. When she reappears in front of Augustine, she grabs her arms and pushes her to the ground pinning her down and encasing her wrists in crystal.
"What now? Kill her or leave her?" Adria asks. I think for a minute.
"Her entire DUP force has been dismantled. She is pinned to the ground and unable to move. If we let her live, there's no telling if she'll try something like this again." I say.
"Well, Augustine? Would you try again?" Adria asks. The DUP leader stays silent.
"Let's just leave her. The public likes Conduits now because of Delsin Rowe." I finally conclude. Adria forms a crystal platform and we fly out of the skylight. Once outside, we track down an APC and hotwire it. I don't remember or care where the others are going. But Adria and I are going home.
-1 week later-
"Adria!" the woman yells once she opens the door. Adria and her mother are once again together. I promised her father before he passed away that I'd always protect her. And I did just that. I got her home to her mother."Thank you so much, Ian! I can never repay you!" he mother cries, embracing her daughter.
I quit the CRA. I only joined in the first place to save Adria. Not that they would have let me stay if they knew my real age. And as is the legacy of Cole MacGrath and Delsin Rowe, humans and Conduits will live in peace. For now.