Twin Swords: A first-shot story by Wolf-Walrus
Chapter 1: The Shadow-wolf
He gripped the ceiling tightly as he watched a guard pass. He strained his ears for any sign of movement, then dropped from the ceiling and slunk into a shadow.
"Sakura. Sakura come IN!" he muttered into the microphone attached to his headset "where the heck are you..."
"Blitz? You're in the compound I assume."
The wolf grinned. "You've hacked the mainframe? Please say you have. Please say you've deactivated the cameras. I'm tired of this sneaking around in darkness,"
"I've rendered all detection equipment useless. Remember the plan. In and out in 12 minutes or we abandon hope."
"I know," replied Blitz starting to sound frustrated. "I won't let you down." He gripped the handles of his swords and unsheathed them.
"Please tell me that wasn't what I think it was. You are seriously starting to annoy me," said Sakura into his earpiece "I think you are probably the only mercenary I know who prefers 'conventional' weaponry."
Blitz let out an exasperated sigh and switched off his earpiece. He ran down the corridor, katana in hand. His boots clattered on the floor of the Fichinian military compound as he sped towards the biological lab.
The guards surrounding the entrance of the lab were heavily armed. Blitz edged across the wall like the ninja that he was. The guards were focused on the door he had just come in through. Suddenly, they heard a loud whistle, and the black-clad soldiers wheeled round to see a polar wolf casually leaning on the wall. His swords were drawn and he grinned.
"Bring it on!" he breathed, and charged towards them. Their laser rifles blazed and sparked, but he dodged and parried every shot with a series of flips and jumps. He sprung at them, and knocked out the first two soldiers with kicks to the head. Blitz continued to take out the remaining soldiers with a combination of kicks and slashes. They soon realised that their rifles were useless, and drew their daggers. They proved no better. The wolf carried on blocking and dodging, until he back flipped away and sprung off the wall, landing on the other side of the soldiers and sheathing his swords. Before they had a chance to react, he drew his own assault rifle and clipped in a magazine from the ammo strap across his shoulder. His shots scattered amongst the group and sent many soldiers falling to the floor in pain. The rest dropped their weapons and ran back down the corridor to the exit.
Blitz picked up a key card from one of the fallen soldiers and swiped it in the security lock of the lab. He slipped inside just as the door slammed shut. His eyes scanned the walls for a high vantage point and he dashed to the other side of the room to examine the rows of stasis capsules. Only one of them had anything in it. This was what he had come for. A small bobcat cub hung in suspended animation inside it. Blitz clenched a fist. The Cornerian government was totally and absolutely evil. They took children whose parents had been killed in the Aparoid siege and used them to test new biological weapons. He punched in the release code for the capsule and lifted the cub out gently. The scientist would be back soon. It would take too long to open the door again, so he scaled the wall, cradling the cub in his arms and using his sword as a climbing pick. He got to the "vantage point" he had been looking for and set the cub down. Blitz had to crouch because of the low ceiling. He pulled out his assault rifle and screwed on the sniper scope. The scientist came back right on cue.
"Breathe, Blitz." He found himself saying "Just relax and squeeze the..." There was an enormous crack like a hellish whip.
"Darn it!" he muttered as the cub started crying. "I KNEW I should have fitted the silencer,"
He leapt from his hiding place and dashed through the mass of soldiers who were trying to contain him. He shot several of them down; quite a feat when you're using your left hand. He sheltered the child and ran faster. Blitz was on the third floor. He dashed down the corridor. There was a tall, thin window at the end. He flinched as he crashed through it, turning so as to shelter the child from the shower of glass. He fell on his back in the snow.
"That hurt." he breathed, slowly getting up. Without looking back, he dashed towards the town, not far from the compound. Blitz didn't notice the figure on the roof silhouetted by the moonlight.