Chapter 8
Nick and I quickly headed for the center of the city, where the entrance to Stephen's lair was. The streets were more dangerous than I originally thought, having almost been caught by a patrol. Nick had to pull me out of their way, ducking into an abandoned alley.
"Watch where you're going, Wyatt. We'll be found and our target will escape. We can't track him if he leaves tonight," he quickly explained. I realized he was right, and responded in kind.
"Let's try to travel across the roofs. We can avoid the ground patrols entirely."
"Sure, avoid death on the ground and take a sniper round in the head. Good plan," he snidely commented.
"Trust me; I can take care of the rooftops if you want to approach from the ground. I'll clear the snipers in your path, while you take the streets," I suggested, itching to take our target down.
"Well…fine, then. You cover the buildings and I'll clear the entrance. Stay in touch," he told me, running back into the streets. After he was out of sight, I quickly called up a set of blueprints on my wrist-com; transferring them to the mainframe; I uploaded the weapon contained within the pages to me. My bracer began to glow, being granted a new upgrade. The light quickly faded, and I ran up the nearest wall. I grabbed a platform about ten feet up, and pulled my body up on it. I then climbed the ladders, for I had found a fire escape, and was on the roof in about two minutes. I had to immediately throw a knife, because a sniper had almost seen me. As the knife hit his back, I ran up to him and thrust my blade into his back, killing him. I picked him up and threw him into the alley I had just left, hoping he wouldn't be found.
I started to jump from building to building, killing all I found on the roofs. I made my final kill about 50 meters away from our target's current location. I slowly made my way down, hearing something from Nick as I did so.
"Wyatt, stay right where you are. There's a Templar guard right below your position," he said. I looked down, and saw he had heavy armor on him. Seeing a way to my target, I quickly jumped down, landing on him and knocking his breath away. I got up, dragged him deeper into the alley I was in, and hauled him up.
Quickly triggering a hidden mechanism on the inside of my wrist, deploying three curved blades, I rotated and stabbed them into his back.
"No escape, Templar. How many wait for us in his base?" I asked, wishing he would fight back. He certainly fought. He knocked my legs out from under me and grabbed his axe. I quickly shoved myself up, set my blades to their original position, and unsheathed my hidden blade, leaving my other ones out. He immediately tried to split my skull, but I dodged it, cutting his throat with my scythe blades as I moved. He died thirty seconds later, leaving blood everywhere, but not before I got a rough estimate of guards.
"There…are…two hundred…Please…spare me…" I moved away from the alley, finding Nick waiting for me a few feet away, looking very angry.
"Um, what happened to stealth, kills quietly, and don't leave evidence? I could hear that fight all the way over here," he quietly commented, trying to make me rethink my actions.
"Don't worry; I put his body in a Dumpster on the way out. They won't know—"
"They won't find out!? When he doesn't check in, we're compromised! You could have blown this whole- where are you going now?" he asked, but I paid no attention, slipping into the front door of the Templar base.
"After you, my friend," I quickly radioed out to him. I quickly ducked into the shadows and watched his arrival. Once he made it past the guards, we both moved along the walls, careful not to disturb anything while we moved. I almost fell into a pile of bullet casings, but Nick pulled me back just in time.
"Watch it, Smith. No need to alert the guards…yet," he reminded me. The base was much bigger belowground, and the maps we had were incomplete. Despite these obstacles, we located the torture chamber, and heard a scream of pain that echoed down the halls.
"Come now, my son. There is no need to continue this resistance. Just tell me where your brothers are holed up and you will be allowed to leave without further pain," we heard a rough but surprisingly kind voice comment. I knew it was Stephen. I never expected a Templar could actually sound nice when ripping humans apart.
"Never…will I give you a damn thing. Your methods of extraction are useless. The Assassins have much better forms of interrogation than your pathetic mutilation," another voice spat out. Clearly, he wasn't afraid of this man. I signaled Nick, who quietly opened the door. I slipped in and stuck to the shadows, which were many in the room. I made my way towards Stephen, making sure I didn't make a sound. He was about 6 feet tall, wearing a bloody apron and holding a vicious-looking surgical tool in his hand.
"Your time is coming, Templar dog. Soon, you will meet your god, and I sincerely hope he sends you to hell," the Assassin said, and I knew he had seen me. Surprisingly, he didn't seem to care about his injuries, and even seemed to be enjoying the frustration from his executioner.
"You will meet your god before I meet mine, Assassin. Die, you devil! Die!" Stephen roared, stabbing a nasty looking dagger into the Assassin's chest. He coughed a few times, and then stopped moving. I knew he had died, and something snapped in me. Ignoring my common sense, I ran to him, slamming him into the table where my comrade was still strapped down.
"Your time has come, Stephen! You were too arrogant to stop us! You will feel the pain of every man and woman you have killed!" I screamed, the noise echoing off the walls. I quickly extended my scythe blades, pulled my dagger off my belt, and ran the dagger into Stephen's stomach. He fell on his knees, holding his gut, but I didn't give him a chance to speak, quickly swinging my right arm down, impaling his chest and neck with the top two scythes.
"Better to find peace in the next life than to cause misery in this one. Rest in peace," I muttered, closing his eyes. I retrieved my dagger, but as I put it back on my belt, I watched the simulation dissolve around me.
As my sight cleared, I found about two hours had passed and I was now in the center of the city. When I checked my weapons inventory, I heard a short, metallic noise, indicating I had a new message from an ally.
"Smith, come quickly! Our cover team was ambushed! We can't fight much longer," was the message left for me. I found their position, and ran towards them, making sure my blades were still there.
I made record time to their position, and realized the full extent of their dilemma. They were severely outnumbered, fighting against over a hundred Templars. Pulling out several knives, I threw them at the snipers on the rooftops, eliminating the threat from above. Picking a soldier, I jumped off of the building I was standing on, and landed on my target, stabbing him in the neck as I landed. I ran through the massive crowd of guards, killing any who tried to stop me. After leaving 20 dead, a huge wall of guards blocked my way. I retracted my hidden blade and released my scythe blades. As each guard ran towards me, I caught him on the back and quickly cut their throats, throwing them out of my way. The last four tried to cut my arms, but none could reach me in time. Leaving the frontlines decimated, I ran behind a wall made of metal debris, taking the heads off of two guards as I did so. I quickly stripped the uniform of one and donned it, perfectly blending in. I walked unchallenged through the makeshift fortress. I realized that they could fight for weeks without slowing. After wandering for a minute, I saw the golden banners of the Templar captain.
"Halt. What business do you have with the captain?" a guard asked me.
"I need to give him a status update. He gave me orders to give him occasional observations," I responded, making sure to keep my voice steady.
"Very well, enter."
The building was very large, with guards everywhere. I walked through, resisting the urge to end them. I was directed to the offices of the commanders by a highly muscled, lean man. Finding the door immediately, I opened it, and recognized the same face as my original target. I guessed they were brothers.
"Good day, soldier. How goes the fight?" he asked, using the same tone as Stephen. I decided he was just as ruthless as his brother.
"The fight has turned. A new Assassin showed up, murdering dozens of our own in mere minutes. None of his targets live. I fear the Assassins will win. Perhaps we should consider surrender," I remarked, hoping he would accept the suggestion.
"Never! Tell the front line to push forward and slaughter those dogs!" he shouted out, clearly determined to murder everyone.
"Sir, if I may, I can't tell them to move up."
"Why is that?" he inquired, appearing confused about my choice of words.
"Because, you worthless Templar, this day goes to the Assassins!" I responded, tossing a chair at him. He moved to the right, just as I expected. I intercepted him as the window behind us exploded, sending glass spraying everywhere.
"Why, Assassin? Why must we fight each other with little care for the lives we prematurely cut down?" he asked.
"I wish I knew, but your death is necessary. You must die for the safety of every citizen in this city. Rest in peace," I answered, quickly running my right hidden blade into his abdomen, watching him fall. As he hit the ground, the office and city dissolved, leaving me in a huge room. I figured the walls projected a simulated reality, but I couldn't elaborate, as I was surrounded by a transport tube and shot up to the training room.
The trip only took ten seconds, and as I exited, I noticed everyone else already sitting and glaring at me with contempt. Pellham and Marsh were there, just looking at me.
"Private Smith, can you explain what happened?" Marsh asked. "What was that you did to Stephen?"
"Sir, with all respect, I apologize for my actions. He needed to die, but the butchering of our brother just…angered me to the point of—"
"Son, what are you apologizing for? What were those blades you had on your bracer?" he asked. I could tell he was interested in my designs.
"I call them scythe blades. They're still experimental, but the curve pins the blade in your opponent, immobilizing them. It would work very well if targets are prone to running," I responded, astonished at his interest in my weapon.
"Smith, that upgrade is perfect. This new upgrade—"
"Excuse me, but his actions have corrupted that simulation. I have to rewrite 80% of the programming. Not to mention that he lost all control when he slaughtered the target. He should go through an emotional control exercise," Pellham interrupted, putting hate in every word.
"You're insane. His actions may not have been the best, but he did the task as necessary, showing innovation beyond any I've ever seen. You can all leave now," Marsh stated. I guessed he was going to "speak" to our resident techie.
