[Phantom: Hey everybody, I can't spew out those long chapters anymore, not enough time.
Muse: yeah, Phantom's too busy chasing tail to...
Phantom: *raises hand in preparation to strike*
Muse: AHH, hitting me could cause brain injury!
Phantom: *pauses, thinking*
Muse: phew, right chapter 13 is finished, read, enjoy, we'd like to know what you think so far.
Phantom: *hits Muse*
Muse: OW! what did I just say!?
Phantom: what does it matter, I'm already crazy.
Creepy Voice: He's right you know...
Muse: AHHH! *Clings to Phantom* what was that?
Chapter 13
Rain
The quiet night was ablaze with noise, the crackle of burning fire, the rattle of empty shells bouncing off the pavement of the large Warehouse facility. Shouting, explosions, Mia was on the West side office building roof, overlooking the entire ware house , she hadn't seen Dalton Fire the first rocket, but she had watched as it raced across the parking lot, then devour the watch tower in flames as a guard flung himself off the platform to safety. As the sound of the explosion died away the Rattle of gun fire started, Mia watched as someone ran up to the watch guard building and toss in a grenade then walk run away, the glass shattered outward as the shock wave escaped through the windows. She watched as two survivors exited the building obviously disoriented by the blast, they were gunned down without hesitation by another SWAT member.
Dalton had made his way into the main warehouse where most of the supplies would be held. There were two other warehouses on the lot both smaller, those had been assigned teams before the operation. Freight containers and Crates where stacked in such a way as to be a maze, Dalton had killed three so far as he worked his way around the countless corners, he listened carefully as he rounded a corner. He rushed and met the eyes of a badger with an assault rifle the badger jerked the assault rifle toward in Dalton's direction and pulled the trigger, the resulting spray was inaccurate and missed, hitting above and to the right of Dalton. Dalton pulled the trigger on his SMG, there was an audible smack with each round that hit, and each impact sent a jolt through the badger. Dalton looked around, checking the corners. Satisfied, he began to move down the hall created by the shipping containers, a sound behind him, Dalton turned, the badger was aiming down the sights, he began to turn, every second dragged, staring back at the badger, a chill came over Dalton, it was a realization that he had always feared. He was going to die, he wasn't going to make it. A shot, the badger staggered. Another shot and the Badger fell to his knees, the last shot and the badgers head exploded and painted the ground. Dalton looked back down the hall no one, he looked up. On a catwalk hidden in the rafters, was a figure, angry eyes glowed from the darkness, Damon saluted to Dalton, then disappeared from sight.
X
In a dim, partially lit room a fat feline with light brown fur sat in a high-backed leather chair in a large square office room, the Oak desk in front of him was littered with Papers and folders, and on top of everything, was a briefcase. With a gleam in his Silver eye the feline reached over and opened the brief case, a small chuckle escaped him, white teeth shined behind black gums. There was a knock at the door. Hurriedly the feline closed the briefcase and locked it. "What, I don't have any appointments." The door opened slightly, a black panther squeezed in, shutting the door behind him. "What?" the feline asked harshly.
The panther placed his hands behind his back and stepped to the center of the room. "Well, Ah…" the Panther cleared his throat.
The Fat Felines ears twitched with the worried tone of the Panther's voice, "Ray, what's going on?" the Feline hissed.
Ray shifted uncomfortably, "well you see, Mr. Clyde, a number of our smaller operations stopped reporting, including the eastern ports and the southern central Warehouse and six other sites. "It looks like a raid."
"So, who do we have to pay to get our men back, Hmm?" Mr. Clyde leaned forward.
A bead of sweat ran down Ray's face, "ah, well the thing is, the last reports where that, they were being killed outright."
"What?" Mr. Clyde frowned.
"They're killing them, Mr. Clyde."
"Then they know it's us, but how? HOW?" Mr. Clyde scratched his chin. "Ray."
Ray stiffened, "yes, Mr. Clyde."
Placing both paws on the Table Mr. Clyde leaned forward, "We did kill The Fang didn't we?"
Ray opened his mouth then closed it again, his mind racing. They all died, but, the body, they never found the body. He had just assumed that he had been tore to bits like the others from the explosion. They hadn't heard anything about The Fang. His dread was growing, the men sent after Savar and his daughter had failed too, was it possible. Ray dry swallowed, "we had no reason to believe her survived, thought he was blown to bits…"
Mr. Clyde let out a Shriek as he swiped everything from his desk onto the floor. "NO!" Mr. Clyde roared, slamming his fists onto the desk, "this can't be happening," sinking back into his leather chair Mr. Clyde massaged the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, breathing deeply. Ray stood by the door, frozen. Taking one last deep breath Mr. Clyde righted himself in his seat, "call them back," he said taking another deep breath "call them all… back." Ray nodded and rushed to the door. "And Ray," Mr. Clyde called, Ray froze turning back to the Feline, whose face was set like iron, "Burn that Warehouse to the ground."
X
Things were going well Mia thought as she watched the carnage taking place, she saw a figure on the roof of the main warehouse, it was a Bulldog, he was carrying a Sniper rifle over his shoulder. He kept low, or as low as his bulk allowed moving slowly over to the corner of the building, Mia brought the butt of her rifle to her shoulder and aimed down the scope, she adjusted for wind and distance, then aimed the cross hairs to the target, she raised the sights slightly and squeezed the trigger. The Rifle jumped as the round left the chamber making a whooshing sound. She had to admit that the internal silencer worked well. On the top of the Main Warehouse the Bulldog, stumble and fell the hole in his chest gushed out blood onto the roof. There was a rumbling that made her ears perk, keeping low she moved left to the south side of the building. It was growing louder, the building trembled slightly. The sound and tremors grew stronger every second, running to the edge of the roof to her right, she stared down the main street. The rumbling was a roar, and crawling down the street on steel tracks, was a Land Master. "No," Mia breathed, "no, no, NO!' she cried running back to where she had left her com link. "DALTON! DALTON!" she cried into the com.
X
Dalton was nearing the warehouse control room, when his com link exploded, Mia's voice was frantic. "Dalton! There's a tank."
"Say again, Mia." Dalton said halting.
"Dalton, there's a tank, a fucking tank, coming down the main road, Right towards us." In the distance Dalton could hear a low rumble, he could feeling the floor shaking beneath him. He a dull thump. Dalton rushed to the edge of the cat walk and leapt off. The explosion rattled the whole building. Dalton landed hard on a freight container, the building groaned, Dalton rolled off the container as a section of ceiling fell. His mind on survival, Dalton had forgotten that the containers were stacked three high, nearly a 30 foot drop. Not much but when Dalton landed on his side it wasn't a pleasant sensation. He heard something crack, and moaned as he rolled onto his stomach. Pushing himself up, Dalton began to move through the maze of storage containers, trying to find his way out, another explosion shook the building. Sending dust and small pieces of the ceiling falling to the ground. This is bull shit! Dalton thought what the hell are they up to?
X
Inside the land master, sat a badger his black fur bristled as he stared out of the cockpit of the tank. His orders where clear. Burn it down, until nothing was left. With this in mind his right hand moved to a control board, labeled Munitions. Running his finger across the board he selected the High explosive rounds.
X
Dalton was getting close to the wall, he could see it just beyond the last row of containers. Everything around him went exploded as a shell pierced the wall and detonated a few seconds later. Containers flew around, striking the ground not a foot from him. His ears where ringing, as he tried to get up, his side burned, all around him the freight containers where spread in heaps. A red container had broken open and was spilling its contends onto the ground. Large pointed cylinders, littered the floor. One rolled its way over to him, stopping just a few feet away, his sight was blurry and unfocused, but it only took a second for the White label to come into focus, it read.
120mm Cannon
Munition Type: Incendiary
"FUCK!" Dalton shouted, scrambling to his feet he looked around. He saw the door, 10 yards away. He began to run, as fast as he could.
X
Up on the roof top of the office building Mia run toward the stair case, grabbing the grey army case she had brought up with her, she carried it back to the edge of the building where her rifle sat. Opening the case she pulled out, the only thing left inside, a 6 ft. long steel forged barrel. Disconnecting the suppressed barrel from the rifle she then attached the long barrel, looking back she saw the tank cannon flash. The round shot straight into the building. It took only a second, the warehouse exploded, engulfed in fire. Mia stared in horror as the building began to sway as the fire heated the supports and destabilized the building. The barrel was attached, Mia swung the rifle into position, extending the Bi-pod legs she set it on the edge, aiming down the sights. Her eyes where a little blurred from the tears, but she could still Aim her gun. The rifle created a shockwave as it was fire, the report echoed off the walls of the surrounding buildings. She figured every person in a quarter mile radius knew where she was, but she kept firing. Each shot dented the armor of the land master. The fifth shot tore a hole in the armor plates.
X
The badger watched as the building exploded, shielding his eyes from the sudden flash. That was that his mission was done. He heard the first sound, like someone had thrown a rock at his car, just a thunk. Then the second, and third, by now he was checking his gauges wondering what was happening, then the warring lamps cam on, a computerized voice said "Warning: Hull breach, Hull Breach." The Badger growled and turned the land master around to face the threat. Al the while he heard the tick, tick of whatever was hitting his ride. He saw the flash from the roof of an office building. Raising the cannon, he used the zoom on the targeting system. He could see… Her? Indeed it was a woman, a woman with a very large gun. The cockpit cracked with the next round from her rifle, "you bitch." He said hoarsely, the main gun fired.
X
Mia continued to fire even as the land master rotated to face in her direction, the main cannon raised, she could see the pilot in the cockpit, she fired, the cockpit cracked. Putting the rifle down, she stared at the main gun. "Oh shit." She ran from the edge leaving the case and its contents. The main gun fired, beneath her feet the room of the building heaved then began to cave in. in a desperate attempt she launched herself toward solid ground. Her landing was ungraceful as she sprawled onto the ground. Where she had been not three seconds before was a hole, a gaping hole seemingly torn from the building. Mia was breathing heavily when she heard the whistling of a rocket.
X
Dalton was shaking, his right side was bleeding and he was pretty sure his left leg was fractured. He was burned, and exhausted. He began walking toward the small shed he had been in earlier. He gasped as he took an unsteady step, putting more pressure on his left leg. Gritting his teeth he continued to limp. In the background he could hear the reports from Mia's oversized rifle, and the clack, clack of the track of the land master as I rotated. He reached the shed, he felt light headed, and the adrenaline was leaving him. Looking around he found what he was looking for. The rocket launcher, picking it up he hefted it, then remembered that it was empty, looking around he found the box that held the reloads. Stumbling out of the shed, barely holding himself up, He saw the land master's main gun raised, then it fired. He watched as the shell impacted three floors down from the roof of the office building Mia was station on. Looking back to the tank, he raised his arm trying to aim the rocket. Only to fail as his leg gave out from under him. Now kneeling, and light head, Dalton fought against his body to bring the rocket launcher up to his shoulder, his aim was shaky. He raised his left arm to steady it, his arm screamed from the burns he had received. Pressing down on the trigger, Dalton watched in a half detached state as it sped toward the land master.
X
The Badger chuckled as he watched the hole appear in the side of the building, the warning lights flashed again. In big red letters; MISSLE. He looked to his right to see the glowing end, and smoke trail as the rocket headed straight for the cockpit.
X
The cockpit disappeared in a ball of fire, as the rocket detonated on impact. Dalton sagged against the side of the shed letting the rocket launcher fall to the ground. He had lost a lot of blood. In his stupor, Dalton could vaguely feel, rain, it was cool, and wet. As he sat there a memory came back into his head.
Dalton, now just turned thirteen was walking along a dirt trail in the mountains with his father. To Dalton, his father was a hero, he had served all his life as a cop, with four years in SWAT. It was somewhat cloudy that day, but it was warm. He loved it outside, and his father was always happy to take him fishing, when he was off duty. Today was one such day, and to Dalton it meant everything to him that his father was at his birthday party. His parents had chosen a national park this year. It was mostly forests and mountains that led off to flat lands. Dalton felt the first drops, of the summer shower. Quickening their pace, Dalton and his father took shelter under one of the many evergreens along the tail. His father sat down in the dirt, and Dalton sat down on his lap, they listened to the rain for the longest time. Then his father spoke. He said, "Dalton,"
He looked to his father and said,"yeah Dad? His father took a breath then continued.
"Dalton, you know my work is dangerous, and that I could get hurt doing it,"
"Nobody can hurt you dad, you're amazing." Dalton said. His father chuckled.
"I suppose, but even amazing people can run out of luck. We're mortal son, we die, its how things works. So, I choose my job, I wanted to protect, my family of course, you, your mother, and your sister. I choose a life where I felt like I could, stop at the end of it all and say, it was good. So now I want you to do something for me," as he said this he pulled a black box out of his pocket, and handed it to Dalton. Who opened it, inside was a leather case, and in the case was knife. Dalton beamed at it, it was four inches long folded, the body was shiny brass, with Dark wood inserts and brass rivets. Opening the knife he stared at the blade, at the bottom of the blade near the pivot it was stamped stainless steel. He closed it still beaming, "Dalton." Dalton turned back to his father, "I want you to look down the road, and find the path that will let you live your life, happy, and at the end, look back smile and say 'I have no regrets'.
The rain was pouring now. he moved his right hand down to his side, behind his pistol was a black leather case, Dalton smiled, his breathing shallow, "no regrets, huh." He chuckled then winced as the pain blossomed a new form his side. Still smiling, he sighed and said "should have told her."
[Phantom: oh! cliffhanger, hahahaha!
Creepy Voice: *in low voice* ha hahaha MWAHAHAHAHA!
Muse: oh great *face palms* he's permanent.
Creepy voice:*normal voice* comments?
Muse:*looks left, right, behind, above* ughhh, where is he? one was enough, I don't think I can handle two.