A black cat entered the abandoned temple, his footsteps making no sound, and leaving no tracks. He was adorned in a sweater with a collar that covered his mouth and nose, combat boots, cargo pants, gloves, a utility belt, and a headband. The entire outfit was also black, as well as his short hair. The only visible part of him that wasn't black was his red eyes, which scanned the environment around him. Vines grew along the walls of the temple, and several sections had become submerged under the lake the temple had been built over. The place was like a labyrinth, traps, corridors and dead ends popping up everywhere...but he knew where to look. While he didn't leave a trail, his target did.
"Sloppy." He commented.
His voice betrayed his young age, putting him at about eighteen. His demeanor however was that of someone with training and experience. He knew exactly what he was doing. He walked over to a section of wall that looked cleaner than the others, running his hand along it. There were scratch marks, all running vertical along its face. Examining to the right of the marks, he found a concealed pressure plate in the wall. He pressed on it, and the section of wall slid down, revealing a hidden corridor.
The cat's eyes narrowed. "He never would have found this on his own...someone else is here."
He continued onward, looking around warily. There were broken pieces of machinery all around, dents in the walls and blast marks from some kind of energy weapon. She secret opening slid shut behind him, ans as soon as it did, the walls opened up, as robotic guards slid into the hallway.
"Intruder detected." The nearest one stated, looking straight at the cat. "Halt, and state your purpose."
The cat rushed forward, punching out the robot's eye, and kicking it into the next nearest one. The two were smashed by the impact, as all the others began powering up their weapons. The cat had already closed the gap, sliding under the nearest one to deliver a roundhouse kick to it from behind. He backflipped over a barrage of energy blasts, landing on the next closest robot and smashing its head. The final one went to punch him, but he sidestepped, allowing the machine to strike the wall. Its fist became stuck, leaving it open for the cat to kick its head off.
"These are new." He observed. "My target's been busy."
He continued on, until he heard voices. He heard his target, a cowardly lemur that was spouting information as fast as he could. The other voice was female...and strangely familiar. The cat recognized it, but couldn't place it. Regardless, she was interrogating his target, and he couldn't allow for that. He crept into the room, sticking to the shadows. The interloper was a raven, dressed in a hoodie and shorts, with tall boots, white gloves, and a belt holstering a variety of weapons. She was purple, with a black beak, hair, and wings, as well as green eyes. The cat definitely recognized her, but still couldn't place where.
"Your black market dealing is just on the side." She said to the lemur. "All signs lead to you working for someone bigger. Now spill."
The lemur crawled back, stuttering. "I can't. They'll kill me!"
"Who will?" She questioned, stepping closer.
He shook his head. "No, nobody can know. Nobody."
She hoisted him up and slammed him against a wall. "Look, you're going to talk either way, but since GUN isn't so fond of sharing the secrets they learn, I'd rather here what you have to say for myself. You either talk to me, or to a GUN interrogator. Which is it?"
"Alright!" He shouted. "They're called SLASH! The Superior Legion of Assassins' Syndicate Hierarchy!"
"Why haven't I heard of them before?" She questioned.
The lemur gritted his teeth. "They work in the shadows...and anyone that tries to expose them is disposed of." He sighed. "For all I know, they could already be here for-" He spotted the cat stepping out of the shadows. "-...me."
She noticed his glance, and turned to look at the approaching cat. "One of those assassins you mentioned?"
The lemur nodded. "That's...Omega 13...he's one of their deadliest."
She slapped a pair of energy cuffs around the lemur, and drew her pistols, aiming them at the cat. "Not another step."
Omega 13 ignored her, looking to the lemur. "Kallus...you talked. I was sent here to extract you, but now I'll have to kill you both."
"Not a chance." The raven cut in. "Kallus and I are on our way to the nearest GUN base. You can walk away right now, or I can kick your tush and bring you with us."
The cat dashed forward, kicking one of the pistols out of her hand, grabbing her other arm, and grabbing her by the throat as he slammed her into a wall. She pulled her feet up, kicking him back, before rolling to retrieve her gun and firing both off at him. He dashed to the side, running along the wall to spring into a spinning kick, knocking her across the room. She recovered with a slide, as she continued to shoot at him. He barely dodged the rapid fire, having to duck behind cover. As soon as he did, he heard an explosion go off, and looked up to see a hole in the roof. He stood up, finding the raven already gone...and Kallus with her.
13 reached up to his earpiece communicator. "Omega Leader...we have a problem."
There was a pause. "Return to headquarters, and present your debriefing to the council."
Omega 13 entered the council chambers, seeing the leaders of SLASH seated at a long table, stretching around the room on a raised platform. The leaders were of course concealed by shadows, a reminder of the secrecy SLASH required to operate.
"Omega 13." Alpha Leader stated. "You have failed your mission."
13 nodded. "What was believed to be a simple extraction was something far more pressing. Kallus was intercepted and captured by some sort of mercenary working for GUN."
"Who?" Omega Leader asked.
"A raven, female." 13 answered. "She was purple, with black hair and wings. Green eyes. Her clothing looked...casual...and she was young, barely eighteen. I thought her an amateur at first, her skill caught me off-guard. She used that to escape with Kallus."
The leaders exchanged glances. Some of them leaned in to whisper among themselves.
"I imagine we all suspect the same person?" Gamma Leader questioned.
Beta Leader growled. "It was to my understanding that Omega Leader terminated all his ties."
"Mind what you say...some matters are the private concern of the council." Omega Leader cut in. "Our operative only needs to know his next mission."
"You would have him track down this interloper?" Delta Leader questioned.
Omega Leader nodded. "And terminate any...loose ends."
Alpha Leader gave a little chuckle. "Very well. We shall give Omega 13 the chance to correct his failure."
"13. Your target is Helen Hairm." As Omega Leader spoke, an image and bio of the raven appeared on a holo-display. "She has no personal connections to exploit. Any contacts she may have are all in relation to her position as a mercenary. This will make things more difficult for you, but I believe you will manage just fine. Her mentality has been corrupted by GUN. The only valuable information she may hold is that of who she and Kallus may have divulged information to. Kill her, and anyone else that knows of us."
"As you command, Omega Leader." 13 replied.
"Good." Omega Leader stated, closing the holo-display. "Now go."
Omega 13 nodded and took his leave. At the facility's exit, his hover-bike was already waiting for him. He mounted it and sped off into the frozen wasteland.
13 arrived at a GUN base near the temple where he'd previously encountered Helen. If she was determined to take Kallus to the nearest base, this was where he was being held. The only question was how to get in. High walls surrounded the facility. Armed guards patrolled the area, and snipers were stationed at watchtowers in each corner. The entire zone was lit up as well, meaning he couldn't just rely on his ability to blend into the shadows. He pulled a kunai from his belt and threw it at one of the snipers. The man fell over, clutching his neck, and 13 made his move. It took him only a few seconds to climb up the wall, but by that time the guard was already dead. He retrieved the kunai, dropping down to the inside perimeter of the base. He dashed from cover to cover to evade the patrols. He looked towards the central facility, spotting vent covers along the walls. He unscrewed one, but pulled the cover back in place after crawling in. He could hear voices from other rooms echoing through the vents as he crawled around. His ears twitched as he focused, listening for any familiar voices.
"The technology I invented for them wasn't your conventional weapons. They see gadgets as a crutch. What they use on missions is very minimalist, none of what I design." Kallus stated.
The interrogator sighed. "What do you make for them?"
"Computers mostly." Kallus stated. "I do a complete hardware update once a year, takes me about a month. I've also designed transportation for them...hover-bikes, stealth ships, that kinda stuff."
"You're a high end manufacturer." The interrogator said. "This...SLASH...they could go to anyone for things like that. They'd probably choose someone more tight-lipped. No, they wanted you for something specific, so spill."
Kallus seemed to hesitate...before breaking into morbid laughter. "You Humans always think you're the scariest person in the room. You don't get it. I'm already dead, and I'm still more scared of them than I am of you."
13 found the vent cover just outside the interrogation room, where two agents were taking notes on the conversation. He kicked the cover out of place and dropped down onto the first agent. He jabbed a kunai into the agent's back, before throwing another at the second agent. He quickly recovered both daggers, before turning his attention back to the interrogation room. Kallus was still talking to the interrogator, only giving tidbits of information, making the interrogator increasingly more frustrated. 13 stepped over to the door, opening it and entering the room. As usual, he made no sound, not alerting the interrogator, but Kallus could see him enter, and his expression turned to one of terror. Before the interrogator could react to it, a kunai struck him in the back, and he fell over.
13 stared Kallus down as he went to retrieve his kunai. "Who knows?"
"Just the interrogators and the base captain! He ordered the information to be kept top secret until he could present it to the commander!" Kallus stated.
13 narrowed his eyes. "And the raven?"
"Still on-base." Kallus confirmed. "She wanted more money for bringing me in."
Without another word, 13 threw his kunai at Kallus, striking the lemur in the chest. Kallus fell over, and 13 retrieved the weapon. He returned to the vents, again listening for the raven's voice as he crawled around. He found it much easier to hone in on...it wasn't just recognition, it was like he couldn't forget that voice even if he wanted to. If it made his mission easier, he wasn't going to question it.
"Do you have any idea how high value this target was?!" Helen shouted. "This isn't pocket cash for me to get something nice, this is my living!"
"If you want a more fair wage from us, then enlist. We gave you the finder's fee." The captain stated.
"Enlist?!" She chuckled. "With how prejudiced GUN's standards are? The Human to Mobian ratio is atrocious! And worse still, you don't do anything about Robotnik! Don't try and pretend like that Hedgehog works for you, literally everyone on Mobius knows knows better."
The captain sighed. "Ma'am, I'm a soldier. I follow orders and maintain protocol. If you want to argue your grievances, I'm not the person to-...what's wrong?"
"Do you have pest problems, by any chance?" She asked.
The captain paused. "No...why?"
She gazed up at the vent cover above them, looking straight at 13. "He's here..."
13 immediately dropped down, throwing a knife at the captain and charging towards the raven. The captain collapsed, distracting the raven for only a second, but it was enough time for 13 to close the gap. Helen tried to draw her pistols, but 13 pinned her to the wall and held a kunai to her throat.
"Who have you told?" He asked.
She scowled. "You're gonna have to try harder than that."
Helen's wings slapped at either side of 13, boxing his ears and dazing him. She used the opportunity to pivot around and throw him. 13 recovered with a roll, throwing a kunai at her.
"You're far too skilled for your age." He said. "How?"
"I've been surviving on my own since I was twelve." She replied, drawing her pistols. "What about you? You don't seem any older than me."
"Those secrets are not mine to reveal." He stated. "Nor are they yours."
"Tough luck!" Helen began firing at him rapidly, but with great accuracy.
13 was more prepared for her barrage this time, acrobatically evading the attacks as he worked his way closer to kick the guns out of her hands. They engaged in hand-to-hand, striking and deflecting jabs and kicks, but it was clear 13 had the advantage here. He ducked under a swing, pivoting behind Helen to pin her arms and wings while holding a kunai to her throat.
"If you won't tell me who you've told, I'll have to assume anyone may potentially know. I'll have to kill everyone in this base, then track down all your contacts, and all their contacts. I'll go as far as it takes to complete my mission, and believe me, I can do it. Kallus and his interrogators are already dead." 13 threatened.
Helen hesitated. "Wait...nobody else knows. I told the commander, but he had it all classified."
13 took a moment to gauge her pulse and expressions...she was telling the truth. "It would have been filed."
She shook her head. "The analysts would have done that after the interrogation."
"Good...then you're the only one that has to die." 13 stated, ready to finish her off.
To his surprise, her head reared back, striking him in the face. She followed up with a kick back into one of his knees, throwing his balance off. He stumbled back, letting go of her, and she made a break for it. 13 pursued, sticking to the shadows. He still wanted to avoid letting anyone else see him. As Helen raced down the hallways, agents stepped out of the way in surprise. With their focus all on her, they didn't even notice the silhouette passing them by. Helen rushed out the exit and took flight, fleeing the scene. 13 stopped, unable to pursue her any further. Besides, there was one more thing to take care of. He detoured to the security room, quickly dispatching the sleeping guard and purging all data from the last week. He returned to the room where Helen had been arguing with the commander, and took her photon guns. Heading down to the server room, he used them to destroy every machine in the room, before finally leaving. He tossed the weapons into a nearby creek, mounted his hover-bike, and sped off.
In station square, news reports began popping up on the various digital screens. "Just in. A GUN facility attacked in the night. Evidence suggests Helen Hairm, a young bounty hunter, betrayed the station's captain after a heated argument between the two. Rumors suggest the already known to be unstable raven was infuriated after receiving a low reward for the capture of black market arms dealer Kallus Momo. It's believed that it was because of and during this bout of rage that she murdered the captain, then out of spite she killed Kallus and the agents interrogating him. She attempted to cover her tracks by killing the night watchman, purging the facility's data, and destroying their servers, but the clear signs of a struggle involving blast marks from her signature photon guns, combined with reports from several agents witnessing her fleeing the base, mark her as the clear perpetrator. She is now on the GUN most wanted list, and considered armed and dangerous. If you see this raven, please contact the authorities immediately."
13 was crouched on a rooftop, grinning under his mask at the reports. With any luck, GUN, the police, even just ordinary civilians would find Helen for him. He just had to be there to finish her off. He suspected she was in the city somewhere. Despite its mostly human population, it was a good place to hide. He'd be searching for a needle in a proverbial haystack. Now, however, the haystack wanted rid of the needle as well. In the meantime, he'd been searching for her weapons supplier, but couldn't find anything.
"She was desperate for money, and a finder's fee should be enough for rent and food if she's bounty hunting full time." 13 stated. "So if she's not using it to buy equipment, what is she using it for?"
He recalled her weapons. There had been no branding on them, and they'd felt awkward in his grip, just a little too small for him...in fact, they were the perfect size for her hands.
"Custom?" He pondered. "If she designed them herself...she'd need a workshop...that means an apartment with large enough rooms...and most likely where noise wouldn't be an issue...those would be far more expensive. The only place she could afford that would be the slums..." 13 rose from his position, looking towards the slums. "Your time is up, Helen Hairm."
Helen was in her apartment, rushing to pack all her essential gear in a duffle bag. She already had her weapons holstered, but inside the bag were various gadgets and spare parts, as well as rations for the next few days.
"That damn cat." She muttered. "He set me up!"
Once she was packed, she opened her window, climbing out to the fire escape. She began to run up the stairs, all the way to the top of the building. Seeing helicopters a few blocks away, she decided against flying for now. She began running, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, headed for the edge of the city. She was completely unaware that Omega 13 had already found her. She was tackled immediately upon landing on the next roof, crashing hard against an AC unit. She groaned, clearing her head, before gasping when she saw Omega above her. He tilted his head curiously. Something about that expression...it was like there was a memory he couldn't quite recall.
"You can't be from a previous mission." He muttered. "I don't leave witnesses...so why do I recognize you?"
She paused. "So it's not just me?"
He narrowed his eyes. "You didn't know about us...how could you recognize me?"
"Don't know...all I know is that the memories you're stirring up aren't fun ones." She growled, reaching for her pistols.
13 dashed forward, planting his boot against one of her arms and holding a kunai to her throat. "I'm still here to kill you, so don't get any ideas."
She scoffed. "Then just get it over with. Thanks to you, I'm a fugitive, and any evidence I could've used to clear myself is gone forever."
"I've got a better idea." He stated. "You managed to escape me twice. We could use someone like you."
"I thought your mission was to kill me." She spat.
"It is." He replied. "But recruitment is up to personal judgement. You're lucky, any older and you wouldn't have been eligible."
She glared. "My answer is no."
13 pulled a length of cable from his belt. "It wasn't a question."
"I. Don't. Care." She hooked her leg behind 13's and pulled forward, tripping him and drawing her pistols. "You're not taking me, dead or otherwise."
13 grunted, rolling out of the way and back to his feet, throwing a kunai at Helen. She dodged, returning fire at him, but he closed the gap and kicked the weapons out of her hands again. She began ducking and sidestepping to avoid his attacks, spotting the cable discarded on the ground, and the kunai embedded in the door to the building's staircase. She rolled to grab the cable, tying it into a quick lasso. 13 came in for a jab, and she looped the cable around his wrist, sliding the knot tighter. With a quick tug, she pulled him off-balance long enough for her to grab the kunai. She tied the cable to the dagger hastily, before tugging 13 again, keeping an eye on the direction they were headed. 13 went to tackle her, right as she threw the kunai into the fan of the ventilation unit. His arm was tugged back as the cable was tangled in the fan blades, dragging him closer to the unit. Helen wasted no time, retrieving her pistols and running away as soon as he was snagged.
"Dammit!" He grabbed at the knot around his wrist.
13 struggled to undo the binding with one hand, but managed to slip free at the last second. When he turned to look for Helen, she'd already taken flight, barely a speck in the distance. He rubbed his wrist, scowling.
"Nobody's ever given me quite as much trouble as you..." He mused. "I'm going to make sure you pay for that."
13 tracked Helen to the outskirts of Westopolis. Finding her had been much easier with Westopolis' greatly lesser Mobian population. Rumors of a purple raven lurking around abandoned warehouses were more than enough for him to start searching the area on his own. He found a makeshift workshop set up inside one, definitely where Helen had been repairing her gear. He found some form of audio recorder, and turned it on.
"Audio Journal Entry #35." The log began. "I realized three things while I was fine-tuning my photon pistols. First was where I recognized that assassin from. The night my family...my best friend...the night they were killed...their murderer moved the same exact way. It wasn't the same person, but it was SLASH, that's for sure. Second was that running isn't going to get me anywhere. If I want to survive this assassin, I have to fight back. I have to become the hunter. Thinking about that brought me to my third conclusion...fake audio logs make good bait."
He dropped the recorder, turning to look for an incoming attack. A photon beam coming from the rafters singed his fur, barely missing him, and more were already on their way. He rolled behind some stacked crates for cover, gradually creeping across to the other side and keeping an ear out for her movements. Her plan was good, he'd walked right into her trap. If she'd been any faster, she would have gotten him. He noticed smoke rising from where she'd shot the crates...he couldn't stay behind the cover for too long. He noticed another arrangement of crates perfect for stepping points, and ran for them. With a series of leaping steps, he dashed towards the wall and run up the side into a backflip, grabbing a rafter to swing forward and kick Helen off her perch. She dropped her pistols to grab his leg, pulling him down with her. They both crashed against the hard stone floor with loud grunts, the impact slowing their recoveries. Helen pulled a device from the back of her belt, activating it to reveal it was a photon saber. 13 in the meantime had felt his mask loosen. It still covered his face for now, but it could fall off at any moment. Before he could reach up to re-secure it, Helen was already swinging at him. He needed to distract her.
"It's a shame." He said. "This was a brilliant plan. Imagine what you could have done with our conditioning."
"Is that what you do?" She scoffed, sounding much more bitter than she had before. "You kidnap children and brainwash them into murderers?"
He barely avoided another series of swings. Her form was sloppy, but her anger was fueling her, and giving her speed.
"It's only natural." He stated. "Young minds are malleable, easier to program. Their bodies grow into their prime, and their full potential is unleashed. The perfect killer."
"Is that so?" She questioned. "Then why...why did you kill my parents? Why did you kill him!"
13 felt his body aching, being stressed like so immediately after such a fall. "We kill who we must to protect our secrets and serve our ends."
"My dad was an accountant!" She shouted. "My mom was a doctor! And my friend...my best friend...we were 12!" Tears were beginning to form around her eyes, but she was still swinging with deadly intent. "We were kids! And out of all the others, he was the only one who didn't bully me! He didn't make fun of my heritage and call me bad luck like the others! He was there for me! We played games together, had sleep-overs, watched shows, shared books! He was a good friend, the kind that would stick with you through anything, the kind that inspired you to do the same for him! Why would you kill him!?"
"Those secrets are not mine to reveal." 13 replied, before rushing in with a kunai. "And our existence is not yours to kno-"
Helen had seen the attack coming. With a quick sidestep and a slash, she took the assassin's right hand clean off. He fell to the ground with a pained scream, his mask falling right off. Helen gave a swift kick to roll him over, looking into his eyes. What she saw shocked her to her core.
"...Trech..." She whispered.
It was 13's turn to be shocked. That name hit him like a jackhammer. Suddenly the pain in his arm meant nothing in comparison to the pain that began to wrack his mind.
"That name..." He muttered through pained breaths. "What is it?"
Helen didn't reply. She just stood there, looking straight into his eyes. Angrily, he sweep-kicked her, twisting the photon sword out of her grip and into his, aiming it right down at her. Still she lay there frozen. She didn't scream, cry, run, or fight. She just looked up at him. He growled, ready to finally finish her...but as he looked into her eyes, something held him back. For reasons he couldn't understand, he stayed his hand, deactivating the photon sword and dropping it.
"I've been compromised." He stated, eyeing his severed arm.
Without another word, he walked away, leaving Helen there. She looked at the arm, and immediately covered her beak. The tears fell freely now, but the rage was gone...she didn't know how to react to this...all she could do was cry.