Keys on the keyboard cracked loudly as two women typed furiously at their computers. Around them a small team swarmed around the room, packing equipment and papers as fast as possible.
"Templars inbound! Pick up the pace, people!"
A large man with an even larger presence strode into the room and made his way towards the women.
"Lydia, Cara, I hope to God you girls have finished, because we need to leave. Now."
Lydia hit one more button before she stood and nodded, "Yeah, just finished."
She stood and pulled a memory stick from her computer (which was immediately whisked away by an older woman), and handed the stick to the man which he pocketed absently.
Cara remained silent as she typed feverishly.
"Cara, finish up, we gotta go!"
The woman only spared enough time to shoot a glare at the man before she turned back to her computer.
"I need to get this to Shaun and his team, it could help their search for the artifact."
"It could help? We need a hell of a lot more than it could help!"
The doors to the abandoned warehouse shuddered violently, causing the men and women inside to freeze. The man stepped away from Cara's desk, nudging one of the people nearest him, "Come on, folks, get a move on. Cara, we are out of time, we have to go!"
Lydia noticed the dirty look on Cara's face and quickly stepped between the two before the other woman could say something that would only end in a fight, "Hey, William, why don't you take the rest of the Assassins and get them out of here. I'll stay with Cara and we will meet up with you all at the next safe house."
The man, William, did not look pleased at the suggestion, but one glance at Cara typing away at her computer and William turned, "Fuck! Fine, Lydia, but the second those bastards manage to break through those doors, I want you and Cara out of here, got that?"
Cara stopped typing long enough to throw a sarcastic, two finger salute before resuming her work. At this point Lydia is certain that the other woman had a talent, a god-given skill, of pissing people off without saying a word if William's expression is anything to go by. She stepped up to him just as he opened his mouth to yell and pushed him towards the waiting Assassins.
"I swear it, William. Even if i have to drag her out kicking and screaming I will get the both of us out of here."
This seemed to mollify William enough since he turned away with a grumble, "See that you do."
With that the man spun on his heel and began to call out orders to the Assassins, splitting them into teams in the hopes of shaking any tails they may pick up in their escape.
The doors shuddered again, louder this time, causing Lydia to frown. She and the few engineers on the team had reinforced the main door. The warehouse, while not large, was perfect to hide in. The modern schematics did not show the network of tunnels under the building, and the assassins took full advantage of that as they made their escape.
Lydia crept closer to the door to inspect the engineers' work before stepping away as the door shuddered violently, as if the person on the other side was frustrated.
"And done!"
Lydia turned as Cara stood and pulled a memory stick from the computer. She nearly jumped from her skin as Cara picked up a broken pipe and began to beat the computer viciously; once she was satisfied Cara dropped to her knees and rooted through the broken pieces until she found what appeared to be the motherboard which she snapped in half. She dropped the pieces and picked up one more which she smashed into the concrete floor of the warehouse.
Cara stood and dusted herself off, looking pleased with herself.
Lydia raised an eyebrow at her friend, "Feel better now?"
"Oh, loads!"
Lydia's reply was cut off as the windows closest to the doors shattered. She threw her arms over her head to protect herself from the falling glass, a move which caused her to miss the small cylinders that rolled to a stop before promptly exploding. The concussive force threw Lydia a few feet where she crumpled in a dazed heap.
"Lydia! Shit!"
Cara scrambled forward to pull the downed Assassin further away from the window in case the bastards on the other side of the door decided to throw more grenades. It escaped her notice that one of the grenades landed too close to the piles of forgotten papers and equipment, the flames caught quickly and only grew as it fed on the equipment.
Unfortunately, Cara noticed the flames just as they reached the gasoline used to power the generators. She only had enough time to whisper a soft, "Oh shit" before the flames exploded violently in all directions.
The two Assassins landed several feet away from the blast, causing the only conscious woman to cry out in pain. Cara's back took the brunt of the explosion when she tried her best to protect her friend. She winced as she stumbled to her feet.
The entire building was engulfed in flames,and ancient support beams groaned as the fire raced across them. Cara knew she didn't have enough time to get herself and Lydia to safety; the only way for her to escape was to leave her best friend behind, a thought that was unacceptable to her.
"We're Assassins, we pull off the impossible, right, Lyds?"
The silence from her companion didn't stop her from hooking her hands under Lydia's arms and began the process of dragging them both to safety.
The roof held longer than Cara expected, giving her hope that maybe there was a chance to escape. Though her hope evaperated just as fast as she came to the trap door that led to the service tunnels that ran beneath the building. A large beam and other debris had landed on top of the door.
Cara dropped to her knees and put her shoulder to the beam, wincing as embers burned through her shirt as she tried to push it. It groaned as her weight pushed against it, but unfortunately it wasn't enough. She collapsed next to the beam as she lost her footing, striking her head against the rubble as she fell.
Dazed, the Assassin pushed herself to sit upright. She crawled, her shaking arms pulled her towards her friend. Cara sat with her blistered back to the wall as she pulled her best friend onto her lap; hugging Lydia close, Cara closed her eyes and buried her face in the other Assassin's shoulder.
With one final groan, the beams that supported the roof gave way, plunging the duo into darkness as smoke and flames swirled, throwing a shower of sparks into the night sky.
Wow! Did author once again start another story even though she has many WIPs? Abso-fuckin-lutely! I just finished replaying ACII and AC Brotherhood and inspiration clubbed me violently over the head. Once again, I cannot promise regular updates, but I can promise that this story is not letting me go anytime soon! As always, Likes and Comments give me life as well as inspiration. I love you all!