Chapter 12
Her reflex tingles, something was coming from behind and it was not good. Thunder 0 strafed her rifle to her back and saw three grenades incoming towards her. Her precise instincts saved her as she shoots each grenade. It explodes midway and the results created trio elemental explosion. Fire, thunder and explosive. The amount of kinetic energy created was enough to make the Hyperion Special slide a few meters back from the original place that she stood.
Thunder 0 aimed at the smoke in hopes to see her enemy but it was too thick to see the other side. Four gunshots echoed the spacious mine, Thunder 0 managed to be hit by four of it. It didn't hit her vital organs but the shot managed to hit her bullet proof vest and created a staggering effect. Thunder 0 trembled down to her knee and leaned on her rifle. She breathed heavily to get her grips on the battle but she forced herself to get on her two feet again.
As the thick smoke started to dissipates, Thunder 0 could hear the bullets casing hit the ground. Cling, the sound repeated four times. Thunder 0 wore off the bullet proof vest and readied herself for the enemy ahead. The bulletproof vest was useless now and no more than useless weight. Alesia revealed herself from the smoke with one revolver at her hand and a knife at her hip. She was reloading her revolver, spins bullet holder and put it back in place.
"Tsk tsk tsk." Alesia said. "Not so special now, it seems."
Alesia's hair was frail, all of her skin was shown, with the exception of her private parts as it was covered by her blood covered underwear. What was once purely white underwear was now dark red. Mentally, she was still able to taunt, think, speak and strategize. Emotionally, she was motivated to kill. But physically, it was at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Alesia had a slim body that mimic's a model once, now she was like survivor of a famine crisis. One could see every ribcage bones there were as the skin was lack of fat. The only thing that was left was the necessary muscle to move and to survive. Scars, wounds and bruises were all over her body, some of it was still open and fresh but it seemed rage was an effective painkiller. It could be said that it was a miracle that Alesia was still alive and still be able to move like she normally would. The amount of mental strength was inhuman, bar none that anybody could ever see.
Other than the prominent features of malnutrition, it was her Siren marks features that one could not dismiss. It covered half of her body; one side was clear while the other covered whole by the marks. It started at the neck and down below to the toe. The colour of the Siren mark was a black as black could possibly be. The dark tone contrasted to her light fair skin, it was beautiful to see as the Siren mark was natural to her body.
…..
Command Centre was shocked seeing Alesia, rather than focusing on the mission, they were shocked seeing the so called Impostor Alesia state. Male and female officers could not deny that she was The Chairwoman before. If they were to believe of what was informed, to which they slowly disbelieving, then the Impostor surely has convincing technology to mimic Alesia whole body.
Reus swallowed his throat slowly, trying his best to maintain his composure. Now he truly regrets on not shooting her then.
"The bitch is still alive…." He murmured.
……
"You can see me now Reus and Blake." Alesia said, she knew there was a camera at the head of the last surviving soldier. "I'm still alive. You didn't do a good job."
"What the hell are you talking about?" O'Riley said.
"I'm not talking to you of course; I'm talking to your boss." Alesia played with her revolver. "The boss that you blindly follow, like slaves to an unworthy master."
"Shut the fuck up!" Thunder 0 started to shoot her rifle.
With her free hand, Alesia took a corpse near her and shielded herself from the bullets. The corpse received the bullets and it started to burn. Despite the hot fire, Alesia was unaffected by it and hold it in case more bullets were to come.
"You're Hyperion Specials yes? Reus's soldiers." Alesia taunted. "Specially trained by him right?"
Alesia threw away the body and shoot Thunder 0 knees. Knee caps were destroyed because of the high calibre revolver bullets. She lost her balance and fell to her knees. Thunder 0 didn't want to give up and reached to her pistol. As she attempts to aim and attack, Alesia shot the pistol away from her grasp, leaving her unarmed. The former Chairwoman did not waste time and shot the soldier's stomach. She screamed all she could because of the pain and blood started to flow out.
"I should've tasked the AE Team to train my soldiers; even Reus couldn't train his soldier properly." Alesia said.
Alesia could simply kill the soldier with a shot the head but she wanted to send a message to the whole Hyperion corporation. A message that Reus and Blake would not forget until they die.
"Did you know that you're not the first task force to be sent down to this hellhole to kill me?" Alesia said. "They were many that was sent and ended up dead in this mine. Trust me; you're not the first and certainly not the last.
Alesia slowly approached her victim. Thunder 0 took out her knife and Alesia repeated the same thing that was to shoot it out of Thunder 0 hand.
"After the second team that Reus has sent, I've gone tired of persuading. I simply considered you among those mongrels up there." Alesia stood in front of Thunder 0. "Then I had an idea, I could kill all of them that he sent and make a mountain of bodies. With those bodies, I can escape and claim what is rightfully mine.
Thunder 0 raised her fists; she was not going to give up so easily. Alesia shook her head then walk behind Thunder 0.
"So Reus, I challenge you." Alesia wrapped her arm around Thunder 0 neck and chokes her. "Send the army, I dare you coward, send them all and I will get out in time."
As Thunder 0 draw near to hear death, Alesia saw something in the sky. After a moment of observe, she confirmed that Reus had sent the cavalry. A dozen of Hyperion Loaders incoming. Alesia face turned sour and she broke Thunder 0 neck instantly. She quickly stood up and ready for the battle ahead. Alesia reloaded her weapon and held one knife on the other.
The Loaders landed one by one, each landing shakes the very earth. The Loader transformed to reveal what type of Loader they were. Badass Loaders each and every one of them, green in colour with one red eye. They held rockets by the shoulders and miniguns on their hands, their mission was to kill Alesia and they were prepared to do so. Alesia had nowhere to go, she was surrounded by twelve big Loaders with armaments that could kill a whole village clean.
"Don't get cocky Reus!" Alesia shouted.
Alesia shot the red eye of a Badass Loader and burst into flames. The Badass Loaders started shooting and slowly approached Alesia.
For Alesia, time slowed down. The red reticles of the Badass Loaders had locked to the target. The hundreds of bullets that have exited the barrels were microseconds away to rip her weak body into pieces. Bullets casings millimetres away from touching the cement ground. Alesia made a decision to finally use her powers. Her dark Siren marks glowed furiously.
She vanished.
……
"Where the hell did she go?" Reus's eyes open wide.
The whole Command Centre had also the same reaction.
"Infrared and Sonar sensors, check them right now!" Reus ordered.
"Target not found!" An officer told.
……
A quiet sound of electric hiss could be heard. Alesia reappeared at the back of a Badass Loader, hanging on her knife that was stabbed to the thick metal. Alesia focused on her Siren powers and shouted, bolts of electric charged the Badass Loaders from the dark Siren mark. The Badass Loader went haywire and started to shoot all over the place. At the same time, Alesia took the opportunity to use her revolver to trim down the number of enemies that she was facing.
From what started with twelve, the Badass Loaders were down to half.
……
"She's a Siren?!?!" Reus exclaimed.
"Sir, we're only down to six Badass Loaders." An officer informed.
"Then send more!"
……
The Badass Loader that she was holding on was about to explode, the electronic boards could not hold the amount of electric charge that Alesia was giving. It started to say number zero and one, slowly the pronunciations were become indistinguishable. It was time for Alesia to bail and so she did. She jumped away from the robot and took her knife with her. Then with her Siren power, she vanished again but this time with a thunderous sound.
She appeared to another Badass Loader and did the same with the previous one, overcharge and wreak havoc. As she reloaded her revolver, she looked up to the sky and saw more Loaders coming. She had no reaction, in fact, she started to focus more on killing the remaining six robots that she was dealing with. Alesia's revolver was fully loaded, she started shooting again and destroying the juggernaut machines. The place was like a battlefield, sounds of guns that replaced that silence of the dead, the heat from the muzzles replaced the cold underground ambient temperature.
……
"How many Badass Loaders we have left?" Reus asked.
"130 that are ready. But preparing and deploying will take some time." A different officer informed.
"Send them all, I want this Impostor dead." Reus ordered. "Any updates on Special Package?"
"Special Package will be ready in a few minutes."
…….
With one Badass Loader down, comes another two to take its place. The floor was littered with scrap metals, bent and dent to unusable function. Alesia continued to use the same tactic, ride behind, take control and shoot as many as possible. She was outnumbered and outgun but she was under control of the situation. Alesia focus on one target but never dismissed the others. But despite that, she knew that things were getting out of hand.
She jumped off the current Loader and shot the main circuit with her revolver, leaving a hole. She then rolled down to the ground and take cover in the nearby pile of metal. She used her power again and shoots lightning bolts to the robots. The lightning hits one and jumped one robot to the other, creating a chain of explosions. The ground shakes again and her eardrums rings furiously. When the ringing of the ear fades, she was grateful to hear the calm silence that Maniac's Mine once had. The last robot that stood finally dropped to the ground, joining its brethren that were also destroyed.
No Badass Loaders came, Alesia could finally take a breath.
She trembled on her knees and panted heavily, she was sweating so much as if she was taking a shower. Her Siren power was taxing her to the brink; it felt as if her soul was being pulled out of her body. She made a personal rule to use it sparingly, especially when she was not in the best condition. Had Alesia not used her power, she might be dead right now. She looked up no Loader was deployed from the HSS, whether it was a mere bluff or out of resources, Alesia was not sure.
Alesia raised her revolver, shivering and jittered while trying. She reloaded the revolver, taking out the used ones and put the new. One by one she put, taking all the time as she was at the weakest state that she ever been. The bullet holder went back to its place and she let out her last heavy breath. Alesia realized something; there was a black box in the middle of the mine for the whole time. She turned her head and saw that particular black box, still intact.
What the hell is tha-
The black box exploded, releasing a fiery explosion and strong shockwave. Her weak underweight body was flung away, with it the scrap metals. Debris hit her head as she was flung. Everything went dark.
……
Silence, dead silence. A Surveyor was deployed to confirm Alesia's death. Command Centre stood silent as the camera started to give an online feed of the mine. Blake exited the room and stood beside Reus to see the aftermath. Money, time and resources were invested on the operation and it seems the returns were starting to be fruitful for the two highest ranking chiefs.
"It seems that you did the impossible, Mr Reus." Blake complimented.
"I always do." Reus answered.
As the Surveyor slowly descended to Maniac's Mine, the screens showed the temperature started to increase drastically. The camera feed showed the number and it has gotten higher and higher as it goes down.
When it finally arrived at the surface of Maniac's Mine, one kilometre deep, Command Centre witnessed the aftermath. The centre of explosion had a darkest black spot with signs of cement ruptured that could be seen. The metal scraps that were once Badass Loaders had reddened because of the intense heat. Spots of fire were burning anything that was flammable. And beneath the rubble of mess, there it was Alesia, or what's left of her charred body. The robot started to scan the body to confirm and the result showed; 99.9% match.
"Outstanding performance Command Centre." Reus said.
Reus clapped his hands together and expected everyone to join. Blake joined too with a serious face. But nobody joined among the officers. The officers looked at the two high positioned with a speechless face, then turn back to the screen, having a hard time to accept what had happened. The officers did not believe the fact given; she was no impostor, they were all convinced that the target killed was Alesia.
Reus stopped his clapping, knowing that he was among the two that were. It was all apparent now, the lie has been caught. There was nothing to worry for Reus, Alesia was already dead and the officer can do nothing about it. Reus position has been secured and Blake also, there's nothing to worry about.
"With Alesia's dead, we should celebrate Mr Reus." Blake said.
"For certain, we can celebrate without any worries at all." Reus offered his hand to Blake.
"But before that," Blake shook Reus hand, though there was tension in it. "We need to discuss about us first."
Reus sighed, another conflict to settle it seemed. Even though Alesia's dead, she managed to leave more problems for Reus as Blake to the words of a dead woman very seriously. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
"We can use the meeting room if you want." Reus looked at the door that was still open.