As he approached Lortia, Cain could sense that something was wrong. He had a gut feeling, and that feeling had saved him plenty of times in fights. He briefly wondered if it could have something to do with the Excalibur people Trask had mentioned, but put it out of his mind. They couldn't possibly have known that Trask would be coming here.
"Cain, ensure that the refuelling is completed as swiftly as possible. I don't want to be exposed for too long." Trask instructed.
"Yes, sir." If anything was wrong, he would deal with it swiftly.
Pietro watched as he saw Trask approaching. He had expected some sort of motorcade but all there was, was a single, unmarked truck. It was driving at quite some speed along the dusty lane and as a result a cloud of dust trailed it. It slowed as it came into the town and then pulled up alongside the station Lance and Pietro had noticed earlier. Several people got out of the truck but they were just faceless lackeys. Then a huge man in some kind of red body armour got out of the truck and began directing the lackeys.
Pietro activated his laser sight and saw that there were three people still in the truck, one of whom had to be Trask. 'Come on!' Pietro silently willed Trask to get out of the truck.
One of the figures suddenly got up and moved forward. Pietro was heartened when he saw that it was indeed Trask who emerged from the truck to converse with the giant in body armour. Laying the rifle flat on the parapet, Pietro began to take aim.
"Sir, you shouldn't be exposing yourself like this. It's not safe," Cain argued, looking around him. He really had the feeling that something wasn't right.
"Who will be here Cain, really? Even Excalibur aren't that good," Trask grinned humourlessly. "Besides I can't stand those infernal machines," he gestured at the truck. "I've got to get some fresh air."
Cain was about to continue arguing, but one look at Trask's face told him that doing so would not be a smart idea. "Very well sir, as you say." Cain kept a careful eye on the buildings that lined the street. If an attack came, that was where it was most likely to come from.
Trask moved slightly to the left after conversing with the giant, and Pietro smiled. He could take him down easily with a single shot now. He slowed his breathing as he lined the sniper rifle up with the side of Trask's head. A simple shot straight through the brain would kill Trask instantly. As his crosshairs lined up perfectly his breathing stopped and he tightened his finger on the trigger. But as he was about to pull the trigger, he hesitated.
He watched Trask pull a cigarette from his breast pocket, put in his mouth and light it. How could he murder someone in cold blood like this? Trask wasn't attacking him - Trask didn't have a clue what danger he was in and he'd never know if Pietro pulled the trigger. Could he go back to be a murderer again?
Lance and Forge watched on Forge's laptop, which displayed what Pietro's laser sight was seeing. "Why doesn't he fire?" Lance said incredulously.
"I don't know, maybe he's had an attack of conscience or something?" Forge said desperately. He activated the mike that would connect him with Pietro's earpiece. "Pietro you have a clear shot, why don't you fire?"
"I can't bring myself to do it!" Pietro said angrily back.
"Pietro, remember all the people Trask is threatening!" Forge said, trying to remain calm. "Think about all the people you'll be saving! Do it for them!"
"Right."
Forge switched off the mike. "I thought he'd got over that. Damn good time for him to start growing a conscience!"
Spurred on by Forge's last minute words of encouragement, Pietro tracked Trask as he moved back towards the truck. Thankfully he didn't get in, but stopped to talk to the giant. When he had his crosshairs settled neatly over Trask's forehead, Pietro took a deep breath and fired. The shot echoed like an explosion in Pietro's ears, and it took Pietro several seconds before he could release the breath he had been holding.
One minute Trask was talking to Cain, the next minute all he heard was the sound of a gunshot being fired. Trask only had time to think one thought - he hadn't believed that Excalibur would have been able to find him here - before his body hit the dusty ground.
Forge let out a whoop of triumph as he saw the sniper rifle fire. Suddenly the laptop screen went dark.
"What happened?" Lance demanded.
"Pietro's deactivated the laser sight, that's all." Forge turned on his mike. "Pietro, this is Forge. Great shot!"
Pietro didn't respond for several seconds, but when he did his voice was full of urgency. "I didn't get Trask! Shit, I haven't got time to explain, just get here now!"
It took Forge a moment to process that information, but Lance acted immediately. He hit the accelerator causing the car to lurch forward, then sped towards the church.
"Did he say he didn't get Trask?"
"That's what I heard."
"How could he have not got Trask?"
"I don't know!" Lance snapped. "Will you shut up! We've got to get to Pietro before it's too late." Forge obediently fell silent.
Trask looked up and saw Cain standing over him, his back to Trask. 'Why had Cain just shoved him to the floor?' Trask stood up slowly, and suddenly noticed that blood was leaking through the chest plate of Cain's armour, and dripping onto the dusty floor.
"Cain! Are you alright?"
"Church," Cain mumbled.
"What?"
"In the church."
Trask suddenly understood. He pointed at two of his men, "To the church, now! There's an assassin in there, kill him!" He turned back to Cain, who had fallen to one knee. "Cain, are you alright?" He repeated.
"I'm… fine." He was clutching his chest, just below his left lung.
"Cain, can you hold on till we reach the Temple?"
"I don't know… I'll try."
Pietro sprinted down the stairs from the bell tower, attempting to fold the Sidewinder as he went. He still couldn't believe what had happened. He'd fired at Trask, and as he fired the giant had knocked Trask out of the way and taken the bullet. Knowing that he had to move before he was caught, Pietro hadn't had a chance for a second shot. Hearing the sound of a car outside and prayed that it was Lance.
He was almost at ground floor level when he heard the church doors opening. Reaching the bottom of the stairs he swore when he saw that it was Trask's men. As quietly as he could, he crept behind one of the pillars and pulled his SigSauer from its holster.
Hearing the men split up, and one come towards him he suddenly spun around the column, took aim and fired. One of the men was hurled back, a gaping wound in his chest. The other opened fire with his machine gun, spraying bullets at Pietro.
Pietro dove behind a row of pews and began to crawl towards another pillar. The man was still wildly firing bullets, most of which were going over Pietro's head, although one barely scraped his forehead.
Reaching the pillar, Pietro crawled behind it. He pulled a spare clip for his SigSauer from his belt and threw it as hard as he could at the far wall of the church. As it hit the wall, the gunman opened fire and Pietro dived out from behind the pillar, firing as he went. The man convulsed and then collapsed.
Pietro grabbed the man's machine gun from his lifeless hand and listened. He couldn't hear the car anymore, but he couldn't hear anyone outside either. He cautiously opened the church doors, then ducked his head back as Trask and his men opened fire. 'Where the hell was Lance?'
Suddenly the roar of an engine filled the street and Pietro threw the church door open in time to see Lance pull up outside. He threw himself forward and hurriedly pulled open the door, as bullets rained all around him. Lance turned the car one eighty degrees and floored the accelerator. They suddenly swerved left and sped off down a small lane. After five minutes, satisfied they weren't being followed they stopped.
"Pietro, what the hell happened back there?" Lance said.
"Should we go after them, sir? Sir?"
"No, we must go to the Temple, now!"
"But couldn't they follow us there sir?"
"Not in that car, look. Their fuel tank must have been hit, because they're leaking petrol," Trask waved a hand at a trail of black fluid on the road.
"Then couldn't we follow them and deal with them?"
"No. We must get to the Temple. Only there can we save Cain. Now let's go!"
"Yes, sir!" Trask's men hurriedly got into the truck, as did Trask, and the driver hit the accelerator, speeding off towards the distant Temple.
"So this guy, he just jumped in front of Trask? Without knowing where the shot was coming from?"
"That's what I saw."
"That's impossible," Forge said bluntly.
"I know that," Pietro said irritably. "But that's what happened."
"Then we should follow them back to their base," Forge said. "We can't just leave empty-handed."
"Well, we won't be doing that in this car," Lance spoke up.
"Why not?" Forge and Pietro turned to face him.
"Because we're nearly out of fuel."
"How's that possible?" Pietro asked as Forge opened the car door and went to look at the rear of the car. He came back a minute later, cursing under his breath.
"One of their bullets must have hit the tank, 'cause petrol's leaking out and by the looks of it has been doing for quite some time."
"Great," Pietro said. "Not only did I fail to kill Trask, but we also can't follow him, because we're out of petrol."
"Now what do we do?" Forge asked.
"What can we do? Call Xavier, and get him to get us out of here
Thank you very much for your reviews DaemonRogue 13 and oceanbang, they were greatly appreciated! :)