***
A Teaser Chapter 6
***
A momentary wave of panic swept over Frost as she stared at the reflection of the camera. She quickly formed a layer of her namesake on the lens, but she knew there was an excellent chance that someone would have been monitoring the surveillance system. Whatever she was going to do, she had to do it quickly.
***
Sonya couldn't believe her luck. Not only had Sub-Zero's little runaway done most of the work in finding the hidden areas, but by sheer dumb luck the communications crew had discovered the security center. They were now in the process of attempting to hack into it.
A soldier snapping to attention in front of her makeshift desk interrupted her musings. She nodded, and waited for him to deliver his message. "Ma'am, Agent Cyrax has requested your presence. We've recovered another body, and Agent Cyrax said you would want to see it," the soldier reported swiftly.
There was a sick lurch in her stomach as she wondered who was so important. It wasn't likely that the cyborg had told the Private the identity, so all she could do was allow the soldier to lead the way.
She was surprised when she was led into the Red Dragon's complex, which meant that the body had only been found minutes before. They stopped next to a knot of soldiers examining the body of a naked man. The copious quantities of blood down his neck and chest indicated that his throat had been slit, but it was his nakedness that puzzled the General.
Cyrax entered with two members of zeta squad, who were carrying a woman on a stretched. Sonya choked down the cry of surprise that almost escaped and her sense of professionalism took over. She looked to Cyrax, but he was as unreadable as always. Her throat was dry as she asked, "Kitana?"
The cyborg shook his head, "Mileena."
Sonya breathed a small sigh of relief, and then asked, "How can you tell?" In response, Cyrax pulled back the mask, and Sonya grimace. "That's ... disturbing. But what is... was she doing here?"
Cyrax regarded her for moment. "It looks like this is bigger than just the Red Dragon."
"Where did you find her?" Sonya asked.
"In a passageway. She was dragged there after her death. Or at least that's what we assumed from the trail of blood leading from a large puddle in another hallway," reported the cyborg.
"Not exactly subtle, is she?"
"Mileena?"
"Frost. This is her work. I thought ninjas were supposed to be traceless," Sonya said sarcastically.
"The Lin Kuei are not ninjas," Cyrax returned.
Sonya gave him a dirty look, but remained silent, pondering what the Outworld assassin was doing in the Red Dragon's headquarters.
*****
Her own footsteps sounded overly loud to Frost. She was trying desperately to resist the sense of panic slowly building in her gut. No matter how hard she searched, she could find no unlocked door, nor could she find her way back to the restroom she had come in through.
Her previous injuries were protesting her rapid pace, and she was almost certain that the gash in her leg was bleeding again. She needed to find someplace to rest and recuperate, but fate seemed indifferent to her needs. Trying to slow her breathing, she dropped into a much slower walking speed.
She heard a soft clanking sound in the distance.
Frost stopped in her tracks and held her breath, trying to locate the source of the noise. It was regular, despite the fact it was echoing down the corridor. Whatever it was, it was getting louder, and Frost didn't want to be there if it was coming towards her.
She hobbled as fast as she could down the hallways, making a sharp right, then a left, not particularly caring where she was going so long as she kept moving. When the pain grew too great to continue, she pressed herself against the cold wall and listened.
The noise was still there, though slightly quieter. She stood still, trying to clam her ragged breathing, while ignoring her aching leg and head. The clanking was getting louder again. It seemed to be following her, but she couldn't' imagine what trail it was following.
She pressed herself closer to the wall, taking comfort in the cool steel on her flushed skin, and waited. Her heart seemed to be beating to the same rhythm of the sound following her, and it was only then that she realized she was truly afraid.
***
Sonya followed the member of the communication squad as she strode down the hallway. The Private had searched her out while she was still speaking with Cyrax. The young Private was smiling, obviously pleased with her teams work and rightfully so. Hacking into the surveillance system was a brilliant display of skill, and an invaluable amount of help to the rest of the operation.
"What have you got for me?" Sonya asked as she entered the makeshift intelligence center. The squad turned and saluted her, but she waved at them to go back to work. "Formalities later, I need info now."
"There's not much to see, General," Lieutenant Evans told her, "There must be fiver thousand cameras here, and we hadn't even been able to access most of the ones in the secondary building. The ones we have access to only show our own agents." To emphasize her point, she flipped a switch, and her screen displayed Cyrax and two agent standing guard over the two recovered bodies.
"Camera 2094 accessed," a Private called out from the other end of the room, and Evans switched to the new view: an empty hallway.
"Its very tedious work, but hopefully something will turn up soon," Evans said, brushing some loose hair out of her eyes. Then movement on the screen drew her attention. "That's not one of our men," she said as a figure in red exited the view.
"Where is that camera?" Sonya demanded, flipping on her mouthpiece.
"We don't know ma'am, somewhere on the east side of the building," Evans responded.
"I want all available units to search the east side, now!" Sonya ordered over her headset. "Cyrax, I want you to start another scan for life forms."
***
Frost was getting increasingly frantic. She had decided to continue to flee down the hallway, trying the doors as she went, but she was having no more luck than before. She was almost completely certain that whatever was following her was rapidly catching up, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.
She kicked a door in frustration with her good leg, not caring if the sound carried, and slumped to the floor. Briefly, she pondered what was chasing her but quickly realized that would do her no good. She tried to think of alternate escape plans, but was not successful in that endeavor either. Breaking another hole in the wall would do nothing but leave an obvious trail to follow, and she doubted that she had the strength to do it. A glance at the ceiling led her to consider the possibility of an air duct, but she didn't know how to obtain access.
The noise was getting ominously loud, and she tried to keep her breathing steady and quietly. Slowly, she climbed to her feet, steadying herself on the wall, and did her best to get into her fighting stance. All she could do was wait.
Her breath caught in her throat as her pursuer turned the corner to face her. She would have sworn it was her former sifu's second in command, if it weren't for the gleaming, blood red face and body armor. Of all the things she had imagined chasing her, she had to admit this was not one of them.
***
A Teaser Chapter 6
***
A momentary wave of panic swept over Frost as she stared at the reflection of the camera. She quickly formed a layer of her namesake on the lens, but she knew there was an excellent chance that someone would have been monitoring the surveillance system. Whatever she was going to do, she had to do it quickly.
***
Sonya couldn't believe her luck. Not only had Sub-Zero's little runaway done most of the work in finding the hidden areas, but by sheer dumb luck the communications crew had discovered the security center. They were now in the process of attempting to hack into it.
A soldier snapping to attention in front of her makeshift desk interrupted her musings. She nodded, and waited for him to deliver his message. "Ma'am, Agent Cyrax has requested your presence. We've recovered another body, and Agent Cyrax said you would want to see it," the soldier reported swiftly.
There was a sick lurch in her stomach as she wondered who was so important. It wasn't likely that the cyborg had told the Private the identity, so all she could do was allow the soldier to lead the way.
She was surprised when she was led into the Red Dragon's complex, which meant that the body had only been found minutes before. They stopped next to a knot of soldiers examining the body of a naked man. The copious quantities of blood down his neck and chest indicated that his throat had been slit, but it was his nakedness that puzzled the General.
Cyrax entered with two members of zeta squad, who were carrying a woman on a stretched. Sonya choked down the cry of surprise that almost escaped and her sense of professionalism took over. She looked to Cyrax, but he was as unreadable as always. Her throat was dry as she asked, "Kitana?"
The cyborg shook his head, "Mileena."
Sonya breathed a small sigh of relief, and then asked, "How can you tell?" In response, Cyrax pulled back the mask, and Sonya grimace. "That's ... disturbing. But what is... was she doing here?"
Cyrax regarded her for moment. "It looks like this is bigger than just the Red Dragon."
"Where did you find her?" Sonya asked.
"In a passageway. She was dragged there after her death. Or at least that's what we assumed from the trail of blood leading from a large puddle in another hallway," reported the cyborg.
"Not exactly subtle, is she?"
"Mileena?"
"Frost. This is her work. I thought ninjas were supposed to be traceless," Sonya said sarcastically.
"The Lin Kuei are not ninjas," Cyrax returned.
Sonya gave him a dirty look, but remained silent, pondering what the Outworld assassin was doing in the Red Dragon's headquarters.
*****
Her own footsteps sounded overly loud to Frost. She was trying desperately to resist the sense of panic slowly building in her gut. No matter how hard she searched, she could find no unlocked door, nor could she find her way back to the restroom she had come in through.
Her previous injuries were protesting her rapid pace, and she was almost certain that the gash in her leg was bleeding again. She needed to find someplace to rest and recuperate, but fate seemed indifferent to her needs. Trying to slow her breathing, she dropped into a much slower walking speed.
She heard a soft clanking sound in the distance.
Frost stopped in her tracks and held her breath, trying to locate the source of the noise. It was regular, despite the fact it was echoing down the corridor. Whatever it was, it was getting louder, and Frost didn't want to be there if it was coming towards her.
She hobbled as fast as she could down the hallways, making a sharp right, then a left, not particularly caring where she was going so long as she kept moving. When the pain grew too great to continue, she pressed herself against the cold wall and listened.
The noise was still there, though slightly quieter. She stood still, trying to clam her ragged breathing, while ignoring her aching leg and head. The clanking was getting louder again. It seemed to be following her, but she couldn't' imagine what trail it was following.
She pressed herself closer to the wall, taking comfort in the cool steel on her flushed skin, and waited. Her heart seemed to be beating to the same rhythm of the sound following her, and it was only then that she realized she was truly afraid.
***
Sonya followed the member of the communication squad as she strode down the hallway. The Private had searched her out while she was still speaking with Cyrax. The young Private was smiling, obviously pleased with her teams work and rightfully so. Hacking into the surveillance system was a brilliant display of skill, and an invaluable amount of help to the rest of the operation.
"What have you got for me?" Sonya asked as she entered the makeshift intelligence center. The squad turned and saluted her, but she waved at them to go back to work. "Formalities later, I need info now."
"There's not much to see, General," Lieutenant Evans told her, "There must be fiver thousand cameras here, and we hadn't even been able to access most of the ones in the secondary building. The ones we have access to only show our own agents." To emphasize her point, she flipped a switch, and her screen displayed Cyrax and two agent standing guard over the two recovered bodies.
"Camera 2094 accessed," a Private called out from the other end of the room, and Evans switched to the new view: an empty hallway.
"Its very tedious work, but hopefully something will turn up soon," Evans said, brushing some loose hair out of her eyes. Then movement on the screen drew her attention. "That's not one of our men," she said as a figure in red exited the view.
"Where is that camera?" Sonya demanded, flipping on her mouthpiece.
"We don't know ma'am, somewhere on the east side of the building," Evans responded.
"I want all available units to search the east side, now!" Sonya ordered over her headset. "Cyrax, I want you to start another scan for life forms."
***
Frost was getting increasingly frantic. She had decided to continue to flee down the hallway, trying the doors as she went, but she was having no more luck than before. She was almost completely certain that whatever was following her was rapidly catching up, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.
She kicked a door in frustration with her good leg, not caring if the sound carried, and slumped to the floor. Briefly, she pondered what was chasing her but quickly realized that would do her no good. She tried to think of alternate escape plans, but was not successful in that endeavor either. Breaking another hole in the wall would do nothing but leave an obvious trail to follow, and she doubted that she had the strength to do it. A glance at the ceiling led her to consider the possibility of an air duct, but she didn't know how to obtain access.
The noise was getting ominously loud, and she tried to keep her breathing steady and quietly. Slowly, she climbed to her feet, steadying herself on the wall, and did her best to get into her fighting stance. All she could do was wait.
Her breath caught in her throat as her pursuer turned the corner to face her. She would have sworn it was her former sifu's second in command, if it weren't for the gleaming, blood red face and body armor. Of all the things she had imagined chasing her, she had to admit this was not one of them.
***