CE 74
Sarik was abruptly woken by a loud banging noise. He rose up off of his couch and took a few seconds to stretch. After his vision leveled out, he glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall.
"Crap!" he yelled to no one, as it was already two in the afternoon, and he had yet to check up on Stella.
Suddenly, Sarik began to hear that noise again. It sounded like someone was at the front door.
Who would come all the way out here? Sarik wondered.
As he approached the front door, he stopped in front of the large mirror that dominated the left wall of the foyer, trying to comb and pat his messy, overgrown hair into a presentable fashion before answering. As he opened the door, Sarik instantly sensed something awry, for in front of him stood two well built men in business suits.
"Is this the Ostheim residence?" one of them asked, a man who stood slightly shorter than Sarik with shoulder length black hair.
"Yes," Sarik replied coldly. "Is there any particular reason you're here?"
"May we come in?" the same man asked.
"For what reason?" Sarik questioned.
Obviously wanting to waste no time, both men presented cards imprinted with their identification and the seals of the Eurasian Military and the OMNI Enforcer. Sarik looked the men's identifications twice over, and they appeared to be completely authentic.
"It is a very serious matter of international security," the back haired man informed.
"Then feel free to come in," Sarik told them emotionlessly. "Is there anything I can get you?"
"Do you have coffee?" the other man asked, this one taller and much larger than Sarik, with military trim blond hair.
"Unfortunately, no," Sarik answered.
The black haired agent gave Sarik a smile which, in his life's of experience, he found extremely fake.
"Then water will be fine," he replied with a slightly warm tone.
Who are you guys kidding? Sarik remarked mentally.
Sarik quickly lead the men into his kitchen and sat down at the table. He could have sworn he heard something upstairs, and he didn't need a government agency riding his back at the moment. He knew exactly what, or more specifically, whom, they were looking for.
"Please, sit," he suggested to the Eurasian agents from his relaxed position.
"Thank you," the black haired agent courtesied.
"Now, what can I do for you, Agent Stromwik?" Sarik inquired of the black haired man.
"It partially has to do with some of the recent events in Eurasia and your corporation's motives concerning them," he answered.
"I don't think I'm following," Sarik told him. "I've been gone for the past week."
"Very well," Stromwick said. "Let's start with the easy stuff. Is it true that SSI traffics parts and supplies to the ZAFT military?"
"Yes, but we do even more so with Eurasian and Atlantic Federations," Sarik answered. "And we only sell to government militaries during peacetime."
"Then why is it your corporation continues to sell its products to Orb?" Stromwik asked.
Sarik began slowly looking over the open dining room and kitchen, taking note of the immediate locations he had weapons concealed. A .45 caliber pistol behind a fake painting that he could easily punch through, a few well-sharpened throwing knives in the kitchen's wooden knife block, a .22 magnum pistol behind the glassware in the kitchen's cabinets, and a serrated combat knife with its sheath glued just underneath the table's edge, right where he sat.
The twenty-two is my best bet, Sarik thought. Quick to kill, but makes almost no noise.
Sarik rose from his seat and walked over towards the kitchen counter where the cupboard was located.
"I don't see the relevance or accuracy of your question," Sarik said as he pulled the glasses down from the cupboard, along with the pistol. "I ended sales to the Orb military within a month of the public declaration of their treaty with the Earth Alliance. I have no wish to support any nation's war machine during times of strife."
"So you make weapons of war, but when the fighting starts, you break all ties with those involved, yes?" Stromwik concluded.
"Yes," Sarik answered bluntly. "A people should have the means to defend themselves to any extent that they feel is necessary, but I do not approve of wars of aggression, especially the kind that have dominated the past few years."
"But they use these supposed defenses as weapons," Stromwik taunted. "Isn't that what you wish to avoid?"
"Is this all you came here to talk about?" Sarik questioned with more than a hint of annoyance on his voice. "I don't see how any of this is your business."
"No," Stromwik informed. "But I think my colleague is better informed on this matter."
After filling the glasses with water, Sarik returned to the table and handed the men their beverages. He had slipped his pistol deftly up his sleeve while they weren't looking, so he wouldn't be helpless if things went down hill.
"Mister Kaverus?" Sarik said.
"Are you aware of the events that happened recently in this area of Eurasia?" the large man asked Sarik.
"Somewhat," Sarik replied.
"We have reports of mobile suits spotted flying in this area," Kaverus informed. "ZAFT mobile suits. You wouldn't have by any chance spotted any, would you?"
"Maybe," Sarik replied with a hint of arrogance.
"Then maybe you saw a pilot?" the large man asked rhetorically.
"I think it's time for you to leave," Sarik told the agents calmly.
Stromwik smirked slightly.
"We have no wish to waste any more of your time," he said with a haughty tone. "But expect to hear back from us."
"My pleasure," Sarik replied sarcastically.
Sarik escorted the two back to the front door, and had just opened it when he heard footsteps from the stairs.
He turned around to find Stella standing there in fresh clothes and a knife in each hand.
* * *
She was hurting. Someone had just cut her. But he was there. The caring blue eyes, staring deep into her own. Filled with sadness and regret.
"I'm sorry," he cried as he held her.
A noise.
Stella sat straight up, as graceful and fast as a predatory cat.
She quickly glanced around where she lay. This place wasn't familiar. This wasn't her room.
Something was different, too. This robe wasn't hers. This bed wasn't hers. These weren't her sheets. She never had a mirror like that in her room. And these things attached to her. They definitely didn't belong. And the IV in her arm. It hadn't been there before.
Stella jumped out of the bed quickly and yanked all of the medical devices from her body, then quickly surveyed the area. There were three doors in this room, none of which she could determine where it lead. After deciding on one, Stella stalked over to the one a meter from the bed.
Inside were some shelves holding neatly folded blankets and towels. Dominating the left side was a rack from which hung several sets of clothes. She found a blue dress similar in fashion to one of her own back home and tried it on. It was a bit more cumbersome because of its more modest design, but it fit well.
Stella walked to another door and opened it. Inside was a small bathroom. She ransacked it quietly, finding nothing useful. She deduced that the last door would lead the the rest of the facility. She quietly opened it and crept down a hallway with wooden walls.
Where am I? This isn't home. Where's Neo? Or Sting? Or...
Stella couldn't recall the last name. She just remembered those crimson red eyes, full of love and caring.
The girl crept forward, silently opening another door. Inside was a large bathroom with someone's belongings sitting around. There was a single toothbrush, a single towel, a single razor. From this, she assumed that this facility was occupied by only a single permanent resident, probably a man.
Stella quietly searched through the individual's things and found what she was looking for. Just inside of the the medicine cabinet above the sink, she found up a combat knife that was well sharpened. She had sharpened her own knives many times before, and knew she was good at it. This person's work was almost as good as hers.
Stella vacated the bathroom and silently closed the door, then sneaked down the hallway until she came to another door immediately across from a staircase. She decided to explore the room so she might be able to understand her captor a little better. The blond cringed as she slowly moved the door ajar, its hinges producing a creaking sound that, to her, could have been heard from a mile away.
Inside was a bizarre collection of objects. There were toys fit for young children, models of some sort of aircraft hanging from the ceiling, and ancient weapons displayed on the wall. Stella crept over to the person's bed and examined the items lay out on it. There was a set of dirty clothing, a damaged jumpsuit of some sort, a large coat, and a sheath.
But for what? she thought.
Something in her mind clicked, and Stella snatched up the sheath. It protected something familiar, something that was hers.
She pulled on the item's handle, and a long combat knife slid out. It WAS hers...no, it wasn't. There were markings on the hilt that she knew hers didn't have. But everything else was the same. The style, the construction, even the materials were identical. Stella carefully ran her hand across the blade, then suddenly clenched her hand into a fist. She slowly opened it, and a small drop of blood trickled out from her wound. This knife was at least as sharp as hers, too. Only a diamond-edged blade could cut her like that. She returned the knife to its sheath and kept it for herself. It might prove useful later on.
Stella silently stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her, cringing again at the creaking sounds the hinges made. She walked silently down the stairs, then froze as she heard voices. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying, as some drug from the drip line she had in her was making her groggy, but they were growing louder, getting closer. She continued to walk down the stairs, careful to make no sound at all.
Three men came into view, one of them apparently angry. As he opened the door, she took advantage of the sound to cover the rest of her descent.
Then he looked at her.
* * *
Sarik suddenly realized his mistake when the agents also glanced in the direction he was looking. As soon as they spotted Stella, they seemed to recognize her immediately and began reaching into their suits.
But before they had a chance to pull their weapons into view, Sarik exposed his pistol and put a pair of rounds into Stromwik's chest from mere centimeters away, then shoved the serrated knife that he had snatched from the under table into Kaverus's throat, not counting on the small caliber pistol to stop him.
Sarik glanced over at Stella just in time to catch her throwing a knife. His life flashed before his eyes as the weapon flew no more than a centimeter from his throat, right past him.
Less than a second later, he heard a scream and glanced out of the door. Kneeling there was another agent who had dropped his pistol, as a knife now protruded from his shoulder. Sarik made no hesitation in dispatching his foe with a single shot to the head.
The teenage boy thought it was over, but then he heard a car start. He darted outside to stop the driver, but as he exited the house, Sarik realized that there were four black cars parked along the road next to his home, one which was now puffing exhaust from its tailpipe. Sarik managed to snatch up his latest victim's sidearm and get off a few rounds at the vehicle before having to dive back inside his house to avoid a hail of 9mm and .45 caliber rounds.
Sarik slammed the front door shut and locked it down in every way that he could, knowing they were safe until the agents took it down. The house's windows were made to withstand grenade blasts, much less bullets or small rams. Only a high-caliber armor piercing round could get through them.
Sarik turned about only to finf himself with his own knife to his throat.
"Where am I?" Stella questioned in a slightly hysterical tone.
"You're safe, for now," Sarik told her.
The girl pressed the knife harder on Sarik's throat, causing a minuscule drop of blood to trickle down his throat.
"Where's Neo?" she asked with a softer but more serious tone on her voice.
"I don't know, but we can find him later," Sarik lied. He had no idea who she was talking about.
The force she was putting on the knife lessened to the point where she was barely touching Sarik's skin.
"Who are you?" Stella asked with a curious look on her face.
"Sarik Ostheim," he told her.
Stella's eyes widened, and she dropped the knife. She turned around and held the back of her head as if in pain. Then, as though it had never happened, she grabbed up the knife she dropped and turned back to Sarik.
"You're taking me home," Stella ordered him.
"I would if there weren't a dozen men outside trying to kill us," Sarik informed her, starting to fall into a crouch as he heard sounds of running.
"Weapons?" Stella inquired emotionlessly, falling into the same sort of trance that he did during battle.
"I have several hidden around," Sarik told her.
Before he could move on to retrieve his weapons, Sarik heard kicking on the door, then tackled Stella as he perceived the clicking of a gun's safety. A fraction of a second later, bullets penetrated the reinforced wood and embedded themselves into the walls and stairs.
"There's a painting in the room to our left," Sarik said as he rolled off of her. "Break through it and you'll find a gun."
Stella was on her feet and darting into the dining room faster than a crazed wild cat. She ripped the painting off the wall with one hand, revealing a .45 semi-automatic pistol.
"Follow me," Sarik told her as he fired his twenty-two at the holes in the door, moving backwards from the foyer and into the living room.
After ensuring things were going to stay quiet for a few seconds, Sarik moved over to his couch and threw the cushions off. He ripped through the lining underneath and tore at the stuffing inside, revealing a small twelve gauge shotgun.
Just as he filled the magazine with six of the twelve shells hidden with the gun, the door burst open, and a pistol-wielding agent charged in. Sarik pumped his shotgun and fired at the man's chest before he could have a chance to get Sarik or Stella in his sights. Less than a second later, the agent collapsed as lead shot tore through his body.
Stella fired three shots from her pistol, discouraging another agent from entering the house.
"Get to that door and open it!" Sarik yelled, motioning in the direction of the office.
As Stella moved along in a crouch, Sarik heard someone running along the edge of the house. He fired two shots into the wall, one blowing away drywall and insulation, the other wounding a man armed with his own shotgun, a breaching model, from what Sarik could tell during his glimpse of it.
After ensuring everything was clear, Sarik ran into his newly-opened office and retrieved the weapons he had hidden there. He tossed Stella a small submachine gun and kept the machine pistol for himself.
Sarik darted out of his office as he heard men rushing into the house. He fired his last three shells in the general direction of the door, then jumped back into the office.
"Help me flip the desk," Sarik ordered Stella.
She gave him a dirty look, but helped him break it from the floor and push it to the door. Sarik peeked out of the door and spotted an agent advancing into the house with a commando assault rifle. He quickly mowed the man down with a four round burst from his pistol.
"Close the door!" Sarik yelled as he jumped back from a hail of bullets.
Stella fired a burst from her weapon, then slammed it shut. Sarik then forced the desk the remaining meter to the portal. Voices could be heard from all over the house, and someone started hitting on the door.
"This way," he told Stella, grabbing her hand and pulling her over to one corner of the small office.
Sarik let go of his charge as he reached down and pulled at the edge of the carpet. It came loose with ease, revealing a metal trapdoor. Sarik lifted it open, revealing a short flight of stairs leading to a vault-like door.
"Panic room," Sarik informed her. "We can hole up in there for a few hours if we need to."
He gave her a motivational push, and Stella stepped down into the hidden stairwell. Sarik unloaded the rest of his pistol's rounds into the office door, then followed. He pulled the trapdoor shut and locked it from the inside.
"Go on, it's not locked," Sarik told Stella, who was waiting at the panic room's entrance.
She pulled open the large metal door, revealing what appeared to be a den of some sort. There were couches, cupboards, a computer, a television, and even a small door in the back that lead to a restroom. One could probably survive for weeks in this place.
Sarik sealed the large vault-style door behind him, then walked over to one of the couches and lazily lay down on it. After settling into a comfortable position, he tore a piece of cloth from his sleeve and wiped his face off, which was covered by a fair amount of sweat and blood spatter. It was his intention to make Stella more comfortable in his presence by acting overly relaxed, and perhaps a bit less intimidating once he was clean.
"Make yourself at home," he suggested, motioning at another couch. "We're going to be here for a while."
* * *
Stella stared warily at the man. Was this some sort of trick, or was he really giving her control?
After a moment, she decided that he was safe and sat on the couch. Stell sat her weapon on the ground in front of her, then crossed her arms and kept a close eye on Sarik.
* * *
The agent stepped over the bodies that littered the house as he walked towards the office. These losses here were unacceptable, and could only be offset if the girl was brought back. Alive.
He looked in disgust at the mangled bodies of his agents at the door. According to one of the survivors, the Ostheim boy had fired straight through the door with no possible way of knowing their locations. Two agents lost their lives because of it.
However, he quelled his thoughts as he stepped over the desk, into the office. Sitting in the corner were two men with plasma cutters, trying to break through a metal trapdoor, but their progress was sluggish. It would take hours at this rate.
"Forget it," the agent told his men. "Get the explosives."
* * *
Sarik never let his guard down the entire time. He was growing more and more agitated as the thumping noises above him grew progressively louder. They had been trying to blast their way in here for the past hour, and at this rate, it would only take them a couple more hours, if that. There was no way rescue would be here by then.
Sarik glanced over at Stella and noticed she was leaning into her couch's arm and breathing deeply, her arms still crossed, though she was grasping her shoulders with her hands now. She had fallen to sleep.
Sarik quietly stood and walked over to one a line of shelves that partially lined one of the small walls in the panic room. He removed a large, wool blanket, which he draped over Stella's small frame. She shuddered as the material made contact with her skin, but proved to be her only reaction.
Sarik took the time to truly look at her for a moment. He noticed for the first time how beautiful she was, especially in his mother's old dress. It grieved him that someone so beautiful, so innocent, had been forced into the world of warfare.
A moment later, Sarik diverted his gaze as a random, undesirable thought entered his mind. He was constantly told that these thoughts were perfectly normal for his age, but he didn't really understand them. As a result, disliked them, and strived to avoid them.
After a moment, Sarik lay back on the couch and continued to listen to the ever growing explosions. It wouldn't be long now.
* * *
Two hours wasted, the agent thought. We have to finish soon, or the whole point of the mission will be mute.
"Sir, Observation reports that an unidentified craft just entered into Eurasian airspace through the Indian Ocean," an agent informed the man.
"How long until they get here?" he questioned.
"An hour, at most," the agent replied. "Within twenty minutes if they accelerate anymore."
"Dammit!" the man in charged yelled. "And we were almost through!"
He paced around the house for a moment, contemplating on what to do. If he didn't return with the girl, Lord Djibril would be extremely displeased, to say the least. And HE was the last person anyone wanted to piss off.
"How many more explosives do we have?" the man asked the agent following him.
"Plenty, I would think," he replied. "We just don't have the time to use them all."
"Oh, yes we do," the man told the agent, a smile forming on his face.
* * *
Sarik jumped to his feet as an explosion rocked the panic room. Stella was on her feet just as quickly, coking the action on her submachine gun even though her eyes had yet to fully open. Cold air was rushing in, which meant there was a breach in the panic room.
Sarik ran over to a small locker and began the process of opening it. The lock was mechanical, so he had to roll the dials on it until the numbers matched the access code. The lock clicked a few seconds later, and Sarik pulled a miniaturized assault rifle from within. It was one of the latest models to come from SSI's production lines, using an entirely new priming and propulsion system. Sarik just hoped the new ammunition was all that the techies made it out to be.
"We've got to get to the back room," Sarik informed Stella as he pulled the charge pin on his rifle, located just behind the action. "Run straight across the living room and you'll find the door."
He grabbed an extra magazine and a belt of grenades, then sprinted over to the door. However, Sarik was knocked to the ground a few seconds later when a set of explosives went off just above the sealed room, causing the ceiling to cave in. Frozen earth and snow flooded in to join the debris.
"You all right?" Sarik yelled at Stella as he threw wreckage off his body, his ears ringing.
She remained silent as she pulled her leg from a pile of light debris and dirt. She was unharmed except for a few scratches. Everything had slid to the back end of the room as th cieling caved in. Fate had dealt them a lucky hand, for once.
Sarik pulled the pin from one of his grenades, forced open the metal door, and tossed it up into his office. A second later, he heard an explosion accompanied by two screams, then the yells of other agents elsewhere in the house.
The young man charged up what remained of the stairs and barged into the front room. He opened up on two surprised agents, blue fire shooting out of end of the rifle's muzzle. Both men twitched with the hits as several bullets filled their bodies at a speed excess of fifteen hundred meters per second. They collapsed a couple seconds later, never to move again.
Stella ran past Sarik as one more agent moved in through what remained of the front door, sporting a large rifle of some sort at him. Sarik heard some sort of tone, and dove to the side just as the weapon fired. One of the rounds blew through his foreleg, barely missing the bone. Sarik fell down onto his good knee and returned fire in unison with Stella, tearing the man to shreds. Sarik began berating himself for wasting fifteen rounds on one target, but quickly stopped himself to spend time thinking on more important things.
Sarik tried to stand, but found himself very wobbly. He ran worse than a drunk man behind Stella towards the utility room, then dove in pain towards the right of the door as he entered. The action saved his life, as three marksman stationed outside of the house fired on him at once, penetrating the walls and floor with armor-piercing bullets.
Sarik looked at the other side of the room where Stella was. She stood with her back to the left wall opposite of the door, a line of blood seeping from the side of her face. Apparently, she had nearly taken a bullet, herself.
Sarik braced himself against the wall as he tried to stand. He was able to, though the pain was very distracting, to say the least. He replaced his assault rifle's nearly empty magazine with a fresh one, then grasped at his medical kit, which was on a shelf right next to him.
The kit fell to the floor, popping open and scattering a few of its contents onto the floor. Sarik pulled out a fresh bottle of adrenaline and a syringe, filling it with half of the maximum safe dosage, then injected the substance into his arm. He replaced the bottle into the kit and tossed the needle aside as he felt the stimulant flowing through him, strengthening him.
Sarik speed-limped over to the door, then poked his gun around the edge. He had equipped it with a magnified laser dot scope adjusted for accuracy at one hundred fifty meters before storing it in the panic room, in case he had fight at ranges exceeding one hundred meters. He just hoped that the snipers were within that range, or he wouldn't be able to do a thing about them, in his current state.
One was. He spotted the man running along a snow bank outside of the what was left of the house. Sarik fired a three round burst between the splinters that were once the house's walls, and the man dropped like a deer.
Sarik threw himself back towards the side wall as the other two snipers opened up, again filling the floor and walls with armor piercing rounds. Sarik was getting annoyed with them by this point, but he knew they had to go down before he and Stella could try their luck outside.
Sarik looked at the wall quickly, trying to calculate where one of the snipers based on the way the bullets had impacted the walls. They would be expecting the same move, and unfortunately, he would be repeating it, as he had only one other option, and he had no wish to die in this place.
Sarik ran into the living room and and dove behind one of the couches, waiting for the snipers to open up. They did, and the piece of furniture began to collapse under their combined fire. Sarik waited for nearly thirty seconds, hoping they would believe him dead. But then he jumped up and fired, nailing another sniper with only five rounds.
He watched the last one dive towards a snow bank. Sarik trained his rifle in the general direction, but ducked as three rounds flew through the snow towards him. He bolted back towards the utility room, still under fire, then fired towards the house's entrance as he heard someone advancing. Another agent joined his comrades on the floor.
The sniper opened up on Sarik again, cutting sizable chunks out of the wall. But suddenly, the firing stopped, and everything was silent. Dead silent.
Sarik prepared himself for another attack when a mans voice came over a voice amplifier.
"Mister Ostheim," said the agent speaking into the device. "What an honor it is to meet you again. You may not remember me, but I most certainly remember you, and I implore you to cease the pointless killing of my men and surrender the girl. We have no wish to harm either her or you. We simply want to take her home. We will give you two minutes to decide."
Sarik suddenly realized who these people were, and as a result, he recognized that voice. It was his personal guard from the Blue Cosmos facility.
Sarik started to raise his rifle to point at Stella, but froze as he realized he was too late. She already had her submachine gun pointed directly at his head.
"You don't want to go with them," he told her, but it was already too late. She was already in her battle trance, ready to shoot him if he so much as twitched.
"Do you know what they'll do to you?" Sarik asked her.
"Take me back to Neo," Stella replied emotionlessly.
"Are you sure?" Sarik questioned. "I've been taken by them before, and afterwards, I forgot everything. EVERYTHING. Then they made me kill. Made me kill my friends. They almost made me kill you."
Sarik watched her, and there was confusion in her eyes. She seemed like she was concentrating hard on something. Trying to remember anything of the sort.
Her eyes glanced off in another direction, and that's when Sarik made his move. He launched himself at Stella, knocking her gun aside before tackling her with his body's full weight, several rounds goin off before she lost her grip on the weapon. The small girl fell to the ground and hit her head on the floor. Stella remained unphased, so Sarik punched her across the face to finish it. Her head slumped to the side, and blood started to drip from her nose. Sarik let out a sob and wiped a tear out of his eye as he got off of her.
Sarik listened, and he could hear the commotion start up again. He scooped Stella into his arms and left his rifle, as it would be nothing but dead weight, though he did grab the belt of grenades. He would need those
He walked to the back door and, with a single, solid kick, completely dislodged it from the hinges. Sarik heard something start walking in his direction, so he ran for the largest pile of snow he could find, located among a small thicket of bushes, and dove into it on his back, trying to not hurt Stella anymore than he already had.
Sarik peeked out of the pile and spotted an agent walking towards the back door. He followed Sarik's tracks, but looked confused as they ended at the pile.
Then it suddenly dawned on the young man, and he started to pull his gun from his jacket.
"Get out where..." he started.
But before he could finish, Sarik threw himself out of the snow at the man. He came up with a flat-handed blow, hitting the man in the center of the throat. Sarik felt something break, and the man completely stopped breathing, not even a gasp leaving his mouth.
Sarik dragged the dying agent to his hiding place, then attempted to smear any evidence of what just transpired into the snow. He had just concealed himself in snow when two agents walked out of the demolished back door.
"Did you hear something?" one asked.
"No," the other answered.
"Whatever," the first one said, dismissing the noise.
Sarik was starting to stress over what to do when a loud roaring suddenly filled the air. He recognized the sound, and could feel his heart start pounding in his chest.
He scooped Stella up in his arms, then primed the smoke grenade he had on the belt. Still holding the canister, Sarik ran out into the open, towards the edge of his estate. The top of the grenade popped off, and red smoke quickly filled the air around him.
About thirty seconds later, one of the agents finally noticed Sarik, carrying their unconscious quarry.
"Take him down!" he yelled, but it was too late.
Two fighters came screeching in, firing their machine guns and particle beam cannons at the vehicles parked along the estate's drive. The agents had brought in reinforcements, and there were nearly a dozen cars, trucks, and ATVs setting around. Or what was left of them.
Sarik dropped Stella into the snow and fell down on top of her as the grand finale began. A large, plane-like airship opened up on the entire property, 75mm "Igelstellung" rounds tearing through trees, the house, and men alike. Thirty seconds later, no man but Sarik was left alive at the site of carnage.
Wasting no time, the injured man picked Stella up and started to carry her towards the edge of the property where they could board the ship, but he collapsed into the snow, which was now stained with dangerous amounts of blood. He had bled nearly two pints of the life-giving substance, and, as to be expected, wasn't holding up too well.
The edges of Sarik's vision were turning black as a helicopter finally landed. Four people jumped out before it was fully landed and ran over to where he lay. Two of them picked him up off the ground and carried him over to the vehicle, while a large man helped a women place Stella on a stretcher.
Once he was aboard the helicopter and strapped in, Sarik almost passed out. But he held on until he was sure Stella was aboard.
"She's an Extended," Sarik slurred to the medics.
"I know," he heard Sarah say. "I know. Now go to sleep."
Life flashing before a dead man's eyes, Sarik thought before giving in to the darkness. There was no way that she was here.