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War Games
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"Enemy! 10' o clock! 75!" Tyler shouted the commands out to his team, whom quickly responded with a shift in cover.
"Where is he?" Asked a nearby soldier, whose face was covered by a long black mask which he wore.
"Over there by those barrels!" Tyler responded with a straight point towards a section of the arena littered with movable cover.
"I see him." The soldier peeked out of the metal sheet protecting him and exchanged a few shots between the thin slits of the barrels.
"Mikhail, you're out!" Grey shouted from the sidelines
"Damn it!" The otter stood was hiding behind the barrels stood up in an arms raised above the head surrendering position and walked to the out of bounds line.
"Good spot O'Donnell!" Mason yelled from nearby cover. "Now let's take the rest of them out, there's four of them and three of us, they'll try to come down behind the- Oh Shit!" Mason narrowly dodged a wide string of bolts which would have struck his tail if he hadn't pulled it back in at the last second. "New plan! Don't get hit!"
"What was the old plan?"
"No time, just shoot!"
The opposing team focused most of their fire onto Mason, most likely since they wanted to have the honor of taking him out and demoralizing the rest of his team with him; however, this misdirection provided Tyler with enough time to run over to the side se he could get some cover behind a small metal wall. Once they realized that Tyler was out in the open, they started exchanging fire in his direction, but by the time their shots reached the spot where the lupine was, he was already long gone. The tension between Mason and the other team had reached the breaking point. At that moment, he charged out of his small patch of cover and ran to the center of the arena, shooting like a madman at anything that moved and some things which didn't.
It didn't take long before he was riddled with half a dozen shots; although, in his frenzy, he managed to eliminate two of the opposing team's players. It was a strange move on his part, there was no technique or thought put into it, raw rage was the single motivating tactic he employed and Tyler couldn't tell whether he was simply crazy or he'd done it before.
"Mason! In the field of battle, you would be dead five times by now!" Grey yelled to the raccoon from across the arena. As Mason walked off the field, he directed an ominous grin towards Tyler, seemingly communicating to him telepathically 'sorry, you're screwed'.
A quick flash zoomed beyond Tyler's muzzle and he quickly realized that the enemy was starting to flank him and would soon position themselves so that his cover would soon become useless. He signaled to his last remaining teammate to cover him as he ran to another position.
His efforts were in vain however, because as soon as he signaled his intention a well placed shot struck his comrade straight in the gut, taking him out.
"Damn it!" Tyler peeked out and then pulled back in once another shot made its way past his eye. He took a deep breath and held it until he made his move. With one quick motion he threw himself onto the smoothly surfaced floor and slid across it the other side of the arena, hoping that they were bad enough shots to miss him in his wide open state. He tried to take them out while he slid across the floor, but his shots missed them by a wide margin. The enemy countered with a shift in position, now standing closer to Tyler behind the cover of some broken spacecraft parts.
Only a quick glance at them was need to know that the enemy was nearing, he could feel each step getting closer as a pounding in his chest, they were coming, and they were closing in for the kill. He clutched the grip of his pistol tightly as he waited for them to enter his sight.
"Time's up! Everyone stay back!"
~X~X~X~X~X~
"Two days. Two days, and no sign of the murderer." Agent Rotte threw an electronic pad onto the desk where Tyler was sitting, the display screen fizzled for a moment after it collided with the surface, and then returned to normal once stationary. The agents were copiously reviewing the identities of everyone on the station, making sure that none had simply arrived within the recent days, but through the countless hours of sitting and analyzing name after name, they both figured their search for the assassin would never end.
"Grey's are clear… Mason's are clear… I even checked out the others passing through and they don't seem to be leading anywhere."
"You think it could be a sleeper? Set up here, waiting for us to arrive and when we do he strikes?"
"Possibly, although almost all of these guys are affiliated with groups, and none of them would dare take Grey out. If you're not with a group here, you're not protected, that's why only a few of them work alone." Tyler knew that most of his options were wrecked, and time was running out. Every second they wasted was an opportunity for the killer to escape behind their tails.
Agent Rotte threw a small cylinder at Tyler without even looking to see if he hit his mark. The canister was filled with brushes and special chemicals used to clean his pistol. Tyler caught it and began rotating it to get a better look "I heard that Mason's been testing your abilities at the shoot house, lately."
"If by testing, you mean sending me through a torrent of dark, horrible, painful deathtraps full of fire and acid and lasers and spikes and hoping that by some chance I'll escape alive and at the same time manage to take out the pin sized targets at the rate of break-ankle speed then yes…" Tyler recounted yesterday's strenuous exercise, which was essentially a massive array of combat simulations somewhere in the edge of Avaluuk. "I would say he's been testing my abilities."
"He's just seeing if you're the real deal, now that you've affirmed it, he's more likely to trust you."
"Why didn't he put you through all that? I didn't see you running for your life from a bunch of simulated gunfire."
"Because I gave him a ship… I don't see you giving him any ships…"
"You mean we gave him a ship." Tyler attempted to reclaim some semblance of teamwork between them, but he failed on a significant level of mutually agreed secrecy to the mission to confirm his claim.
"No, I mean I gave him a ship. You're just the fortunate tagalong who risked his life to come here in order to escape a twenty year sentence back on Corneria on desertion charges. There's nothing to question about the story and it turns out this whole trust thing's going along fine, so I don't give a damn about what you think about your back story, it doesn't matter at this point, all we need to do now is take Freeman down."
"And then that's it? Huh? You think it's going to be so easy? We already know that he's trying to take Grey out, what if he has something planned for us?"
Agent Rotte didn't react as sternly as Tyler was expecting. Instead, he casually handed Tyler his pistol by the grip before returning to his examination center nearby. He leaned back in his chair and propped his crossed feet up on the top of his counter, barely missing a jumbled up collection of machinery. "Which is exactly why you should clean your gun! Man, you're really bad at this aren't you?" He said, jokingly. "It's been two days since the explosion, if he hasn't done anything yet, I doubt he'll do anything now."
Tyler secured his gun behind his back and headed to the room's entrance. "I'm going to need to borrow some parts from the others; it shouldn't be any more than ten minutes."
"If you need me, you know how to reach me." Rotte pointed to his communicator. "Don't hesitate to call if you see something wrong."
"Sure thing." Tyler exited the room with expedience. He wanted nothing more than to find this guy, find this guy and take him through the same pains of loss and destruction which others had received due to his actions. There was no question about it, he was dealing with an enemy who was able to do these things without ever caring about the casualties involved, or the possibilities of collateral damage. It was these evil monsters who were enemies of The State, enemies of The Federation, and enemies of the Lylat, even enemies of brutal killers like Grey.
Tyler eventually found the place where Mason's troops were gathered. They often went around making stupid bets and hurting them, of course, since Tyler had been in army barracks before he wasn't a stranger to any of this. Soldiers making contests out of who could bend their joints in strange directions or who could concoct the best prank and still not get a one-on-one visit from CO were commonplace among bored enlistees who had nothing to do but wait for something to happen. It wasn't necessarily that these things were objectively 'fun' on any measurable level, but it was the process of inaction that gradually worked its way into the soldiers' minds which in time would cause nearly anything to be considered new and exciting for them, especially combat.
Combat, that sense of faced paced exhilaration which these soldiers thrived on. For them, only one thing was as exciting as the thrill which they received each time they entered close quarters battle, and that one thing was the sole reason there were women on this station.
"Name please." Tyler approached the door sentry.
"O'Donnell."
"Go on in." The sentry replied after a quick check.
Tyler entered the large barracks room. Here, Mason's soldiers were either talking, fiddling with their weapons, or trying to catch some sleep before they moved on to preparing for the campaign against Freeman. He got a few looks here and there which were generally reserved for the 'new guys', but by now, none of them were very suspicious of him, and some were even trusting since he'd covered of their backs in the firefight during practice earlier.
The barracks room was only one of three large branches of Avaluuk; the other ones belonged either to Grey's army or mercenaries affiliated with other, smaller groups. As was common in stations like these, the room was heavily modified from its original design as a research outpost to suit the needs of holding large amount of troops. Some relics of the past were still visible in the form of unpainted portions of the walls and unfinished furnishings scattered about.
"Hey, you got a universal quick-changer?" Tyler asked a nearby avian trooper who at that moment was in the process of reworking his tactical set-up.
"Sure, here you go." The raven handed Tyler the uniquely shaped device. "Remember to bring it back when you're done, Tyler…"
"Thanks." Tyler began to walk away, but stopped once he had only moved a few feet. "Wait…" A strange chill ran through his spine, coupled with an odd sense that he'd been found out. "What did you call me?"
Without hesitation, the avian leapt towards Tyler, pushing off of his chest and propelling him in the opposite direction. "What the- urhph!" Tyler was thrown to the floor in less than an instant. Once he propped himself back up with his arm the mysterious dodger had already made his way to the barrack exit.
"Hey! Stop him!" Tyler's words fell upon deaf ears. Few even bothered to turn and see what the deal was, and those who did were too confused about it to react. Tyler followed the runner's path out of the barracks, surprising the sentry who wasn't expecting two consecutive exits of that manner. "Someone just ran out here, where did he go?"
The sentry looked at Tyler as if he'd just been asked to do the splits. "Uh… he went that way, either to engineering or… or the flight deck."
"Flight deck…" Tyler dashed off to the long walkway on his right, if his suspicions were correct, the runner would attempt to escape through one of the ships there. He sprinted on the path to the deck, but wondered soon after if this is what his assailant was hoping for. Maybe the path ahead was already laid with traps, maybe this whole thing was a diversion set in order to head the real escape.
"Wyatt, I'm going to need you, fast. Get to the flight deck ASAP."
"Can I ask why?"
"No time, I'm chasing someone, now. I think he's going to attempt an escape."
"Oooh, he a friend of yours?"
"Think so, I have a feeling it's the same one who slipped past us at the convention a while back, he even looks the same."
"Good work, buddy. At this rate you-"
A descending pitch echoed throughout the station, followed by a steady but nevertheless quick descension in the station's lighting intensity casting it into darkness, all this was followed by a small rattle which Tyler could feel shaking through the floor.
"Damn, you feel this too?" Agent Rotte asked after the brief interruption halted their conversation.
"Yeah, powers out. He's probably planned for this situation ahead of time."
"Which means, he has more in store for us."
"Right, stay aware. I'll contact you if anything new happens" Tyler slipped through the quiet darkness, his adjusting eyes struggling to determine the correct direction, even though red emergency lights made some of the way visible.
'That bastard's not going to escape me this time… he might have disappeared back on Corneria, but now he has nowhere to go… when I get my paws on him… I'll tear his feathers off, and then…'
His ears rose at the sound of a nearby door closing. Upon approaching the sound, he was delighted to see that it led into the engineering department, which meant that the power control couldn't be too far away. Tyler approached the sealed metal door. That rattle he felt must have been a detonation somewhere near the generator, meaning that not only was the station's main power source damaged, but some of it was beyond repair for the time being. Next to the sealed door, there was a bright red emergency handle to use in case something went wrong with the automatic mechanism. Tyler pulled it down and door was released from the locking system. He tried to pull the door open faster, but there seemed to be a limit on how quickly it would move.
Once the door was opened he slithered past its narrow crevasse, and into an long, empty, maintenance hallway, absorbed in total darkness except for the patches of emergency light. Tyler froze upon taking in the scene. It was one he had seen before, one so familiar to him, the passage was lit by the same light, and the walls encroached on him the same way, all combined with the eerie similarity of the one he was chasing.
Tyler scanned the corners of the passageway multiple times, knowing that the enemy was nearby, and could be anywhere. He slowly made his way forward, but frequently checking behind him as an added precautionary measure. Different shapes weaved through the empty fields of darkness, a shadow passed beyond the rim of one of the lights.
"I know you're here… you can't hide." Tyler said, no matter how untrue it may have actually been. "Why don't you just come out so we can talk like civilized folk?" He earned no reply, but instead, silence. A cold chill echoed through the ceiling, he could feel the presence of the enemy within him. And then, stepping from the black void, the raven approached him.
"Thing is, I'm not itching for a fight either." The commando replied, tapping the device on his hip in order to personally show Tyler that it was ready to counter any shots he may have delivered. "I much rather prefer this method, gun fighting tends to be really, uninteresting..."
"Who are you?" Tyler growled.
"Me? You want to know about me?" The raven seemed surprised. "What is there about me that is so interesting? I'm just like you."
Tyler paused. "What?"
The raven ran at him with blinding speed, Tyler barely had time to raise his paws to defend himself before the enemy had thrown multiple blows in his upper regions, stunning the lupine and giving him enough time to evade Tyler be rolling around him. "I'm not the one who's out for some invisible notion of justice; I'm just a tool, a weapon in someone else's hold." The raven casually continued as he pulled a small lever which moved a metal divider between him and the airlock entrance, making it impossible for Tyler to reach him but still allowing communication to relay across.
"Why are you here? What's your goal?" Tyler tried to initiate a classic police takedown maneuver, one he had actually used multiple times against unassuming criminals.
The raven countered Tyler's attempt with an unorthodox spin which moved him beside Tyler's outstretched elbow. He was then able to push Tyler's feet off and push him to the ground. "Same as yours. I go where I'm called; I do what I'm told, without question, without hesitation. I'm nothing more than a player of another's game, to be disposed of the moment I become an inconvenience. Our goals are the same, I've only realized it sooner than you have."
"No, I'm not like you! Don't say that! I'm not a cold-blooded killer like you!" Tyler thrust forward with a furious motion quick enough to give even his well trained enemy a run for his money.
"Nice try, but your center of Gravity's a little high… try this instead." The raven flew towards Tyler and swiped at him a couple of times with an aerial kick.
"Why are you…" Tyler shook his head and then ran once more at the bird. This time he tried using a move that Walter had showed him a while back one used to take town opponents who were faster than him, namely teenagers. Using his right paw, he jerked it forwards a bit, to make it look like he was using it. He drew his left one close to the enemy in a horizontal motion, and like magic, he latched on. Tyler returned his right paw to bring the bird closer and then throw him onto the floor, but of course his enemy was too quick to be overturned so easily. They broke off, and regained breath.
"I can tell that your moves are not your own, they're only yours due to their popularity. I'd suggest finding something that suits you better. Perhaps something a little more precise would suit your body structure; you're not too different from me in that regard after all."
"I'm not like you, I don't kill innocents."
"No one is innocent Tyler; you of all Cornerians should know that. Wait, you don't remember do you? Have you forgotten?" The raven responded as though he came from Tyler himself, his words moved through him on a deeper level than any other, penetrating him on a distinct level which would require specific knowledge that only Tyler could possibly know. "The truth is that's warfare. It's brutal, primal, destructive, and someone's going to get killed no matter what, that's how it will always be." The avian threw himself at Tyler, pushing off of the wall, he narrowly evaded his clutches.
"Warfare? Warfare against whom? What? Why did you kill her, why did you kill Vixy McCloud! That's all I need to know! Tell me! Please!" Tyler's voice sounded like a desperate beg.
The raven broke off from the tension of the encounter, a smile ran across his beak as his vision centered on Tyler. He seemed to switch that exact moment to a more deceptive state in his eyes, as if he was playing a game with Tyler. "Vixy?" He paused for a second, contemplating. "I didn't kill her…" He said with a sly, rolling tone in his voice. The raven pressed a nearby button which was attached to his barrier device and a wall activated between them, coming down and separating the two with a filmy transparent shielding.
"She's dead, it's because you and Freeman and a bunch of others were there to take her out. And then you kidnapped Dr. Holcomb from the weapons expo two days later, why did you do it?"
"Trust me, you don't want to know. Because if you did… you'd be on the same side of the field with me." The encasement beyond the field began to grow bright and change color. Tyler knew he couldn't move beyond that field, he'd already tried.
"Wait. Can't you at least tell me your name? I like to know who I fight."
The raven glanced back at Tyler, surprised at the request. "My name, like yours means nothing." He turned around to fiddle with his device further. "But if you need to… call me five. We'll be meeting again Tyler." Just then, the space in front of Tyler exploded with a loud flash, and then nothing. He was gone, and Tyler was alone.
"Well, shit…"
"Susi, you there?" Tyler's communicator fluttered to life. "Yeah… turns out he was waiting for me here in engineering… he got away."
"Got away? How di-"
"He used some… some kind of device, I don't know what."
"What, you mean like a teleporter?"
"Something of that nature, I'm still trying to find out what just happened…" Tyler felt the walls and floor nearby the epicenter of the strange event. They felt no different than anywhere else.
"Tyler, do you realize that such a device has never been able to successfully transport organic life?"
"I know, but he's… gone."
"Well if you're sure he's gone, you should head back now, it's chaotic. And if I were you, I'd keep anyone from figuring out you were just in the engineering section. I don't want them to think that you caused the explosion."
"Sure thing…" Tyler answered. He examined the space around him, unable to find any sign the avian. There was only one way out of the room, and that was through the door behind him. Tyler returned to the heavy door once more, once he was sure that he was alone.
~X~X~X~X~X~
Author's Notes: Hey! It's me again! I hope you guys aren't repulsed by the amount of OC'ness in this story, I'd really like to hear from you for better or for worse on how you think it's going along. I'd really appreciate it!