Chapter Ten: Requiem
Jara Aldi stretched as far as she could but it was no use, the handhold was still just out of reach of her arm. From a precipice of superiority some twenty feet up Alyx sat with a smirk of smug satisfaction watching Jara's futile ordeal. Jara continued for a few more moments aligning herself with another window and then trying to traverse the distance again. She couldn't reach. With a sigh of defeat she glanced up to Alyx who was obscured in front of the blaring midday sun and asked for her assistance.
Soon both women stood squarely on the roof of the five story building. Jara was catching her breath and Alyx continued basking in the light of her unmitigated success in scaling the building. Jara offered her a faux expression of jealousy and defeat before both burst into laughter. Rays of heat rippled from the black-gray roof as the two considered each other. Jara had to admit that Alyx was a fine free runner, and had been adequate at scaling buildings even before she'd started her assassin training.
"Impressive," Jara remarked, "But your reach is longer only because you are taller."
"I still won," Alyx said sticking out her tongue.
"Fair enough," Jara said, "Your assassin skills are coming along nicely. You've mastered parkour, you're able to blend fairly easily and your steps have become almost as silent as death itself. Only one thing remains."
"What?" Alyx asked, for she thought she'd already learned all she needed to know for initiation.
"You must take the leap of faith," Jara said smiling, "And to do that I must first finish your assassin robes."
"What are we waiting for then, let's get out of the heat," Alyx said opening the door for her friend with a grin.
"You know I let you win," Jara winked.
Julian studied Allison closely as she walked across the grassy field toward him. She turned away then presenting a profile. Julian realized than that, ever-so-subtly, she had begun to show. A smile crossed his lips for a moment only to replaced by a worried expression. Despite his hopes and his love for her he couldn't help but worry. The world was hardly a safe place to raise children and City 12 was proving just as dangerous a place to live as anywhere else in the world. To make matters worse Allison still hadn't recovered fully from the damage the Combine had done to her. Recently she'd been having dreams, visions of her past that still haunted her due to extended time spent in the Animus. Julian put those concerns from his mind and prepared for the hike back to the City.
The air was warm and the flowers were all in bloom. Summer had arrived. They'd spent the day picnicking about half a mile down the road from City 12. Getting back into the City had become easy ever since he'd announced himself as a candidate. The assassin checked his watch remembering suddenly that Shephard was likely waiting for him. Shephard had become his sort of campaign manager and was responsible for scheduling speeches and debates. His time as a carefree lover was over, it was time to get back to work.
The two of them neared their home on the outskirts of town. The assassin soon noticed that something wasn't quite right as they made their approach. Voices in the distance alerted him and caused him to quiet his own footsteps and listen beyond the Summer breeze and his loudly beating heart. They were faint but were clearly coming from up ahead. Julian grabbed Allison by the hand and took cover behind a broken down building peering out around the side of the house for just long enough to get a look at them.
Three figures, too slim to be ordinary thugs, stood near his doorway. Julian once again quieted himself and took a deep breath focusing on their ever-so-faint conversation. By the sound of it they were planning an ambush. They would wait for the assassin to return home and then leap out. Julian took another quick peek recognizing their armor, the same sort worn by the synthetic assassins who had assisted Theron.
"What is it?" Allison whispered.
"Enemies, Combine assassins" Julian answered wondering for a moment if Theron might have survived, "Probably not alone either. I want you to go get help, go find Shephard and Alyx."
"What are you going to do?" Allison asked.
"I'm going to stop them," Julian responded, "I can't let them have the Pieces of Eden."
"I'm pretty good in a fight," Allison protested softly. Julian's response was a kiss and a pat on the stomach reminding her that it wasn't merely her own life that would be at stake if she fought. With a reluctant sigh Allison made a break for it making sure to move quickly, quietly and stealthily.
Julian cursed himself for once again he was without his armor. He hadn't, however, dared going beyond the City walls with at least some weaponry. The assassin reached into the picnic basket and produced both of his gauntlets each with their own retractable blade. He fastened them quickly and began silently moving toward the back of his house hoping to get in unnoticed.
The assassin reached the back of the house and slipped in the back door but not without alerting the three Synth-Assassins who immediately began moving. The assassin came to a halt and suddenly the activity of the Combine assassins too ceased. Scratching his head for but a moment the assassin inched forward at a snails pace grabbing several throwing knives from the table. The Synthetic killers cried out again and once again Julian froze in his tracks.
"Motion sensor," Julian mouthed silently to himself, "great."
The real target he was seeking was his HEV suit. The synthetic assassins were likely to be well armed but the bright orange material of the HEV suit was practically indestructible. Using every ounce of discipline he possessed Julian took off his clothing without budging more than an inch. He could see the black and orange of the suit just a dozen or so steps from where he stood. The skilled young assassin took a deep breath to center himself once more before making a break for the suit. With every fiber of his being intent on getting into that suit the assassin rushed forward grabbing the HEV suit and donning it faster than a fireman trying to save a burning building.
It'd worked but the Synths were already on the move now fully aware that what was tripping their sensors was no anomaly or error. They burst through the doors in time to catch just a glimpse of the assassin as he leapt out the back door and crawled onto the roof. Julian knew they were just behind him as he jumped from his roof to the ground below coming up in a spin to meet one of the Synth assassins head on. Julian sliced forward with his gauntlet blades narrowly missing the agile Synth as he dodged and weaved while trying to aim his rather peculiar weapon in Julian's direction.
"He's here!" The other two Synth-assassins cried joining the one marked Alpha.
Julian turned to attack them as well but found himself dodging out of the way as they fired their guns. A strange indigo beam of energy reached out from the barrel of all three weapons. Julian made sure they missed of course and watched as the beams hit the ground. Rather than tearing up grass or dirt the weapons seemed to merely make a small patch of soil and grass vanish into thin air as if erased from existence entirely. Julian had little time to contemplate the consequences if one of the beams hit him as they began firing even more rapidly. He tried to get their fire to overlap so that they would kill each other but they were too smart for that.
Julian decided his best bet was to bumrush one of them. He ran headlong for Alpha but despite hitting the Synth full force below center of gravity the Combine assassin didn't budge an inch. Julian continued to try to get leverage with his boots on the muddy ground but failed. The Synth struck him hard with the butt of his gun nearly knocking Julian to the ground. The young assassin stumbled back throwing out two throwing knives in rapid succession to keep the Synth's behind him busy.
Julian rushed Alpha again this time knocking aside his weapon. He managed to catch his blades in the sight mount of the gun and pull it away from the evil Synth. With speed he'd never seen before in all his years the Synthetic menace drew a sword. Now it was Julian's turn to go on the defensive, dodging the razor sharp sword of the Synth while paying equal attention to the sporadic blasts of the other two enemies.
Despite his remarkable speed the Synthetic assassin was not as skilled as Julian had originally feared. After several attack routines meant only to measure the skill of his opponent Julian launched into a sweeping motion meaning to go low with his blades. As the Synth's sword went low to block both of Julian's gauntlet blades went up toward the Synth's chest. The Synth was fast, too fast, and stopped Julian's first blade. But Julian's second blade, originally moving in synch with the first, had dipped low unexpectedly and was now buried deep in the Synth assassins stomach. Julian stood up stabbing the blade deeper and dodging a swipe of the impaled Synth's sword. Julian retracted his claw using the mechanism and danced back dodging oncoming fire of the other two Synths before finishing Alpha with several precisely placed slices that left Synthetic entrails spilled across the ground.
Julian turned toward the other two with a smirk trying to feel confident. He strode in only to be stopped in his tracks when one of the indigo beams struck him. It was an odd sensation, as though the very chemical make-up of his upper-thigh was being torn asunder. It was a stinging aching sensation that resonated across his entire body. He was down on one knee then examining the hole to see that only a fraction of the beam's potential had penetrated the suit and that a small spherical indentation had appeared on his leg. The assassin was about to stand up when orange and gold ethereal flames gripped his body. The psychic fires lifted him from the ground and turned him around to see a horribly inhuman creature standing before him. With sickly pitch-black skin that seemed like the shell of insect the creature opened its mangled mouth to speak.
"An excellent warrior indeed," the otherworldly creature crooned, "But no match for the depth gun... or the wisdom of the gods."
Shephard checked his watch. He paced back and forth wondering where on Earth his friend might be before once again checking the watch he wore on his wrist. One informant didn't seem enough and the grizzled General turned to the clock on the wall watching the second hand tick past and growing more and more impatient with every moment. He'd told Julian that the speech was at six PM, already it was five thirty and they had a good walk to get to their destination.
"Relax Shephard," Jara said with a needle in her mouth, "He'll be here."
"Perhaps you'd like something to drink General?" Alyx asked peeking her head into the room.
"No peeking!" Jara laughed, "It isn't ready yet!"
"Sorry," Alyx said, "I'm just so excited. I mean it's not everyday you become part of ancient order of assassins."
"Julian's in trouble! You have to help!" Allison shouted arriving at the door and banging as hard as her fists could. Alyx opened the door for her allowing the woman, out of breath and with eyes wide in distress, to enter, "Combine Assassins, Synths likely, three of them setting an ambush!"
"Where?" Jara asked grabbing her blades and other equipment.
"Our house," Allison said accepting a glass of water from Alyx, "He didn't want them to get the Pieces of Eden, he stayed behind!"
"We'll go," Hassan Aldi said, "You stay here with Shephard."
"Oh no," Shephard said grabbing a shotgun, "I'm not getting left behind here. I can parkour as well as the next one of you."
"I will remain behind then," Hassan agreed.
"I'm going," Allison said grabbing her own HEV suit, a specialized black model designed and built by the first friend she'd ever found, Michael Cameron.
"The baby," Shephard mentioned.
"It's my decision," Allison said suiting up, "Now let's go."
"Look's like your robes will have to wait," Jara said to Alyx, "But you can have this now."
Jara handed Alyx a mechanism that she had become familiar with these past weeks, an assassins hidden blade. Alyx put it on and grabbed her gun for good measure. The group rushed out as quickly and as well-equipped as they could.
Julian felt as if his organs were being crushed. The HEV suit provided little if any protection from the psychic forces at work when the grotesque alien creature used the Apple. He attempted to twist his body as the malevolent insectoid lifted him higher into the air. He felt a rush of wind as he smashed into the muddy ground. Again he was being lifted and again the power of the Apple drove him down, this time headfirst. Dizzy and barely conscious the assassin tried to concentrate well enough to break free of the pull of the Apple. He'd done it once before when in a conflict with Emil Nemico but now, with his mind growing dark and his body wracked with pain, he didn't think he would be able to overcome it.
"Your species is particularly weak," Ressian said, "It was our kind who taught the first Assassins how to kill, how to use the shadows. How wrong we were to support your rebellion. So weak."
"I've heard it all before lady," Julian managed to squeak as the hideous Combine Assassin lifted him right side up again, "It really isn't fair for someone holding a Piece of Eden to accuse someone else of being weak. What else is using magic but a sign of weakness? Because you have no true skill! No real talent at killing!"
"Killing with blade and energy weapon grows tiresome," Ressian replied in defense, "I think I might keep this little orb as a trophy, along with your head!"
Julian felt his head twisting and turning. He fought as best he could concentrating with every bit of willpower he had within him. With calm deliberate breaths and powerful thoughts he tried to keep his head from obeying the assassin's call. He thought that insulting her might not have been the wisest decision he'd ever made. Suddenly something drew the attention of his attacker. Some voices in the distance had momentarily postponed his demise. The assassin took this time to become more focus, to draw within himself in hopes that he would be able to shatter the Apple's control. His attempts to heighten his focus fell flat when Emil Nemico, escorted by several Templar thugs and accompanied by Vera Novosa, approached the Combine assassin. Julian was about to cry out to tell them to run away but the truth of what was happening soon became clear.
"I'm glad you came," Ressian growled, "I want you to witness the death of this assassin and know that he is merely mortal."
"Get on with it Ressian," Emil demanded, "Kill the bastard."
Allison looked on as they approached the house. The others turned to regard her. She could hear their voices asking why she had paused, why she was stopped cold. Allison Rogue could hear them but she could not answer as her mind sank deeper. This all seemed so familiar. A splitting pain shocked through her skull then forcing her to her knees. Images flashed before her mind that made no sense. The tangled vines around ancient stones. The cold steel of swords forged specially for the Maldragon, assassins... but not human assassins.
Jara and Shephard dove in first with the General leading the charge unloading several shells from his Spas-12. The first few were more like warning shots that sent Emil Nemico and Vera Novosa diving into cover. Their henchmen pulled out weapons of their own and Shephard saw his opportunity pumping out the remainder of shells in their direction and getting to cover before they could begin firing. He'd wasted eight shotgun shells and only managed to wound one of the Templars. Jara, despite employing only her crooked kris, was much more effective as she rolled into the midst of the Synth assassins stabbing the first through the throat before either were alert enough to mount a defense. The second had his sword out in a flash but Jara was already rolling away, like a sprinting specter she appeared near the Templar henchmen slicing and stabbing with such speed and than retreating back to the Synth assassin.
"Go!" Vera shouted to Emil who quickly ran for it back into the city.
Alyx was next unloading rounds from her weapon in the direction of the grotesque alien holding the glowing sphere. Alyx had never seen one of the fabled Pieces of Eden but she knew enough about them to recognize the Apple when she saw it. She fired her gun attempting to knock the device from Ressian's hand. Sparks of orange lightning arced from the device but it remained firmly in the hands of the enemy who turned its insect-like gaze upon her. Alyx dove for cover as the Templars began to open fire.
Shephard was on them, he'd flanked around the houses as the Templars had pressed forward toward where he'd been taking cover before. He was behind them now rushing forward with the quiet steps of an assassin and unloading shells into their ranks. As he once again emptied his weapon of ammunition he had to quickly dodge behind a nearby house to avoid the insistent rapid fire of the enemy MP7s. There were still almost a dozen Templars each in hot pursuit of him. He lead them away hoping the others would appreciate a few less enemies in the area.
Alyx put a new magazine in her gun and shot the Apple once more. This time the effect was more noticeable, the flames around Julian weakened. The assassin struggled in the air clearly trying to free himself from the grip of the device.
Jara was surprised that the Combine could design a Synth so quick and so skilled. She was having trouble getting any real offensive strikes to succeed against her enemy. Their swordfight had continued on uncomfortably long for the young female assassin but the others seemed otherwise occupied. She dodged the quick jabs of the Synth with deft serpent-like movements of her body retaliating with a several slicing strikes followed by a quick jab low, then two high and a third toward the middle. The Synthetic assassin stayed out of reach clearly trying to tire the young warrior out. Jara was onto this ruse and, without lowering her defenses, took out a small orb from a pouch and tossed it on the ground. A bright flash filled the room and Jara struck out blindly hearing a satisfying crunch as her sword cut into the Synth assassin. Jara retracted the kris and stabbed several more times as the smoke cleared revealing the brutalized barely breathing body of the Synth-assassin. The stumbling Synth still tried futilely to complete an attack pattern but Jara mercifully sliced its throat causing it to bleed out quickly. With a self-satisfied smirk she turned back to help the others.
"Allison?" Julian asked seeing his beloved ambling toward him as if in a trance, "Stay back!"
"Not one step closer!" Ressian demanded, "You're Alyx Vance, they want you alive and I would prefer to give you to them in that condition but if you take another step both you and Julian will be delivered to the Combine as corpses! Now, I suggest you surrender."
"Fuck that," Julian said suddenly falling free of the orange flames.
Julian rushed at Ressian with his twin blades flailing. Out came the alien assassin's sword and just as Allison had enigmatically suggested it resembled the sword he'd received from Cheng the inventor. It was a dark blue steel, almost black, and it made a peculiar twang as it recoiled off his own blade. Julian launched into the attack as Alyx dove for the creatures exposed back. Alyx launched into a leap and drove her hidden blade hard for the alien's neck. The blade seemed to glance off and after several fervent stabs it still refuse to stick the demonic insect. Alyx was bucked off Ressian's back and hit the ground hard.
Julian narrowly avoided a sweep of the blade as Jara now joined the fight. Even with the two of them trading swipes and slices, parries and blocks they didn't appear to gain any ground against the creature.
"You may be able to resist this," Ressian said spinning elegantly to keep Julian and Jara at bay while gripping the Apple in the other hand, "But she can't!"
Julian watched Jara fly from where she was standing. Horrorible fear filled ever crevice of his mind as the body of one of his closest friends was tossed like little more than a rag doll and crashed headlong through the window of his house. Jara moaned audibly from within. Julian was glad that she was still alive but the act had nonetheless stirred more than a little fury within him. As he swung into overdrive Alyx returned this time firing off her gun point blank into the creature's back. Ressian swung around knocking back Alyx with her three fingered fist still coiled around the Apple. Alyx was on her feet again in seconds this time trying to stab the horrible monstrosity's legs.
"The whole temple is full of em!" Allison shouted, "They aren't VIETCONG! FUCK! They're everywhere! Maldragon! The wing plates... vestigial... stab them in the fucking back!"
Ressian turned her evil eyes on Allison and with one hand defending against Julian she extended the other and lifted Allison with the Piece of Eden. Her secret had already been betrayed and Alyx was behind her driving the hidden blade deep between the dividing plates in her exoskeleton. Down into her wings, her back, slicing and tearing. Ressian screamed as Jara and Julian rushed her too. Jara felt the orange fires grab her, she felt her body being lifted, then she felt the flash of cool steel against her belly and watched with pain boiling in her eyes as Ressian collapsed to her knees in agony.
"Jesus Christ she's been cut," Julian said cradling Jara.
Ressian had never felt pain so intense, she fell to the grass and watched the Apple roll from her hands. Humans so pathetic... how had they beaten her? How had that woman known the only flaw in her armor? They were running away from her now, escaping with the Apple. She tried to lift herself up but the fatigue, the pain, it was too much. As though descending back into hyper sleep Ressian Malil faded from the waking world.
Julian kept pressure on the wound guiding their every movement through the crisscrossing city streets. They couldn't risk moving her very far but they needed to find a safe enough place off the beaten path. With powerful enemies possibly just behind them they ran holding Jara as still as they could while moving swiftly. She was still conscious and mumbling incoherently, her beautiful eyes glaring sadly up at them as she struggled to stay awake.
At last they reached their destination. Julian burst in first finding Cheng sitting at his work bench and more than a little surprised to see the assassin. Julian explained frantically as he helped Alyx and Allison carry Jara into man's home and lay her down.
The first order of business was to stem the flow of blood which had already stained Jara's assassin robes a deep crimson color. Alyx had Cheng, who knew a bit about chemistry, prepare an anesthetic and asked if he had needle and thread.
"She needs a doctor," Alyx said, "A real doctor. We can't risk moving her and we don't have what we need to fix this."
"Go," Julian told her, "Get back here as quick as you can, we'll do what we can in the meantime."
"Am I gonna make it?" Jara asked coughing up blood.
"So much for our alien assassin," Emil remarked arriving at the scene of the battle with thirty of his own men as an escort. He looked at Ressian still lying on the ground and spat.
"They've run," Vera explained, "One of them was badly wounded. Go into the city with your men. We can still get Julian and Alyx, we can still get both targets."
"We already have the Pieces of Eden," Emil remarked.
"Go!" Vera commanded and Emil obeyed.
Vera regained her composure and kept looking around wondering if General Shephard would return after he'd dispatched with Emil's men. She was no novice to battle but had no desire of going toe to toe with Adrian Shephard. She sighed deeply. Things hadn't gone at all the way they'd been planned. Julian Miles was still alive, after all, and so long as the assassin breathed it would be impossible for the Templars to make good on their end of the arrangement. Vera looked to the injured Ressian Malil. Even a skilled warrior from another world hadn't been able to do the job though in a one on one fight Vera was quite confident Ressian could have wiped the floor with any human fighter.
"Pity," Vera remarked with a shrug.
"I assure you that I need none," Ressian replied lifting herself from the ground.
"Alive," Vera said with a look of utter surprise, "I thought you wer-."
"Weak," Ressian finished, "My kind heal far faster than your disgusting species. I am, as you would say, down but not out."
Alyx could feel sinister eyes upon her as she neared the doctors office. She wasn't sure from what dark perches they were watching but she knew that they were there. She'd spent years hiding from the predatory Combine Empire, taking apart her share of Overwacth and Elites alike, not to mention aliens and zombies. She'd never seen anything like Ressian, the creature defied definition, even defied description. The blade it had used to cut Jara had been diabolically sharp. Alyx pressed on knowing that every minute was crucial. She could see the clinic just ahead as she leapt across one rooftop to another and into a side-alley to save time.
Like a flash of lightning they were on her. Thugs, or rather bounty hunters, likely former Resistance soldiers. She was surrounded but if there was one thing she'd learned it was that an assassin was never surrounded. She reached for her gun but they reached for their own and soon enough she was at gun point.
"I've got no time to play boys," Alyx remarked grabbing a small orb from her pocket, "Well, maybe one trick."
She tossed the sphere and it erupted into a bright flash filling the alley with smoke. She rushed up the wall and onto the roof barely able to see but easily able to feel with her feet. She leapt from the roof landing in a roll and darting down the correct street before barreling into the clinic hoping that she'd put enough distance between herself and her pursuers.
"I don't think I'm gonna make it," Jara remarked quietly, "I can't feel the pain anymore. I can't feel anything."
"I can't just watch her die," Allison said turning for the door. Julian grabbed her hand and pulled her into an embrace.
"We take the risk," Jara whispered, "We're assassins. Laa shay'a waqui'n moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine. We work in the dark, to serve the light."
"I'm here," Alyx shouted entering the shop with the doctor in tow, "I've brought the Doc."
"I'm just a medic," the man clarified setting down his bag and blanching white when he looked at Jara.
Several painfully eternal minutes passed as the Doctor examined Jara and ran through his options with her. He turned to the others and shook his head solemnly.
"It's too late for her," he explained, "She won't make it. I'm sorry. Even if I'd been there when it happened there's no guarantees I could've done anything... still, I'm sorry."
"I wanted to see you become a full fledged assassin," Jara whispered to Alyx grasping her kris, "Here, I want you to have this. Remember the creed."
"We work in the dark to serve the light," Alyx said.
"Nothing is true," Jara started, her voice weak and her eyes slowly shutting as she passed from life.
"Everything is permitted," Allison finished with eyes now wet with tears.
"Safety and peace my friend," Julian said bowing his head.
"What do we do now?" Emil asked as much to himself as to Vera, the woman, normally so composed and confident, merely shrugged.
"Julian is still alive," Vera said stating the obvious, "And our benefactors will not at all be pleased. I suggest for your sake that you leave the city."
"The election is today," Emil protested, "Why would the future Mayor of City 12 abandon his post now? Merely because one assassin continues to live."
"Assassins thrive on killing the corrupt when they are in power," Vera mentioned.
"There's something more than that," Emil proposed and Vera's eyes betrayed the truth, "These benefactors of ours... they aren't human are they?" Again Vera's eyes did the talking.
"Something is going to happen to the city," Vera said.
"What of Ressian Malil?" Emil asked ignoring Vera's vague comment, "Can it... she... not salvage this?"
"I don't know," Vera admitted, "But time is running out. I must go."
Emil felt cold as she walked away. Only weeks ago everything had made sense and everything had been going exactly as planned. Now even Vera seemed to be drained of all confidence. He wasn't sure of her cryptic threat about something happening to the city but he was beginning to suspect that the Combine were the benefactors of which she spoke. The memory of the man in the blue suit drifted through his mind and he turned instinctively to the chest which contained the Pieces of Eden. He'd thought that Vera would have taken it with her, the woman had suggested the possibility of presenting it to their benefactors, a fitting replacement for the life of Julian Miles. Was Vera leaving the city entirely?
Emil Nemico stepped onto his balcony and watched City 12 come to life. The polls would open in just a few hours and by nightfall they would know who was the new Mayor of City 12. A city where something was about to happen.