Crimson winced as he felt the edge of Tacit Ronin's katana slide against his throat. Heart pounding, he laid on his back with the frigid tiles pressing through his black stealth gear, trying not to tremble too much.
"What are you doing here?" Ronin's voice slipped out soft and quiet, her porcelain face emotionless.
"What does it look like, idiot?" Striker let out a sneer as he motioned towards the limp body in Cherno's arms. His amber eyes had a dangerous glint in them as he wearily watched the blade against his best friend's neck. "We're saving our brother from monsters, and if you had anything close to a brain you'd step aside and let us be."
"I can't do that," she replied matter of factly, "now set Coyote back down or Crimson shall lose his head, again."
"oooo, that was low," Gipsy whispered.
"Why are you working for bad men, Ronin?" Cherno frowned, holding up Coyote, "look what they did to tovarich!"
Something flickered in her golden eyes as she glanced at Tango's pale face. "We are jaegers, we have no say in who commands us. Following orders is prime, and if the weak shall fall along the way, so be it, Coyote Tango included. "
"You don't really believe that," Gipsy piped up, standing defensively next to Striker, who slowly began to plush at her close proximity, "I saw your face at the house, you don't really want to do the things you're being forced to do!"
"I have no choice," a pang of anger broke the usual frigidness of her voice, "to throw away whatever honor I have left, or be dissected."
"What if we gave you a way out," Crimson whimpered as the blade was driven more into his skin," what if you helped us? We could escape, bring evidence to the U.N, stop what's going on here. The PPDC could adopt you, and trust me, Marshal Pentecost may be scary but he's a lot nicer than General Briggs!"
The female warrior seemed to ponder this, her snowy hair hiding half her face. "What makes you think I'll agree to this, instead of fulfilling the pleasure of killing you?"
"BECAUSE YOU LOVE HIM," with all his strength the Chinese jaeger pointed an accusatory finger at Coyote Tango. The room fell silent.
Tension choked the air as the seconds ticked by. Gipsy bit her lip. A single droplet of sweat slid down the side of Striker's face.
A low hiss escaped from Ronin's mouth. "Dammit, am I that obvious?"
"Nah, he's just really good at spotting those types of things," Striker grumbled, trying to hide his relief as Crimson was finally released out from underneath the katana.
"Do you have an escape plan?" Ronin placed her twin blades back into the sheathes strapped to her back, dusting imaginary dirt off her pristine white kimono.
Everyone looked at Crimson, who cringed.
"Well….the ducts kinda were a one way trip…so….no?" Three hands immediately smacked the back of his head.
"You are the worst jaegers ever," shaking her head, she opened the door. "There's only one possible way out of here, then. Follow me, we only have five seconds to get out of the building unnoticed."
"Wait, why five seconds?" Gipsy scratched the back of her head.
Suddenly, an alarm began to blare.
"Because that's when I set the alarm to go off in the event that I failed to kill you," Ronin rolled her eyes. "NOW RUN!"
The next ten minutes were full of a lot of running and screaming, gunshots and a third story window escape that was so awesome and badass that it cannot be properly narrated into this story without ladies fainting and computers exploding. So you'll have to make due with this summary.
Water gently lapped at salt-worn wood as the jaegers stumbled into the old covered dock anchored at the bottom of the cliff. Musty shadows clung to the dark boards as old nets and fishing gear hung from the rafters.
"Well, this place is shabby," Striker scoffed as he kicked an already dented pail, sending dried chunks of chum skittering across the floor. Wrinkling his nose at the fishy smell, he cast a suspicious look at Tacit Ronin. "Wot' we doing here?"
"Escaping," grabbing a dark green tarp in the middle of room, she tugged it off, revealing a tiny little sailing boat bobbing in the water. By the look of its faded paint and patched hall, it had seen better days.
"You mind explaining?' Crimson curiously prodded at some pictures taped to the wall, decorated with scribbly crayon and seeming to detail blueprints of some kind. "Romeo's Super Genius Escape Plan", the title read.
"Romeo found this place the first time he tried to escape from the complex, he filled me in on it after the "good doctor" had finished her experiments on him. With Nova Hyperion covering for us, we would sneak out at night and come here to work on the boat. It…It was planned that we would use it to sail across the bay…"
"To where?" Striker suddenly cut in.
The Japanese girl gave him an unusually hesitant look, "to your house, if the Marshal would have us."
Striker was about to launch a snide retort when Gipsy suddenly interrupted. "Uh, guys?" She stood in the doorway, pointing up to the top of the trail, where flashlight beams were cutting through the darkness. "I think the evil General's security is catching up with us…"
"Hurry, get those ropes," Crimson sprang into action, trying to unmoor the boat.
"We really have to go out on water?" Cherno's face was pale, his arms shaking.
"It's either that or dissection," Gipsy grabbed his hand, helping him support Coyote.
"…dissection sound pretty favorable right now…"
"Cherno, if you don't get in that boat, you'll never see Puppy again!"
A few seconds passed before the Russian jaeger crankily conceded defeat and shuffled towards the boat.
"Alright, all aboard!" Striker jumped in, his landing making the hull shudder.
"You sure this abides by all boating safety regulations," Crimson awkwardly rolled in.
Tacit Ronin didn't answer, she stood in the doorway, her tiny frame nothing but a black silhouette in the moonlight. They watched as her fingers twitched at the katanas strapped to her back. "Someone needs to hold them off. "
Gipsy's golden eyes went wide, "wait what?"
"Someone needs to hold them off,' she repeated, her yellow eyes alight with a cold fury. "Besides, that craft was only meant to hold me, Romeo, and Nova and her cello. You five already take up that space and more. I can't come with you."
"No, we can find room!" Gipsy pleaded.
"Dah! You can sit on my head! Act as new hat!" Cherno patted his head, trying to smile.
"There's no other way, now go," the warrior turned to leave, but the American jaeger latched onto her arm.
"Tacit, you don't need to do this alone!"
"I am Ronin, Gipsy Danger," scowling, she jerked her arm free. "To be alone is a fate I cannot escape," her eyes locked onto the motionless body of Coyote Tango, "no matter how hard I try."
Without warning, she drifted up to Cherno. "Cherno Alpha, as one Mark 1 to another, will you do me a favor?"
"Dah..?"
Reaching out, she lightly touched Coyote's face, her eyes swimming with barely contained emotion. "When he wakes up," leaning down, she planted a soft kiss on his lips, "tell him 'I'm sorry.'"
Then she was gone, out into the night.
Everyone looked at Cherno, whose face was now set in rigid determination. "Let's go."
The ropes were untied and the boat was set adrift out into the cold, dark ocean. Brine stinging their faces, the jaegers silently watched as the Cliffside path was suddenly lit up. They could see the security team stomping down the rocks, headed by Brawler Yukon. The short woman was shouting obscenities at the pale figure that was Tacit Ronin, who stood in front of the dock like a duel-bladed guardian, kimono flapping in the wind.
They looked on as Ronin kissed one of her blades, then charged into battle. What happened next was blocked by the rolling waves as the tiny boat was pulled into the stormy bay.
TO BE CONTINUED! Thank you for all the kind words and support, and super awesome special thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter, aka Titan Atlas, Glitchrr36, KeepingThemAtBay, Bladedninja, Xahraxs, Catmaz, Winged Pyro, KnightPheonix2, Prophet21, ShepardisaBOSS, Gorsewhisker, and last but not least the lovely Tel Nok Shock. And as always, read, review, enjoy. :D