I managed to get off work early today, so I managed to get a couple more chapters finished. This particular chapter I find that many of you will enjoy.
Metsker Steel Works
Outskirts of Misrata, Flint
August 13, 2558
(Just a heads up that it passes midnight in between the last time we saw Aegis and now, so sorry for any confusion.)
Aegis couldn't tell where the men were headed, but he shut off his night vision at the same time the pistol was holstered in his assassin's thin side. Those men were likely after him, so he had to trust the individual to get him out, who had a barrel of a gun in his forehead seconds ago.
"Do you have night vision?" He whispered.
"Yes." Came the near silent reply.
"Then lead," His hand found the slim and delicate hand encased in the leather gloves.
They reached a corridor with large shelves stacked with various things from sewer pipelines to kitchen utensils. By five minutes to stealthily walking, they could no longer hear their pursuers so they both took a knee and faced one another.
"So who are you? ONI?"
"No." Meredith Adrian replied, "I'm an investigator for the Colonial Natural Resource Department."
The Colonial Natural Resource Department was the UNSC's counterpart to an agency concerned with the consumption of natural resources in the UEG's colonies. If they were taking hits on their efforts from the pirates, it would make sense for them to send a scout to investigate like Adrian. That did explain her presence on the Knowledge Hunter, which engine Aegis had just identified. They had both underestimated the skirmisher Fel's empire and its vast complexity.
"And you?" She mocked, aiming her pistol as she led the way down another corridor. "You still pose as a Captain of a dilapidated commuter ship with your sensors and techs along with a knack of being at the right place at the right time?"
That façade was over, "I suppose I'll explain everything once we're out of here."
They took off now across the hangar, careful to stay out of sight of the sentry, unfortunately the exit was now being guarded by some men with guns. He rounded the corner with her in tow and headed to the second hangar, which by his looks did not have any mounted weapons.
"So commander, do you have a plan?"
"For one it didn't involve finding you." Trip's voice sounded a little unpleasant, "Plus I didn't expect to find the other goons that Bruce stashed as well. I wanted to get past these guys without detection. I have a team on standby to evac back to my ship."
"I'm not leaving until I find out what this ship's name is." Adrian's eyes flashed of defiance as she brushed a strand of dark brown hair that fell onto her face.
"This is the Knowledge Hunter, the ship that I quote on quote rescued you on." It shouldn't be here because the pirates snatched one of my client's freighters, all while under constant observation by my teams."
"So why shouldn't this ship be here?"
"Because the Anije, the ship that captured the Knowledge Hunter is still a ways out."
Her beautiful face had a look of perplexity, "I don't understand."
"We need to get out of here and you're trying to play twenty questions with me." Trip's irritation was growing. Although he was more angry at himself than her because he automatically knew the answer. During the Anije's journey, the Knowledge Hunter had actually been transferred to a separate tug and then taken by a different route to Flint for scrapping and the metal used to create more pirate ships. Just like the previous victims that Fel's gang captured.
"I'll tell you everything, but first let's get out of here." Aegis rested his hand in hers. Without waiting for her response, Trip tucked his arms back and closed his eyes, trying to remember his entry route.
"Got it." He turned to her, "Stay close behind."
"Chivalry?"
"I'm wearing leg armor, so unless you're donning the same, I'd take it."
She knew he was right and gestured for him to lead on. They were halfway up the Hunter's stair case when at the top of an adjacent ladder came men's voices and the shilhouettes coming down. Tapping Meredith on her shoulder, she silently slid down with him right behind her. Looking at the top, the men weren't commandos for sure, but they carried Misriah rifles that he may be able to survive against, but she wouldn't stand a chance.
The voices suddenly rose in pitch and Aegis heard the cocking of the weapon. In an instant, he threw Meredith to the wall while quickly following suit, just as a stream of bullets split the air where he had been a second earlier. The muzzle flashes blinded him for a second before he drew his A9, firing the weapon back to the gunmen. Meredith fired her own weapon, an unsilenced 9mm to the mix, her gun cracked like a cannonball that echoed on the ship's metal walls.
He wanted to get to the higher decks, peering up when he ducked back into cover from a wild stream of automatic gunfire from above. The gunmen occupied a strong line of fire with a broad range, outgunning him and Meredith by a long shot with their autos.
He found a metal shard on the floor and tossed it upwards. Hitting the side of the wall with a clang, another burst of fire erupted from the nearest guard much to his relief. The guards were jumpy. Coordinating his attack, Trip rounded the corner, seeing the jumpy gunman bring his weapon to bear to the other side. Seeing the night vision goggles strapped to his head, Aegis double tapped him in between the lenses, satisfied as a puff of blood plumed out from his head.
He saw a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye an instant before he felt the butt of another gun brought down on his skull. Trip fell flat, still in a daze of pain, but managed to wrap his arm around the leg. As the gunman aimed to finish him off, Trip pushed on the leg, which only had started to be pressured as he stepped forward. The weight doing the rest, he toppled to the side. Seizing his head, Trip gave it a savage yank to the right, effortlessly snapping the spine and making the guard go limp.
His head felt like glass as Meredith spotted the third gunman and fired a single shot into his mouth. He clutched at his jaws before toppling over.
She opened her mouth in a half gasp when she saw him reach for his head and examine his blood wetted fingers.
"Nothing a few stitches won't cure."
Voices were now heard outside the ship as an alarm began sounding. A horrible noise of a metallic scream seemed to come from everywhere at once. Water jets now sprayed the side of the hull where the enormous saw began biting through the Hunter's hull. Trip and Meredith changed directions when they saw sparks coming from the two foot wide cut that the saw started to carve not five feet away.
As if it knew where they were headed, the saw's angle changed by a hydraulic pivot and it accelerated after them like a predator chasing his prey though narrow confines. The air now smelled dense with scorched metal and the water had evaporated into a mist that smelled equally as bad. They finally spotted the exit hatch where Aegis had infiltrated through which was a long ways off. He felt shards of metal ping off his MJOLNIR armored legs as they continued to head towards the hatch.
With two meters until they were clear, Aegis slowed his pace slightly, letting Adrian in front of him. Sweeping his leg so fast, he didn't even register doing, he knocked Meredith over. She tumbled, but his blow kept her rolling down to the exit. Aegis threw himself after her just seconds before the angry blades of the saw passed over in a shrieking roar. They landed out on the open deck, right into another ambush.
Three men had been waiting for them, now having stared through the sights of MA5C assault rifles. Aegis and Adrian had landed in a knot of limbs resembling intimacy with her hands on his chest on top and him on the bottom having hands that were on her lower back. Before either of them could get their weapons free, the guards had the weapons trained on their heads. Moments later the saw's screeching died down as the operator powered it off and retracted it back to its default position.
"We'll save the saw for later." A booming accented voice came from up higher. Aegis saw the man walk down the staircase to his left as both he and Meredith were allowed to their feet all under gunpoint. He was about Aegis' height, but his shady sinister eyes were what set him apart.
"Karl Bruce."
Bruce smiled, "How did you search go? I even thought of telling our representative to tell you to use a search engine first before inspection. I'd hate to have both of you head to your tombs still filled with curiosity." Making a gesture with his palm, Aegis and Adrian were shoved towards the saw. The lights overhead were now completely active, which gleamed off the enormous saw's silver blades like thousands of knives all rotating and mincing anything instantly. He could now see separate arms that could be linked to the main arm of the saw, allowing it to be used almost anywhere.
Bruce followed them, holding an odd metal bar as both Trip and Meredith were pushed right in front of the dormant device. When he was close enough, he handed the bar to the guards as they lifted Aegis off his feet so that they barely brushed the floor. He tried to move and break free, but each time caused his guards to lift him even higher.
Now he knew the purpose of the bar, a favorite way for pirates and their allies to dispatch their most hated enemies. The bar which was held by Bruce's men kept them at a safe distance while still holding him to the saw so that they were in no danger of being caught in the blades. Meredith let out a scream of defiance, jerking her body to get away. Her captors laughed sadistically and lifted her even higher, enough so that her body seemed to deflate.
Bruce laughed, "So Captain Davis, you must work out a lot compared to what my representative described."
Aegis growled in response, "This won't go unanswered. A special forces team is going to storm this place in minutes and kill everyone inside."
This earned a round of laughter from him as well as the men holding him. "They will be ten minutes too late. Right now, there isn't a thing that you can do to stop me. At most you have a small band of mercs. My men are now approaching the ship and you will be shortly dealt with." Aegis could tell that he enjoyed having dominance over his prisoners.
Even if Aegis and Meredith didn't make it out alive, he knew that his team would later collect the heads of those responsible. However he had to keep Bruce talking so even if his hollow threat rang true, he would also find himself a way out.
"So we're going to die. Mind telling me how the smuggled fit into your plan?"
"That is none of your concern."
"Well before you dispatch us, don't you want to know why we've come for you?"
"I do indeed, but had you come a week ago, I would have instead thrown you into an interrogation chair to extract that information, however it is now of no relevance to me."
Bruce made a spiraling gesture to his men, causing the saw to fire up to life. As he walked in front, a fifth guard came down with his rifle bouncing across his chest. Bruce angrily looked at him, daring him to speak in front of his public execution.
"We've lost contact with our forward outpost on the highway! With all due respect, we should be getting you out of here!"
"Ready the aircraft. I will be there shortly after I finish my business with these two."
The soldier gulped nervously. "The aircraft are all out for repairs."
Bruce cursed. "Prepare the cars and make sure that the intruders are stopped." When the soldier ran off, he turned back to the hanging pair, "Seems like someone else wants a bit of the fun, but they'll be too late for you."
The saw had now reached its optimal speed and the horrendous sound came back, nowhere as bad as it was when cutting through the metal.
Aegis looked around, desperate for a way out. A glance at Meredith seemed to shock her. His eyes pleaded for her forgiveness on what he was about to do. She knew he was going to try something crazy, what it was going to be had eluded her mind. Their brief eye contact told her that he wished that he had got to know her better in their brief time together.
The guards brought him back down so that he no longer stood on the tiptoes of his feet. Using the bar, they prodded him closer to the whirring saw. Even ten feet away he felt the rush of power; it was a force that split the air.
"I'll let my men enjoy the woman before they feed her to the saw." Bruce made sure he had Trip's attention after speaking loudly to hold a piece of plywood up to the whirring blades. He extended his arm and it only took a nanosecond for the rotating saw to explode the piece of timber into dust.
Aegis gave no outward indication that he was about to act, but the guards hadn't noticed it either. While being moved to the saw, he had slightly lowered his body so that he had some spring action in his legs.
Without hesitation, he quickly jumped towards the saw, letting his legs extend forward to the blades, half expecting his entire leg to come off. He was aware of Meredith's stunned scream when the saw bit into his left leg, the action ripped the pole from the guard's grip and thrown back at them in metal slivers.
His plan had worked, the guards had not been expecting to be caught in the motion and their grip prevented the saw from severing his leg off. His armor on the other hand, had been busted and would need excessive repairs. The momentum tossed him twenty feet away on the deck.
Trip landed in a pristine shoulder roll, pulling out his weapon that he had hidden from the guards in his vest.
As much as he wanted to put a bullet through Bruce's forehead, the A9 only had four rounds left inside the chamber and the guards had relieved him of spare magazines. Plus he would be gunned down if he wasted time on an unarmed man. He took aim at the startled guards and fired two shots. Both of their heads jerked as the bullets sliced through the bone. He aimed high at one of the returning guards and fired, causing him to duck beside Bruce, who was no in cover behind a large box. The bullet actually went through one of the guards holding Meredith. He let go, howling as he registered the gaping hole in his stomach. She used the opportunity to use her weight against the other guard and stunned him with a kick to the stomach. Relieving him of his older battle rifle, she smashed the stock against his head and aimed at the shooter up high, taking him out. His body fell towards the saw and was quickly pulped into a bloody mess.
Just as she was aiming at Bruce, more gunfire, this time Covie weapons began centered around the box where she had knelt behind. Aegis put his last bullet through the most accurate of Bruce's reinforcements, noting that the Metsker head was now being escorted through the door.
Meredith dropped two more of them when Aegis stared at the large door nearest them. Bullet holes rattled the side when a vehicle rammed through, crashing the thin metal sheets down.
One of the men spotted the new arrival and tossed a light explosive at the six tired vehicle. Something on the side of the main gun exploded out and snuffed the grenade. The machine gun on the side whined to life as it spat hundreds of rounds at the deck where the new gunmen were at. A few returned fire, but were quickly turned to mincemeat when they exposed themselves for the briefest time.
The tiger APC's rear hatch opened and footsteps rushed out.
"Aren't I happy to see you guys." Aegis was a man of his words as Conan Pyra, decked out in his night black CIO armor and a BR85 rifle arrived, flanked by three of the team's ODSTs.
The engine of a warthog sounded from the hangar's back and it exploded out to their right, firing its chaingun at the saw controls. The box panel exploded in a mushroom of sparks and the saw slowly began to stop.
"So how was my driving?"Luke Riley asked as Laura McGarrett patted the turret on the vehicle's back.
"You forgot to use your turn indicator." She responded dryly.
"There's no time to explain. Karl Bruce, Metsker's head really is involved in the pirate operations. He's getting away in his armored limousine."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Everyone nodded as Aegis climbed into the warthog's passenger seat and Meredith joined Pyra and his ODSTs inside the tiger.
Yeah, I could hardly believe myself that the mysterious assassin was Adrian! Who would've thought of that? They're no longer in immediate danger, but the mission is far from over. Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone! You all give my writing purpose.