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"What I'm trying to say Fox, is that Id be grateful if there was someone to hold me, lie to me and tell me a load of bullshit when my curtain closes"
FOX remained silent through most of Naomi's words, though they brought some comfort to his guilty conscience. To know that ECHO perhaps didn't hate him after all for leaving her last moments with a terrible lie. But what could a person, who has lost nobody, know about such a thing? FOX cast his skepticism to the back of his mind, feeling that he was beginning to overthink things. People live. People die. The rest was just semantics.
"Heh. Let's make a deal then:
don't die."
FOX mused, his eyes staring blankly into the darkness above.
"I'm getting sick of the
holding and the
bullshitting."
Several miles later, the APCs slowly crept to a stop. They had finally reached their destination - the garage safe house that sat on the western side of the city. Several guards disguised as construction workers opened up the garage doors for the armored vehicles, allowing them to roll into the safe house before slowly shutting the doors behind. As everyone disembarked from the vehicles, several men in uniform motioned for everyone to approach. Standing at the center was GODFATHER, now dressed in the dark military uniform of FEARLESS officers.
"Do you have it?"
Gillian motioned towards FOXTROT. Across the men's faces were looks of hope, they had risked so much, lost so many friends to make this operation a success... and now it all hinged on FOX. STINGRAY emerged from behind, extending the back end of a switchblade to their PACKAGE.
Taking the switchblade into his hands, FOX flipped the dagger open before running the blade across his leg. Crossing the blade against his pants, FOX gently tore into the knee area of the fabric, ripping the seam to reveal a small compartment that was stitched carefully inside. Inside the hole was a white data stick, which was covered in dried blood. It was the data file GLITCH had pulled from the data NODE before being killed by the Phantom.
"I hope so..." FOX sighed, handing the drive to STINGRAY.
Snatching the data file from his hands, STINGRAY slammed a laptop onto a nearby table, opening the computer and quickly plugging the device into the unit.
"Please don't be corrupt... please for fuck's sake don't be corrupted" The SERAPH muttered to herself under her breath, but still audible in the quiet room around them. Mashing keys on the keyboard, her body froze.
"
Well? Do we have it?" The Commodore asked, breaking the silence.
STINGRAY turned towards Gillian,
"We didn't get the goldmine..." she frowned, before turning the computer towards the crowd around her. "...but we still found diamonds."
The computer screen displayed six portraits, along with large data files underneath each of them.
It was the Praetorians.
"These files... we have their faces... their names..." STINGRAY paused, her body almost shaking in excitement. "With some time, we'll be able to figure out where and when they'll be somewhere. We'll be able to take out the leadership in one stroke."
"We'll kill them all."
---------
"Damn, she's fast!" Valkyrie tossed herself at the enemy once more, slashing her sword only to strike harmlessly through the air. It seemed like Valkyrie was truly grasping at a phantom. At this rate, neither of the two warriors were going to get anywhere.
Was her opponent holding back? It seemed as if her opponent was capable of phasing in and out of reality, a magic trick which would have killed her instantly, if not for Ragnarök watching over her.
As her opponent fired another shot from the side, only to disappear once more into...
wherever the hell she goes when she disappears, Valkyrie stomped her heel into the ground. This was getting old...
fast.
"STOP SCREWING WITH ME!" Valkyrie cried, bearing her sword between her hands. If she was going to end this fight, she needed some way of getting the upper hand - some way of lowering her opponent's guard. For once, Valkyrie had to actually
think. After a moment of contemplation, Valkyrie had devised a plan.
Following the same motions as before, she chased after the assassin, swinging her sword into the air just as she had several times before. Once again, it was a miss - but rather than dwelling in the mistake, Valkyrie gracefully spun 180 degrees in place.
"Ragnarök!" She commanded, one of her sentient floating swords preparing to launch itself into the air in front of her.
As if on cue, the assassin materialized into Valkyrie's field of view, her floating sword pointed directly at her.
"Got you! Ragnarök, rýðr ragna siǫt!" She chanted, the floating stake of metal preparing to charge forth. The shot was perfectly lined...
until...
"Val, we're throwing in a flash-bang. Use it as cover and get the hell out of there."
A blast of white light suddenly blinded Valkyrie's vision, obscuring her aim. At the same time, a thunderous roar
ECHOED throughout the urban cityscape as the sword blasted forward, leaving a torrent of wind and a powerful shockwave in its wake. As the earth ceased shaking, Valkyrie's senses slowly returned to her. To her dismay, her shot had missed completely, a large crater formed into the asphalt where ECHO's killer had once stood. It seemed that the flashbang intended for Valkyrie's escape had been used opposite of its intention. With the Praetorian nowhere in sight, it was clear that the Praetorian had escaped her grasp.
"Shit!" In a fit of temporary rage, Valkyrie dug her blade into the ground before striking it with her foot - unceremoniously punting the weapon across the street. Gritting her teeth and clenching her fists, any witnesses may have been able to see the steam rising from her head.
"I'll kill you."
----
After several moments of silent fuming, Ashlynn headed off to meet up with Jake and the survivors of the APC crash. She followed their trail of voices to a nearby manhole, jumping down the circular entryway and landing on the small concrete walkway below. In the darkness, Valkyrie counted four figures - one more than she had originally thought there to be. "Friend of yours?" Valkyrie interjected, noticing that the white haired woman she had saved did not shoot him...
yet.
Watching Erja and Stafford struggle off into the opposite direction, Ashlynn beckoned for them to stop. "Where are you guys going?" She began, noticing in the small rays of light which penetrated through the manhole above just how badly banged up they all were. "The block heads will be combing through these sewers soon. We're too close to the vehicle you guys flipped over back there." She remarked, motioning in the opposite direction.
"That way. We're not far from the AFTERLIFE." Although it was a little farther, Valkyrie had many questions that needed answering. While she could leave Jake with the others, she wasn't too confident that they would be safe without her help. "Unless you guys
want to sleep down here...
I mean, that's cool too..." She crossed her arms behind her back, the floating swords forming an aura around the young NOAH.