[writing] Project Chaos - Chapter Nine
May. 15th, 2010 11:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
djtenkuWord Count: 2711
Summary: Storm. Hide. Ghost.
The wires shimmered in the dull light, rattling softly in the dead air of silence. Xander was careful not to move them in any sort of way. He was tangled in the web of wires that trapped him in the very prison he was held. He was, however, enthralled by the way they were formed by only a pair of angel hair wire. They must be some kind of illusion, he thought. He quickly pushed aside the notion as he bumped into the wires, digging into his arm.
“If you manage to get through this web and through the door, you are free to go,” Taka had told him.
Xander cursed at himself for being so gullible. Not once he heard him say another word – could he be at the door waiting, just so he pushed back into the spiderweb? Or, does he have something else…? Xander continued to think about telling everything he knew. He certainly didn’t give a damn about the consequences, or the welfare of everyone else. If he could handle Zero, then he can deal with Chaos.
Taka watched from the corner from the room, trailing the faint red Qi the hostage emitted. He preferred the mental part of interrogation – unlike the physical style Lang partook. There was something odd about this though; most didn’t last fifteen minutes; they either submitted or –unfortunately- died. Determination? Maybe. Prolong the inevitable? Perhaps. It was only a matter of time Xander would submit because of his condition…
The Qi flared up for a moment before giving out completely. Taka touched a nearby wire colored blue, dispelling all but two and approached Xander. There was a glimmer of red. Just exhausted. He decided to leave him there. Even if Xander was a hostage, he was still human and to be treated as such. To a certain extend anyway.
Taka exited the room, locking the door from the inside and out and made way to the elevator. He could tell the doors were open – the light surrounding it was a light green. “You’re injured,” he said to Roya as he stepped into the elevator. “You should be in your room.” His voice wasn’t warm as usual with her, but it wasn’t exactly cold either.
“I know,” she said meekly. Roya gave up on covering her wound and sighed. “I failed. I encountered one of the intruders…he has a strong resemblance to the hostage. Could he be...?”
“That may be so, but it is also like comparing a jaguar to a leopard; the same but different.”
Of course, one of your useless analogies, she thought as she shifted to one foot to another.
Taka inspected the scorched white wound and frowned. “You need disinfectant.”
Roya looked away, hiding her scowl. “I’ll live. The odd thing about him was that I saw him the other night. He had black hair instead of white. His left eye was blue and now it’s green. He also told me he didn’t want to fight me when I’m not at my best.”
Taka smirked. It wasn’t typical of his daughter to be fixated on anything. If he didn’t know any better, she was…he wiped the thought of it away. “You weren’t,” he said mildly. He looked up sharply as the temperature fluctuated. The furnace building. So that’s where he died… He narrowed his sightless grey eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Roya asked, alarmed.
“Nothing,” he muttered as they exited the building. Taka looked off into the distance, looking upwards as he saw white bolts of lighting flit about in the gathering clouds, outlined in silver. “We should head to the main building and stay there, for now.”
“Why is that?”
“There is a storm approaching,” he replied grimly.
-
Thunder grumbled as the clouds began to blanket the serene night sky. The snow no longer glowed under the pale moonlight and the winds started to pick up, whispers becoming words of anxiety and anger. Rowan pushed his intruding thoughts away as they ate away at his mind; he pushed further, giving a little more space – and time than before. He considered using the medicine but…
Nevermind that. He peered over the roof lining, glancing at the two Wolves as they headed for the much bigger building in the distance. At least they’re moving, the rational part of his mind said. The dogs were nowhere to be seen, or heard, and best of all, no humans.
Rowan shouldered his Dragunov and descended to the ground via ladder, making a final check around the corner before dashing through the vast space, silent. The camouflage adapted to the surroundings as he stopped at the side of the two story building, still glancing around; so far so good. The tower posts were still empty but, the spotlight kept going automatically and occasionally going over the set perimeter, stopping every three seconds in random spots.
Before he could move though, the light moved abruptly, and froze on him. He stared into the light, unfliching, until it passed again. Relieved, Rowan edged towards the backside of the building and found another ladder. However, he heard a low humming noise and peeked around the corner. Far off, there was a vague, hollow shape – the familiar sign of stealth camouflage. If there was one, there had to be more to follow. He spotted a door as soon as he ascended, but bypassed it. He overlooked the roof – much higher than the previous building. Two more in the proximity.
Rowan also found Shin exiting the taller building north of him. He detached the scope and measured the distance between her and the vanguard. Too close. He pointed his gun away from himself and fired a single round. The vanguard stopped all at once until he fired again and scattered – moving east. Rowan then caught the remaining moonlight, reflecting it off the scope, flashing it long enough for Shin to see and went out of sight. Within ten minutes, she arrived.
“Thanks for the distraction,” she said, settling beside him.
“That’s what I’m here for,” he replied nonchalantly. “What happened in there? Your hair looks frayed.”
“Got into a little fight with a Wolf. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was made from fire. Almost scorched me a couple of times; on top of that, I dislocated my shoulder.”
Rowan glanced at her, concerned. “Did you reset it?”
Shin winced as she stretched. “Ro, I’ve dislocated something so many times, it’s more of a second nature thing. How were things on your end?”
“Fine,” he said, looking away. “Just doing survelliance. Did you see other guards?”
“Two, but that was just as I was leaving the furnace building. I only used some of these.” Shin handed the pilfered belt of grenades to Rowan, who raised an eyebrow. “Frags and flashes. I didn’t bother using them since I already used about three.”
“That doesn’t add up, it’s only five,” Rowan said suddenly.
“Huh?”
“Shin, one of them is unaccounted for. It’s only a matter of time before they split up, and find us. We can’t stay up here much longer.”
“Do you know where the hostage is?” Shin asked.
“I’ve got a good feeling,” he said, rising. He felt nauseated.
Shin sighed as she rolled her eyes. “I always figured he’d be the late one,” she muttered.
-
The guards were after him, and if he hadn’t shot the alarm system, he would have been dead. He only had two grenades, stolen from his first victim, and half a clip of the loaned Desert Eagle left – as Shin said earlier, a wing and a prayer.
Kento ducked behind a box at the corner of the room, just below a open air duct. The room itself was barren, except metal racks that contained many boxes and glass, labeled with various brands of fruit and food. He thought about gathering any rations, but what good would it do when he is surrounded by sentry? As the shouts of clamor and doors being knocked down got closer, he heard a chime.
+Kento, where the hell are you?+ Shin queried, stressing every word.
“I’m kinda in a rut,” he whispered, keeping a rough edge in his voice. He peeked over the box, checking. “Where are you?”
+We’re in the two story building,+ she said, +but you need to hurry up. The guards are all over the place, and those Skulls are outside too. The distraction frame is closing fast, and the weather is being shot to hell.+ She made a deliberate pause, and then sighed. +Get out of there as soon as possible.+
Kento smirked. At least she was with Rowan. “Don’t need to tell me twice,” he said before closing the link. Another door was knocked down. The box was too obvious, and the two racks that were in the middle of the room were too far away; the length of it looked too short to cover him completely, let alone to low to get underneath it.
Bang!
It was only a matter of seconds that the door was going to be kicked down; he decided. Kento sprang from behind the box and towards the racks, and at the last second slid underneath, barely clearing it. They shook slightly, knocking over small objects and rattling others. A glass jar tumbled over the surface and broke right in front of him, sending shards everywhere. He muffled his curse and shrank back under the shelves.
Four armed guards entered, one after another in a tight formation. The first signaled to spread out, and the other three promptly did so, checking everything. There was no was to react if they did find him. Kento watched through his azure eye as one crotched in front of the shattered jar, picking up a shard.
“It’s fresh,” someone concluded, standing up. “They’ve been moved a quarter-inch.”
“Nothing under the box,” another said. Thank god I didn’t do that, he thought. “I doubt the intruder went through the vent; it’s a dead end.”
And so much for that.
“Check under the food racks,” he heard the leader say. Kento searched for one of the grenades in his pocket but the rack moved slightly – but nothing noticeable. Another glass fell. “What the hell?” A few seconds went by, but it felt like an hour that he held his breath. “Check under these two.”
The guard crotched again, this time seeing him, but neglected to spot the silver pipe that rolled by. As it exploded in white light, Kento overturned the racks and scrambled for the door, leaving behind the dazed sentrymen behind. He backtracked, cutting various corners, to the place he started from; he stepped over the still unconscious guard – who knew that he was supposed to report every two minutes?
He reached the door he practically fought to get open; as he opened it, he was greeted with a blast of wind and snow. Kento didn’t give a second glance behind him as he heard shout, and barged outside. The storm raged, blinding him even more as he moved through the field; he sought after the aforementioned building, but the visibility made everything blend in black, white, and grey. “Should’ve asked for directions,” he muttered wryly.
Kento stopped as he saw a lone beacon light up in the distance, shining light on a dull and bulky shape. That’s it. Following it, it lead him towards the building’s front doors; he readied the Desert Eagle as he entered the building labeled ‘HC’.
Surprisingly, it was rather empty and quiet. He hid himself in the open kitchen, behind the counter. It did reak of the sharp smell of gasoline, but there was something else. He chose to ignore it. He also heard the hum of the low frequency, and dismissed the thought of even contacting his squad-mates – the Skulls would intercept the relayed message and act accordingly.
Kento looked over the counter, spotting a staircase not far from his position; after checking thrice, he moved towards them and made his ascent, noting the long streak of parted metal that ran across the wall. He wondered briefly what could have created but pushed aside the thought as he reached the apex of the stairs. The hall was long and narrow, and the end was marked only by a set of double doors.
He glanced into the glass doors as he passed by with caution, and noticed one particular room had bloodstains on the floor, and some on the wall, even as so much as a pair of broken glasses. He’s been tortured, he thought with a grimace. Kento hoped that the hostage wasn’t dead. All of the rooms shared one similarity – small glass door, a dark room, and a pair of thin shackles that gleamed in the dull light. It did seem ancient to have such things, but it was probably effective.
He reached the double doors – an elevator – and pressed the down arrow, gun in the other hand and readying it as the bell sounded. The door slid open and he lurched forward. He quickly found himself glaring in the barrels of two guns, a Dragunov and a M9. It took a few seconds to recognize who actually carried the weapons. “Stand down,” he said gruffly, lowering his gun.
“Good grief,” Shin exclaimed, “one more second and I would’ve shot you.” She jerked a thumb towards the back of the elevator. “Now, get in before someone comes up.”
The elevator doors closed soon after, beginning their descent into the lower level. Shin told them – this time a little more clearly – about her encounter with the Fire Wolf, and her prize, the two sets of grenades. It wasn’t a new weapon per se, just a slight twist on it. A good one. Kento noticed that Rowan was distant than normal, and on the verge of collapsing. “You alright?”
Rowan glanced at him and gave a curt nod. The thoughts was threatening what rationale he had left, if any, trying to switch back to the primitive side of his own self. Finally, he made the decision of giving one of the pens to him. “If I even look like about to lose it, use this,” he instructed.
The elevator came to a stop, opening the door. The sentry posted there was taken out quickly by them, and began their way into the darkness. Pipes leaked water that echoed when the drips landed in a puddle. A light shed a small passageway into a large metallic door and a keypad; Shin promptly shot at it, deactivating the lock with the sound of a gear cranking open, and Rowan opened it with little effort.
“Jeez, where’s the light when you need it?” Kento asked aloud as they entered the room. After fumbling around, he finally found a switch; light flooded it, revealing a vast and empty room.
It also revealed a battered and bruised form lying in the middle, sprawled unnaturally. Shin approached the figure and stooped, checking his pulse. She sighed with relief. “He’s alive,” she announced. “Barely.” She shook him gently, forcing the figure to swim up to consciousness.
Racre Xander muttered incoherently as his grey eyes opened. Shin was shocked to see one of his eyes was a different shade than the other – almost blue. “Are you an angel?” he asked in a raspy voice. He gave a sharp cry as he sat up.
She smiled wanly. “Close,” she replied. “We’re hear to rescue you, Mr. Xander.” She gestured to Kento and Rowan. “We’re going to get you out.”
The man sniffled. Finally, I can go home, he thought. His face dropped though, when he saw the white-haired man. Never again he thought he would see him again. Not at a time like this, and especially not now. “Oh god,” he said, fear in his cracked voice. Can he be really… He pointed to Rowan. “It is you!”
“What’s wrong?” Shin asked, confused.
“Nothing’s wrong…” Xander’s face was pale and his mind was still trying to piece together what he saw in front of him, despite of his poor vision. “It’s just that I wouldn’t see my own son here.”
Kento and Shin stared at the Grasino president and then at the scowling Rowan, and neither could say a word.
