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Rise To Honor - Part 3: More Than He Bargained For
Posted By: Shadow<Shadowolf16@aol.com>
Date: 26 June 2002, 4:39 am
Read/Post Comments
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Shadow brought up the screen and began to read the mission orders in eerie green type. Disk Detected.
Accessing:
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...
...
Password required: ******
Checking:
...
...
...
Password accepted.
Accessing disk informational archive:
...
...
...
Information encrypted, Password required: ******
Checking:
...
...
...
Disk info found:
Mission: Operation Firewall
Priority Level: Class B
Employer: Classified Mission Type: Assassination/Extermination
Mission Payoff: 80,000
Mission Status: Open
Mission Details: Shadow, this is Travion. I should have given you this disk already at your base of operations. I know that you don't want to soil your mission with stuff involving the military and the Covenant anymore. I know that you've had some bad experiences with them before. But as you know, the Covenant have extended their war into New York City. You and I both know that this is going to be VERY bad for our business from now on if we don't get rid of those meatheads. The mission is to either destroy all Covenant forces in the area or at least push them out. I know what we're doing is only a temporary solution to the Covenant problem, but it should give us some time to plan out our next move. Their base of operations is at the edge of the city, near Bullion Street. They've taken out the park there and converted it to their base. So far, the military hasn't been able to touch them. They seem to have one of those Genis shields that have been recently developed by their race. I can take down the shields for you, and you can take them out while they're vulnerable. My squad and I will have the shield down as soon as you give the orders, and we can probably keep it down for up to 10 minutes. You probably know this is a risky mission, but the money will be worth it. The blueprints are attached as a file in this disk, as well as recommended supplies to bring, although I know you never follow those recommendations anyway. Good luck and we'll be waiting at 9th street, in the Jevar apartments, as always.
Shadow read it over twice to make sure that everything was straight, and took out the disk from the device on his arm. Well, the money sure was high, and it seemed important to Travion. He had already agreed to it, but he could easily pull out if he wanted to. With a mission like this, he'd expect at least 2 rounds of Covenant reinforcements to the base, and at least 10 grunts and elites at the base. Throw in a few Jackals and possibly a G-Hunter, and things might get a bit heated. But he was ready. He hadn't fought Covenant in a long time, but he wanted them out of this place. It was already run down enough, he wasn't going to let that type of scum get in it. Of course, he and his kind were generally regarded as the scum of the city. Interesting that Travion didn't hire any other bounty hunters in this instance. He was both high priced, and very hard to get to, while the others wanted less money, and could probably get the same job done pretty easily. But why him? Oh well, he needed the money. He walked away from his standing point on the far side of the room, and walked to the blue-lit blueprint table. He inserted the disk into a small slot at the side of the table, right next to a console. After inserting the disk, the dim, red table flashed into a white screen with blueprint scans in each corner. There were 2 small bunkers, and one larger base. He'd have to take out the bunkers and then rush the base after all the Covenant troops outside were exterminated. He nodded in the dark room, and pulled out the disk. The table immediately dimmed again, and returned red, although the lighting above it was blue. He placed it in his pouch along with his devices and explosives. He might need it later. He began to walk to the door, when a voice sounded over the base intercom.
"Shadow, you going on that mission?"
"Yes EVA, don't let anyone in. Even Travion. The only person that is allowed in from now on is I. Anyone else, kill them."
"Yes sir."
Shadow pressed a button on a console next to the door, and it swung open.
"Good luck."
Shadow nodded, and slammed the door close. He walked to the outer door, which was still camouflaged in with the rest of the hallway. He walked towards it, and it zipped open, and immediately closed as he walked out, blending in with the hallway as it did so.
"Another job?"
"Yes."
He walked out of the bar after affirming the bartender, and swiftly moved to the alley on 4th street. He took a quick look, and quickly walked into the alley, and strapped on his two main weapons. He sighed again. It seemed that he'd have to flush out these baddies, but after that, he thought he'd need to get away from the city for a while. He needed to sort out his priorities. He started up his hoverbike, and headed towards 9th street, where he was to meet Travion. The bike moved at half-speed, sure to not attract attention. He floated up past the other streets, heading straight for the Jevar apartments. He stopped right in front of the apartment building, and turned left for a nearby alley. Before he drove in, he looked through, and saw three men talking about something. Probably narcotics or weapons transfers.
"Get out of this alley."
"No way pal! We were here first!"
"This alley belongs to Travion."
"Yea! So? What are you doing to do about it?"
Shadow pressed flipped up a switch next to a screen on his bike. Immediately, the screen lit up, showing the three men as targets. He smiled and pulled the trigger.
*BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM*
The machine gun fire came from a gattling gun attached to a hardpoint on Shadow's hoverbike. It was a smaller version of the warthog's machine gun, and each of the firing muzzles were silenced. The bullets shredded their bodies, and the three men went down immediately. He had no time for games with these bums, although he did feel sorry for them after he was finished. He drove the hoverbike to the end of the alley and shut it off. His back was now facing the opening, seeming to leave him wide open for attack.
He was about to get out, when he heard some scuffling on 9th street. He immediately grabbed for his assault rifle, but didn't turn around or dettach it from its strap. 4 shadows appeared at the alley's entrance. Looks like the silenced fire wasn't enough to get by these thugs. Apparently, they were friends of the fools he had just slaughtered. He didn't turn around, giving the impression that he was unaware. He waited a few seconds, and the shadows showed that one of the thugs was pulling out his gun. Shadow smiled, and pulled his assault rifle off his strap, and vertically over his shoulder. All the while, he had the trigger down, spraying 20 bullets right into the thug's body. As soon as the gun was over his shoulder, he jumped forward off his bike, and landed right next to the endwall of the alley. Immediately, pistol fire slammed into his hoverbike, but he himself was protected. He dove to his left, and fired off the rest of his assault rifle clip, killing the three remaining thugs. Each bullet made a small sound of impact as they landed destructive hits, causing of blood to spray all over the place. All three bodies crumpled to the ground, next to their other fallen friend, an enormous pool of blood spreading from their chewed up bodies. He slowly got up, and walked past them and their dead, accusing eyes. He didn't even look. He knew how their eyes were. He'd seen them hundreds of times before, yet he was still bothered by them. So innocent, and angry looking. He really wished that they had closed their eyes before they died. But that was just stupid. He stepped over their bodies, and pulled them into the alley, laying them next to the three bodies of the original thugs he had encountered. The blood pool was a dead giveaway that something had gone down in the alley, but he wouldn't be in the apartments for very long. He walked into the dead-empty lobby, and walked up two flights of stairs to the 3rd floor. He quickly moved to room 43, and opened the door. Travion and a few other men were talking about the mission.
"Hey, I'm glad you could make it. You still doing the job?"
"Yes, and who are these people?"
"They're your partners in this mission."
"No, no. I work alone. You know that. Why do you have to bust my bubble like this?"
"Sorry man, but I just don't think you can do this thing alone."
"It's a walk in the park compared to some things I've done before. What's with this sudden loss of trust in my abilities here?"
"Look, this is an important mission, and I don't want it to fail. You're working with these people, or you lose the job."
"Fuck. You know I need the money this time. Fine, I'll work with these guys, but they're in my command. Got it?"
"Hey! I'm not working for some other bounty hunter!"
"Yea! Me neither!"
"Hey Hey! This is Shadow, the famous assassin. I thought you guys would be honored to fight with this guy."
"Is he really? The famous Shadow?"
"Yes, and you're following his command."
"Yes sir."
Shadow placed down a white disk on the table next to the men.
"Don't be late. I'm not going to wait for any of you if you're not in your post in time. How many of you are going to be working with me Travion?"
"8 others."
"Are you fucking kidding me? We'll never get to position without being noticed!"
"Look, it's just to make sure that the job is done."
"Fine. You guys better be there. I want 4 stationed on the ground level on Tartif Street. The other four will go with Travion to blow out the Covenant shields."
Shadow immediately turned around and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. As he walked down the stairs and out of the banged up apartment house, he couldn't help but be angry. Why the hell was Travion all of a sudden hiring others with him? He had never done it before. There was definitely something going on. He hated working with other people, and 8 was really pushing it. They could easily overwhelm him if they decided to turn on him. They were seasoned warriors, not a bumbling soldier, or a stiff, stupid government agent. If Travion hired them, then they were certainly competent. But that was the thing that worried. He knew that Travion was trying something. He'd have to be on his toes, or he could end up against mercenaries AND Covenant at the same time. He didn't trust anyone, even Travion. He knew they would turn on him, whether Travion planned it or not. They were mercenaries, not soldiers. If killing Shadow meant more money for them, then they'd certainly get rid of him. He'd need to decide on some way to make sure they stay in line, but concentrate on the mission at the same time. This was starting to look bad, and he really would pull out, but he needed the money to keep him going. Travion knew he was in a bind. He walked out of the apartment, over the dead men, and drove off on his bike. He'd need to think this one through. If he just went into this one without much of a plan, like all his other missions, then he'd surely end up as a carcass after everything was said and done. Ha, if he had kept his old attitude, and stayed away from this crap, he'd never be in such a screwed up position. But at the time, to go back and fight with the military was something he didn't want to do, and he was so angry at the damn government for slaughtering his old friends. Now, it seemed that anything was better than knowingly going into a trap.
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