Arc 1 - Chapter 26: Dark Angels vs Blood Eagles (I)

“Did Gwen just really bust through the third floor?”

“Typical.”

“Wait? Isn’t that our cue?”

Four dark angel members waited outside the front door. Miles and Benn’s faces didn’t have any change two years prior, but Jack’s face showed more maturity. And for Hope, her overall body grew more feminine, but not as much as Luna.

Jack titled his head as he tried to pry open the lock on the door.

“How did Luke and Luna even get in?”

“They sneaked in by blending in with them. Weren’t you paying attention to the plan?” Questioned Miles.

“I was daydreaming.”

“That’s on you…”

Hope and Benn ignored the convo between Miles and Jack.

“Hey Benn, I gave you a stick of dynamite a couple of days ago. Do you still have it?” Questioned Hope.

“I put it in your backpack. Hold still.”

Hope remained still as Benn went through her backpack, as energy drinks and medicine bottles scattered the area he was trying to find. After several seconds, he noticed a familiar material.

“Found it.”

Pulling out a stick of dynamite, he tried to find a lighter within her backpack. Unfortunately, it would be finding a needle in a haystack.

‘Guess I’ll try a different technique’

Zipping up her backpack, he bent down while gripping the dynamite firmly. Swiping the string like he was scooping up a fish, sparks flew, leaving Benn to walk carefully toward the locked door. Placing the dynamite in between the door handles, his eyes encapsulated the gaze of flames and sparks that burrow deeper and deeper into the gunpowder.

Everyone took many steps back, as the explosion trembled and shook them and the building. Feeling the shockwave ripple through their bones and muscles, Benn had his back facing the door, leaving him to feel like it tore through his body.

But by tilting his head, he let the stress free from its prison.

“Woah … I thought Fred’s special dynamite wouldn’t work.” Said Jack.

“You thought it wouldn’t?” Questioned Miles.

“Look, it’s not my fault that I can be a bit pessimistic. I mean, we did fail to bring in Maverick like three times!”

“That was because of Gwen’s hesitation.” Said Benn.

“And every time he escapes, he somehow finds a way to recruit more mercenaries. He should run for president.”

Having their guns holstered, the group ran into the building, as dust and smoke filled up their lungs. Once the smoke and dust cleared, they all let their eyes trail the rundown lobby.

The couches and coffee tables were ripped and old. Along with the abundance of fake plants, dirty filled rugs, and cigarette ash holders, they all noticed the staircase on the other side.

“I’ll use my blessing.”

Benn closed his eyes and stood still, relaxing his breathing in the process. As the others waited patiently, they peeled their eyes for any ambush.

{{Lend me a fly’s vision from the third hallway}}

His soul was sucked into that of a normal housefly.

Buzzing around the hallway, he soar through the dark hallway on the third floor. And with its five eyes, it saw a man sprinting across the wooden floorboards, panting and wheezing with a sweaty face. Noticing the familiar face, Benn spoke out from his physical body, while remaining his eyes shut.

“Maverick’s running away.”

“Where’s his location?” Questioned Miles.

“Heading toward the second floor. Looks like—”

Not only was the third floor affected, but the first floor…

Ceased to glow light.

“You gotta be shitting me! How are we going to raid a building without light?!” Exclaimed Jack.

“Can your animal or insect see in the dark Benn?” Questioned Miles.

“No.”

“Alright. You can stop now.”

Benn’s soul returned to its physical form, as sweat dripped from his bluish forehead. Since they couldn’t see in the dark, Hope brought out something from the side of her backpack.

“I hope this helps.”

Turning on her flashlight, the light scattered in the directed direction of the device. Noticing no funny business, Miles exhaled a sigh of relief, and turned to the three of them.

“Let’s get up the stairs. We got to back up the others in whatever way we can … hey … do you all hear that?”

Their ears perked up at thudding footsteps. Leaning his face close to Hope’s ear, he whispered to her in a gentle yet firm voice.

“Hope, turn it off.”

And looked back at everyone again.

“Everyone, follow me.”

Gathering the group, he led them toward the desk counter near the front entrance. While they did this, Hope had already turned off the flashlight, yet kept it tight alongst her palm. Once they all ducked behind the desk, they heard the thudding footsteps grow louder and louder.

Until it reached down to the main lobby.

Unable to see in the dark, the four of them breathed quietly yet rapidly.

‘Are they going to go or not? I hope they don’t try to pry through every single corner of this lobby’ thought Jack.

Unfortunately, rustling was heard on the opposite side of the lobby. The more they closed their eyes, the more they prayed for them to leave, they drew near. But just as the rustling stopped, they all sensed that a person was in front of them…

And the worst part … they couldn’t tell if they saw them or not.

Jack barely carved the silhouette into his mind, as he readied his stance. Keeping his eyes pinned on the black shadow, the air around him mystified, as it kept dragging on like an old game.

‘If I used my blessing, maybe I could dig in on some info…’

His eyes began to turn brownish, leaving him to hear static in front of him. Even though there was no radio in sight, where would it be? No … it wasn’t static, but…

‘Why is it so damn hard to find bullets? I thought the boss provided them a couple of months ago’

‘So he doesn’t see us huh? He was just looking for bullets like some idiot…’

At that moment, gunshots blared from upstairs. The Dark Angels, Blood Eagles, all turned their heads toward the staircase that led to the second and third floors.

‘Oh no, are Luke and the others fighting?’ thought Hope.

‘Shit! We need to do something about that silhouette-looking figure’ thought Miles.

‘Heard you two loud and clear’ thought Jack.

Jack quickly stood up, without attracting attention from both his enemies and allies. Tip-toeing, Jack continued to listen to the man’s thoughts, making him more of a ninja than a soldier.

And from out of his pocket, he pulled out a pocket knife. Being unnoticeable, Jack pulled back his arm, and just as he was about to lunge forward…

—“Oh, Coach? Do you think these bullets would work?”—

The soldier turned around at the worst time, seeing Jack stand right in front of his face. But Jack didn’t falter. As he placed his knife into his pocket, he thrusted his left hand forward instead.

“Come here!”

Pulling the soldier toward him, he had him subdued, keeping his left arm wrapped around his throat. With no oxygen able to go through his lungs, he pulled out a leftover napkin, a napkin that was handed down by Fred.

[Make sure the person has little oxygen intake for it to work. With the right conditions, you could put a man to sleep in ten seconds.]

Placing it right onto its nose, the soldier wailed its arms and legs violently. For some reason, the napkin didn’t do much, but Jack’s arm strength was enough for the soldier to fall asleep.

‘Bastard was bluffing’

Unfortunately, the blood eagle member made a lot of noise when he was subdued. Because once Jack took away his goggles, he placed them on his face, and got up from the floor. Seeing the room clearly, he also saw the rest of the blood eagles in the room…

If Jack were to estimate how many were in that lobby, Jack would need four extra hands to count.

‘Ah shit…’

________________________________________________________________________

(Quintiles 22, 59 / 10:50PM)

In the pitch black lobby, only the light of bullets reigned.

As gunpowder smoke congested the room, they let the smell of burnt lead assault their nostrils. The sound reverberating the walls, booming the pillars, they felt like their ears bled from the overarching pain.

“Damn it Jack!” Yelled Miles.

“At least I have night goggles!”

“Why do you always bring us shitty luck!?”

“Enough arguing!” Yelled Benn.

The hard wood of the desk prevented the bullets from piercing through, as Miles glared at Jack in the dark. They didn’t let their heads lift for one second, and Jack stood out like a sore thumb with his goggles.

“We’re rushing! We’re rushing!”

Jack heard a few footsteps despite the blaring of gunshots behind him. Holding his breath, and clutching his sniper rifle, the corner of his left eye conceived four pairs of legs.

“Found you!”

Three blood eagle soldiers pointed their guns at him and the others, but mostly at Jack. His butt on the ground, and raising his hands up high, his face turned a ghostly pale.

‘S-S-Shit!’

A bluish light surrounded the four of them. No … it was a defensive shield. Enacting, similar to a dome, looked toward Miles, whose hands emitted blue particles as it trailed upward.

“Jack, get back!”

Crawling backward, his breathing turned less rapid once he retreated back to the group. Miles, who had his palms facing upward, turned his hands toward the three blood eagle soldiers. Standing up, he thrusted his arms forward, with droplets of sweat trailing down the crevices of his eyes.

“Eat this!”

The bluish dome began to change shape, leaving it to turn into an arched wall. And at the same time, it rammed into the three soldiers who were about to open fire, sending them flying toward a nearby wall.

“Everyone! Take their goggles!” Yelled Jack.

Miles drew back his shield, while he, along with Benn and Hope, ran toward the unconscious soldiers. Quickly putting on the straps, they regained the ability to see, meaning…

“Alright, lock and load … cause we don’t have to hide anymore.” Said Miles.

The four of them stood up, as the night vision conjured the battalion of soldiers in front of them. All of their guns pointed at them, and in return, they all pulled out their weapons as well.

“Open Fire!”

A rain of bullets commenced. Miles extended his right hand forward, leaving his palm to emit a blue light, forming a highly reflective blue shield. With it being see-through, many of the incoming bullets bounced off like jello, giving the Dark Angels excellent cover.

Benn had a heavy submachine gun on his back, and with his right hand, he grabbed the butt of it. Placing his left hand on the middle, he looked toward the battalion that rained lead, making him push a small chuckle. Moving his finger toward the trigger, and lowering the gun to his hip, he then gave the blood eagles a rare smile; a smile that unsuited his usual frown demeanor.

And opened fire.

Almost like a vulcan, many of the blood eagles took tight cover from the downpour, leaving them disorganized as a perimeter. Some of the members saw the main entrance broken apart. Not wanting to take their chances, a handful of them made a run for it.

“Let’s get out of here!”

Escaping from the building, they stalled on the sidewalk, catching their breath. Their heads pinned to the ground, they failed to acknowledge the helicopter above. Without time to react, the sides of the chopper rained…

Tranquilizer darts.

“Hold the gun steady Fred! Don’t let them escape!”

“On it!”

Completely ambushing them, the rain of darts pierced and jabbed itselves into their chests and stomachs. Even though the needles weren’t lethal, all the soldiers felt their legs and arms give in, leading them to collapse on the floor out of exhaustion. As all of them succumb to sleep, the helicopter moved ever forward.

“See any stranglers Gary?”

“Nope. But continue to keep an eye on that door.”

Noticing they weren’t getting up, Stan looked behind him, and gave Fred a simple thumbs up. In return, Fred scratched the back of his head shyly, along with him giving out a soft chuckle.

Meanwhile, back at the lobby…

Miles continued to maintain his shield barrier, while the barrage of bullets continued to bounce. Feeling his body drain from every deflected bullet, he sluggishly turned toward Benn.

“How’s it going Benn? Are you hitting them?”

“Yeah why?”

“Because there’s fifteen left. Make your shots count.”

Jack had himself a heavy sniper, and having it holstered near his head, he looked for any opening to take with a quivering finger. His breathing rapid, yet calm, he felt like his face was about to burst free from heat.

“Two down!”

Finding a couple of blood eagles trying to ambush them, Hope didn’t hesitate to fire her pistol. Aiming at the stomach region, so they wouldn’t die from their injuries, she let her eyes trail up to notice…

‘Huh?’

In the back of the lobby, was a man who carried a very large weapon. A weapon so large, that it made Hope widen her eyes. Tugging Jack’s shoulder, he lost his focus, leading him to glare at her.

“Hey!? Don’t you see I’m trying to concentrate—”

Jack shut himself up, once he saw an RPG aiming its sights on them.

“Oh shit!”

With no time to spare, he placed the center of the sniper back onto the desk, leaving time to slow down for him. Jack barely had his finger on the trigger, before the blood eagle fired the rocket shell. Stopping the air from pushing out, he pulled the trigger, whilst the gun wobbled.

But the soldier was quicker by half a second. Yet it didn’t aim at him … no …it aimed—

Straight at the shell. Considering that sniper rounds were faster than rocket shells, the shell in question…

Bursted upon impact, the shockwave and ball of flame pushed all the enemies onto the ground or walls. Rumbling the walls, trembling the pillars, even the four Dark Angels took a step back from the blast. Covering their ears, they shut their eyes, as the rippling wave jingled their bones like a toddler playing on a marimba.

Tinnitus soon rang, leaving them to uncover their ears and open their eyes. Their feet barely keeping them stable, their knees wobbled relentlessly.

“Just one rocket launcher … did all of this …” Said Jack.

Small fires spread across the lobby, summoning light on the darkest of shadows. Being the victors for this holdout, it was clear the blaring of gunshots ceased, but they still heard it.

Because there was still an ongoing fight, two stories above them.

“There’s no time to waste here. We need to link up with the others.”

The three of them giving Miles a nod, the four of them ran toward the stairs, continuing to wield their weapons.