Liquidation

The light of the warm morning sun juxtaposed the scenes of chaos emerging below as the destruction unfolded. Miyuki woke up to the smell of smoke and molten metal as she carefully stood up as to not fall to her demise now that the Megiddo had been turned into a crumbling wreck thanks to her efforts. Still wedged inside the upper floors of the smouldering Cyntech Tower, the front of the ship stuck out like a sore thumb. The door to the generator room had been ripped off it’s hinges by the force of the impact, allowing Miyuki to get a proper view of what remained. Stepping out of the generator room, the maintenance bay was filled with corpses, some killed by her own hand whilst others were crushed by an exposed pipe that had fallen from the ceiling.

‘H-help me.. ‘

A weak voice came from underneath the pipe that now blocked access to the first deck of the ship. Moving closer, the voice originated from a trapped technician, whose legs had been crushed. He looked up at his supposed saviour, his mud brown eyes gazing at Miyuki as she walked towards him.

‘Please… Please, I -I know you can help me… just gotta get this thing off me..’

The man attempted to bargain with her.

‘I-I’ve got the keycard.. to get the escalator running again! You have to help me if you want it..’

The ceiling made a groan as another piece of exposed pipe dislodged itself, this time suspended over Miyuki’s head. The technician’s eyes widened as his face lit up with a smile.

‘Seems like the lord works in mysterious ways! That pipe falls on you, you’ll end up like me. S-so what do you do now?’

Miyuki pressed both hands and tried to free the technician to no avail, using every ounce of her strength, however the pipe refused to budge. Another loud groan echoed through the maintenance bay, causing the pipe to hang off the ceiling, being held in position by a single nut as it swung in the air like a pendulum of death. Miyuki attempted once more to lift the pipe, however the technician was trapped with no way out, causing Miyuki to leave him to his fate as she pulled the keycard off of his orange uniform.

‘No! Wait! Come back!!’

The single nut holding the pipe in place came loose, causing it to plummet onto the technician’s head, meanwhile Miyuki sprinted through the maintenance bay and onto the first deck, closing the door behind her.

‘Damn.. There was no way to save him.. right?’

Miyuki muttered to herself as she made her way to the escalator. Red warning lights flashed like strobes, as a trail of corpses littered the floor.

‘You’re gonna be OK man, I’ve got you, hold on..’

A voice from the left side of the room echoed as Miyuki watched a soldier try to save his friend from being burnt by the fire in the middle of the room. Another collapsed pipe had fallen from the ceiling, trapping one of the soldiers.

‘OK, cmon, 1..2..3.. push! Oh shit.. it’s her!’

The soldier attempting to save his friend noticed Miyuki watching them and began to tremble, his mouth opened but no words were able to escape it. She watched as the man frantically tried to prise the pipe off his friend before the fire consumed them both in its blazing jaws.

Miyuki walked over as the fire neared, causing the trapped soldier to pull out his sidearm and open fire.

‘Don’t come any closer! I mean it! I will shoot!’

The man continued firing until his pistol clicked empty.

Miyuki emerged from the debris from the ceiling and ran over, unable to free the soldier from his pipe prison, she withdrew her sword and cut his legs off, then pulled him to one side and picked up a piece of metal, holding it in the fire then placing it in the soldier’s open wounds, searing them. Her attention turned to the other soldier who had been trying to free his friend.

‘He’ll be OK as long as you let him rest for 72 hours. I’m.. sorry about having to amputate him but it was necessary for saving his life. You’d better get out of here. I’ve got the keycard to the escalator.’

The soldiers looked at each other before nodding in agreement and proceeded to head towards the escalator with Miyuki. The soldier picked his amputated friend up just as the fire had consumed much of the first deck, leaving a small corridor between them and the escalator, which was protected by a security gate. Next to the gate lay a panel with a small rectangular slot in the centre. With the keycard inserted, Miyuki and the soldiers ran through it as the fire swallowed it up and headed down the escalator, which led towards what remained of the upper floors. The walls of the upper floors were completely destroyed, allowing the harsh wind of the city to seep in. From the top of Cyntech Tower, Miyuki got a front row seat to what had become of the upper quarter whilst she slept. Down below a flood of people surged through the streets, attempting to flee whilst others cut them down. Entire blocks had been razed and looted, leaving a bloody mess behind. Hover taxis were being used as torpedoes to cut down nearby corporate offices and buildings. Sirens began to blare like beacons of lost order as the city collapsed on itself. A harsh ringing suddenly erupted from a van driving in the street below with two megaphones hooked up to it.

‘To the people of the Upper Quarter.. know that your time has come. I look forward to seeing your faces as the clean cut world you once knew crumbles all around you. To the members of the Alpha Pack.. have your fun. You are free to kill, loot, rob and steal whomever and whatever you choose. ‘

Miyuki continued to walk through what remained of the offices, being careful not to step on the bodies of those unfortunate enough to have been crushed by the ship as it impaled the tower. She couldn’t help but feel the cold feel of guilt run down her spine. As she made her way downstairs, one of the computer monitors in the office had been left on displaying the news. Miyuki walked over towards the desk and carefully lifted the slumped employee out of her chair then sat down and began to watch.

‘This is Chloe Rayner reporting live for CNT News! As you can see, it’s absolute chaos down here, officials are warning people to stay indoors as they work to bring the situation under control! Just behind me there you can see the Cyntech Tower, which was bombarded by its own ship! I’m getting reports all over the city of people being shot, local businesses being robbed, I’ve never seen anything like it! Reports say this attack was kickstarted by someone called pack leader, so far we have received no confirmation of this, we will report once the facts have been verified! In other news, today we-‘

‘Hey, it’s that reporter chick! Get her!’

‘No! No! Get your hands off me!’

‘Now listen here Ms Rayner. You are gonna face the camera an’ tell everyone that the Alpha Pack owns this city, understand? Ray, grab the camera!’

‘Oh God! Don’t hurt my cameraman! Stop this!’

‘Quiet down Ms Rayner, or I’ll put a bullet in you. Ray, are we rolling? Good. Stand Ms Rayner up.’

The screen buzzed as the camera feed was cut off before another news anchor appeared on screen.

‘We sincerely apologise for tonight’s broadcast, if you have been affected by anything shown in tonight’s programme please visit our website’

Miyuki stood up and headed towards an elevator nearby that would take her to the lobby. As she approached the elevator, she signalled the soldiers to follow her. All of a sudden, the building began to shake before multiple explosions pierced the walls of the tower. A trail of smoke rose from below before a rocket hit the cubicle Miyuki was crouched behind, sending her flying across the room.

‘Hey, girl! Are you OK? Is it safe to move?’

The amputated soldier nervously asked.

Miyuki quickly got to her feet and signalled the soldiers to stay hidden behind the cubicle opposite of her as another rocket slammed into the floor directly below. Multiple cries of pain could be heard as more rockets slammed into the cubicles, causing the floor Miyuki was on to collapse sending her and the soldiers down to the middle floors below. A group of frightened employees sat huddled together in the back right corner of the room, surrounded by dead colleagues. A loud screech came from outside as the front half of the ship fell from its burrow in the upper floors and fell on the street, taking the entire upper floors with it, including the CEO office. The neon green Cyntech lights tumbled to the ground. One of the scared employees left his group and walked over to the edge before jumping out, prompting only the smallest reaction from his colleagues as his body rag dolled towards the street. Miyuki looked around for the soldiers as they fought their way out of a pile of debris, then walked over to them.

‘Stay here. You’ll be safe with these people.’

‘A-Are you sure?’

‘Yes. Again, I’m sorry.. about your leg, but if I didn’t cut it off you would’ve died. ‘

She headed towards the elevator in the back left corner of the room, mashing the call elevator panel. As the elevator announced ist arrival, Miyuki stepped inside as the doors slammed shut, then proceeded to raise a finger to her earpiece.

‘Chaudary. Chaudary are you recieving? What’s going on over there?’

The earpiece crackled briefly before a voice on the other end began to speak.

‘Runt? Is that you? I didn’t hear from you for a long while. Thought you might’ve bit the bullet. Listen, there’s something you need to know. Pack leader has-‘

‘He’s gone insane and starting invading the Upper Quarter?’

‘Yeah, that. Look, Jakub’s dead. We managed to hold off Cyntech for a while. Then that freaking huge ship showed up. Damn thing killed all our electronics. That’s when pack leader decided to mount this assault of his. He killed Jakub and took control of his forces. Hell, he damn near got most of my men too. This is Cyntech’s last stand- they’re not gonna survive much longer as a company after this. Pack leader wants to show the world even the biggest giant like Cyntech can be toppled. want them gone as much as the next guy, but not like this. Listen runt, you need to find pack leader and kill him. There’s no other way to get him to stop. You’re gonna be on your own this time, we’re spread too thin to get any support your way.’

‘Copy that. Do you know where pack leader is?’

‘Unfortunately, no. If I had to guess, he’d be leading the charge into battle.’

‘Chaudary. This is the end of us working together, after this.’

‘I know runt. Just get this one last thing done for me.’

‘Understood. Runt out.’

The earpiece clicked off as Miyuki arrived at the lobby of the tower. As the elevator opened, a cold breeze blasted her in the face. The lobby doors had been ripped clean off, the glass windows had been shattered, and the receptionists were lying slumped thier desks. Emerging onto the street, Miyuki could see the chaos first hand. Pack leader’s forces had completely razed the streets, as the hollowed out husks of houses littered the street corners. The dead choked the life out of the roads. Rubble and debris was everywhere, peppered with numerous destroyed cars. The fighting had reached the downtown areas of the city, explosions and gunfire boomed in the distance. Rescue ships were being used to ferry the wounded out of the city and into hospitals. Heading deeper into the heart of the city, the fighting intensified as some citizens took up arms to defend themselves against pack leader and his forces, as former shopping districts were being used as battlefields. A loud screech came from in front of the shopping centre as the van that Miyuki had seen earlier began to wildly thrash around on the road as its dual megaphones began to spout more patriotic jargon. Looking closer, Miyuki noticed the side door was open and a figure with a megaphone leaned outside the van, closely surrounded by two people carrying machine guns as they fired off a flock of bullets into a group of citizens defending themselves inside the wreckage of a destroyed house. The ground began to tremble as an apartment complex next to one of the shopping centres plummeted to the ground as multiple of pack leader’s men began to fire rockets at the base of the building. A rescue ship began its descent to the ground following a successful missile strike on one of ist engines, the siren cutting out abruptly as it collided with the pavement. In the process of trying to escape, the survivors of the crash began to be cut down as heavy machine gun fire clattered like a typewriter. Multiple explosions followed as the van reached another street corner, guiding the troops to thier next location. Having witnessed enough damage, Miyuki grappled upwards towards a nearby apartment complex and began to follow the van on foot, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Grappling past the wreckage of the collapsed apartment complex, she caught a glimpse of the van as it stopped in front of the Lost Ember General Bank, a towering 4 storey building that housed multiple vaults containing savings from the city’s elite. The soldiers that followed the van stopped outside the bank and began to arm themselves with rocket launchers, blasting the front entrance of the bank to pieces before storming into the building and cutting down the staff that were hunkered down inside. Miyuki continued her rooftop surfing as she arrived on the bank’s roof, and entered through the skylight, gracefully dropping down onto the fourth floor. Pack leader’s men were on the first floor, continuing to shoot anyone who got in their way as the search for the vault key began. Just as Miyuki rappelled down to the third floor, she looked upwards as a small piece of glass dropped from the skylight. Several figures clad in jet black armour proceded to rappel downward. Miyuki recognised them immediately as members of the Peacekeepers, the highly skilled assassins of The Guild. The sound of gunfire below began to intensify signalling pack leader’s men had arrived on the second floor. Broken glass continued to fall from the ceiling now that the assassins had entered the building. Miyuki made it towards the third floor and looked over the railing to see that the figure with the megaphone had entered the building, the light shining directly onto him revealing it to be Pack Leader. The two figures Miyuki had seen wielding machine guns also revealed themselves as Talbot and Slackjaw. Pack Leader raised his lips to the megaphone.

‘OK people, listen up. We’re on a tight schedule here, so let’s make this quick before we attract any unwanted attention. There’s still a ton to do tonight, meaning you should all hurry up and find that damn vault key! Now get to work.’

The assassins had also reached the third floor placing trip mines on the walls and floors hoping to ambush the soldiers that were about to kick in the doors. A quiet silence soon lead to an eruption of violence due to one of the trip mines placed on the entrance to the third floor exploded.

‘What was that? Start checking for explosives!’

One of the soldiers began to shout.

More soldiers streamed in from the second floor, setting off multiple explosions. The assassins were spread out, making full advantage of the environment using desks and chairs as hiding spots, picking off Pack Leader’s men one by one as they flooded into the room.

‘Got one!’

A cry came from the right side of the room as one of the soldiers held up a body of one of the the assassins before tossing it over the railing.

Pack Leader’s megaphone suddenly chirped up again.

‘Men, spread out! Watch those corners! Find those Guild assassins an kill em!’

Meanwhile in the midst of this tiny skirmish, Miyuki had managed to avoid most of the chaos as the battle intensified upstairs and was crouched underneath a desk.

‘Got two assassins! My location! I need-‘

‘They’re coming from everywhere!’

‘Check the floors and ceilings! They can’t hide for long!’

‘My squad is KIA! I need backup! Near the ceiling grate!’

The last echoes of voices faded away as the remaining 4 assassins walked past her hiding place and headed towards the first floor. She watched as the final assassin left the room before following closely behind. On the first floor, Talbot and Slackjaw had taken up defensive positions, aiming thier machine guns at the stairs leading downstairs from the second floor whilst pack leader had discarded his megaphone and brandished a powerful calibre revolver. The assassins had split up into teams of two, with one team perched atop the railing directly over pack leader’s head, and the other team ready to rush the two soldiers at the foot of the staircase. The entire room was flooded with smoke, direct result of the smoke grenades assassins used for covert operations and to get closer to thier targets. Miyuki quickly ran behind the team perched onto the railing, grabbing the first assassin and dispatched her with a sharp cut into the neck, then tossed her corpse over the railing. The second assassin had already dived into the smoke cloud, as heavy machine gun fire rattled the room. As the smoke cleared, Talbot had been killed by a sharp stab to the chest, whilst Slackjaw held the body of an assassin in his hand with another lying dead at his feet. Pack leader’s revolver emitted smoke from the barrel just as the final assassin fell dead on the ground with three bullet holes in his chest and torso. Miyuki immediately leapt from the railing onto Slackjaw, delivering three stabs to his face, then leapt off his body and sprinted at a terrified pack leader struggling to reload his weapon. The revolver’s barrel was aimed at Miyuki’s face for a brief second, before flying into the air along with the hand that held it. Pack leader clutched his injured arm, writhing in pain. Miyuki gripped him by his shirt collar, throwing him into the desk.

‘W-what do you think you’re doing? You cannot stop what has been set in motion today.’

‘Get up!’

Miyuki grabbed him by the collar again, this time grabbing the megaphone and slammed it into his face.

‘K-Killing me will solve nothing. Don’t you see? I will be made a martyr! History will remember today as a defining moment in-‘

‘Enough with your history! Call off the assault. NOW. Or I will kill you.’

Miyuki could feel her left hand trembling before suddenly black tendrils emerged, attaching themselves to pack leader’s skull.

‘Call of the assault. NOW. I will not ask again.’

The tendrils began injecting the black energy into his skull as his hands reached for a small device inside his pockets. The device glowed green.

‘There. It’s done… can you let me go now?’

The tendrils continued pumping black energy into his skull as Miyuki walked away the windows were stained with red. Walking outside of the bank, her earpiece clicked on.

Ms Miyuki! Ms Miyuki are you there?’

‘Molenda? What’s going on?’

Listen Ms Miyuki! You need to get here fast! Mikael has-‘

‘Molenda? Molenda?’

Miyuki saw a nearby abandoned hover taxi. Clambering inside, she swiftly punched in Molenda’s address and hurried over, fearing what she was going to uncover. ’