by Aer-ki Jyr
A few seconds later Megan dropped to a knee beside him, having come up the stairway on the opposite side. “Two down, right side. I think we can go up that way if you give me a boost.”
Paul looked over her shoulder, trying to pick the best spot. “Alright. Other side of that hedge,” he said, signaling back to his teammates within vision range. Some of them were out of sight below the edge of the terrace.
Dan signaled back for them to proceed, aiming that direction with his sniper rifle. Brian wasn’t in sight, and must have redeployed to another position.
Paul tapped Megan on the shoulder, signaling his readiness. She set herself for a moment then sprinted off towards the low, green hedgerow, keeping as close to two meter high terrace wall as she could. A mass of potted trees blocked her best route, meaning she was still visible to some of the third terrace positions.
Dan’s long-barreled rifle puffed twice, taking down a trainer on the third level as Randy moved up the stairs and onto the second. Whenever one of the 2s moved, the others used the distraction to redeploy, leapfrogging their way forward, which prompted Paul to run after Megan a couple seconds later. If they were going to shoot at her, then he’d have a small window of opportunity.
There was a short rectangular potting box with red and white flowers in his path, but he hurdled it without too much trouble and joined Megan in between two more coconut trees, tucked up against the retaining wall where they were momentarily out of sight. Down below Emily caught their attention, bring her flat palm up in front of her face and popping her thumb up straight…the signal for an automated turret.
She relayed the approximate location from Brian with more hand signals, who was currently high up in one of the trees with a better vision angle than the rest of them. The turret was hidden behind a tree on the third level and had a clear lateral field of fire across the center placed, double-wide staircase leading up to the fourth and top terrace.
“Give me a peek,” Paul suggested. Megan knelt down on her knees next to the base of the wall and placed her hands flat on the ground, tensing her arms and back, making an impromptu bench that Paul stepped up on. Megan wobbled a bit, but otherwise held firm as Paul’s head popped up above the edge and looked around.
There wasn’t much to see. Two large pots blocked most of his vision, but no trainers were visible…nor the turret, and there was just enough ledge to shimmy up on this side of the pots for cover.
Paul stepped down and huddled next to Megan to whisper in her ear. “Narrow gap between the pots and the edge.”
Megan left her rifle on the ground and stood up as Paul cupped his hands together. She put her foot in his fingers and readied herself. Both of them went through three bobbing swings of arms and leg to get their timing right, then Megan jumped up and slithered over the edge with the help of the boost. Paul reached down and picked up her weapon, then fed it into the tiny hand that appeared above him. It reappeared a moment later and he deposited his weapon in it, which also disappeared from view.
Up top, Megan turned over onto her back, laying on her shield, and dipped her right leg over the edge, tucking it up against the concrete and bracing herself with her arm. She also grabbed the rim of the pot, hoping a few fingers wouldn’t be enough to attract attention as she flexed her toes upward. A moment later she felt Paul’s weight try to drag her over the edge as he used her foot and knee as leverage points to climb up on, but he was quick enough about it and slid up behind the other pot down past her feet.
She slid his weapon over to him and rolled over onto her belly, then carefully inched up into a hunch, looking around as best she could when she heard a grunt from nearby, then the distinctive clatter of weapon falling on rock tile. The others must have downed another trainer.
Paul risked a one second peek up and over the edge, just enough to get his bearings while hopefully not long enough to allow anyone to sight in on him…though if they were looking, they now knew exactly where he was.
“Turret is far left. Not much cover in between. Head up that way and I’ll draw fire,” he said, pointing down the length of the wall.
Megan crawled off to the left while Paul scurried right, crossing behind the edge of the courtyard that was ringed with shrubbery, the small gaps between which posed some problems, drawing the fire of a sniper up on the fourth terrace, but the 2s’ own snipers downed him as soon as he popped up out of cover, leaving Paul to deal with the distant turret.
He pulled the shield off his back and parked it up behind one of the cube-like shrubs, knowing that the stingers could potentially penetrate the greenery, whole or in splatter, either of which would cause trouble for him. With the shield in position to catch most of the paint, he popped up into partial view and fired three shots at the sphere atop the turret.
Only one of his shots hit, but as predictable the barrels swiveled left and fired on him, though its aim was no better than his. Then again, with four barrels firing rapidly, it didn’t have to be.
Paul hunkered down behind his shield, hoping not to catch any flack on his extremities that the narrow shield didn’t cover and waited out the firestorm. After several long seconds and more than 40 stingers pelting the now blue shrubbery, the leaflets stopped moving as the turret retargeted on Megan for a few shots, then fell silent.
“Clear!” Megan yelled out for him, knowing that he was out of hand signal line of sight. She did motion to the others, however, and got them moving forward. Dan repositioned first and took out the trainers on the 4th level, the top of the artificial hill, clearing the threat from this end of the course.
Jason watched from the entry tunnel as his teammates moved up the stairwell and onto the top terrace, then moved laterally to secure firing positions. He turned and looked back at the now closed doors at the far end of the tunnel where the technician was waiting behind her shield.
“It’s clear. Let’s go.”
10
Neira knelt down next to the door control panel and pried it off with a tiny chisel-like devise from her belt-mounted toolkit as Jason stood behind her with his twin shields, nearly obscuring her from view. They were nearly 2/3rds of the way through the park course with the widely spaced park sidewalls beginning to narrow down again, confining and reconnecting the multiple paths available through the center region.
The door they stood before now was at the base of a 5 meter high wall and composed of thick metallic segments…too thick to kick down or break through in any other manner. Neira was their only way through, as she had been for two other impasses. After she got the panel and numerical pad off the concrete wall, she pulled out a clump of wires and attached a small interface line that led to a palm-sized data device, whereupon she began to hack into the computer controlled door lock.
The high wall ran the entire width of the park, with 7 different access points, two of which actually went up and over the wall via catwalks that would have left them vulnerable to attack, essentially suspended up in the air for all to see. Paul and the others had concluded that as long as they had a hacker in the squad, they might as well make use of her and take the road less traveled, so to speak.
This door entrance was on the far right side, tucked inside a small sunken courtyard surrounded by potted trees and shrubs. Jason stood protecting Neira while Megan and Paul stood ready at the door to deal with anyone on the other side while the rest of the 2s were fanned out creating a protective perimeter, covering both the danger zone to their left and the ‘pacified’ areas behind.
Up on the highest perch he could find, Brian scanned the path behind with his sniper scope, leaving the closer surveillance to his teammates. On occasion the trainers would try to flank them, especially in a park this large, by circling around from behind, so they could never assume any area was totally safe. Brian had adopted a ‘check everywhere’ rhythm to his scans and was startled when he spotted someone far behind them, coming up and over the first ‘hillside’ they’d crossed over half an hour ago.
He looked away fr
om his scope and signaled back towards Emily, holding up his hand and extending his middle finger…their signal for the Black Knight. He followed up with his hand touching his chest then jutting out to full arms reach pointing two fingers away, meaning ‘far off.’
Emily relayed the signal through the others, reaching Jason just as Neira was finishing up her hack.
“Figures,” he muttered. Everything had been going well up until now. He turned his head to the side so his low voice would carry better, but he kept his eyes focused on the area behind them, knowing how fast their nemesis was. “Can you lock this door after we come through?”
“If there’s a panel on the other side, yes, but it will take a while.”
“What about from this side?”
“But we have to go through? Someone would have to…”
“Can you do it?” he reiterated, knowing time was short.
“Yes, I can. But someone will have to input a second code from this side…hold on. I’ve got it.”
Megan and Paul repositioned immediately, training their weapons on the closed door.
“Open it,” Jason said, moving to block her from the doorway. “And get that other code.”
The metallic door groaned open, sliding into the thick concrete and out of view. Megan pushed through immediately, followed a second later by Paul. Jason couldn’t hear any weaponsfire, so he assumed the area immediately on the other side was safe. He signaled to Ivan to pull back, who relayed the order out to the others who were still some distance away.
“What do you want the code to be? I have to write a new one.”
“How long?”
“Any sequence will do.”
“The number 2.”
Neira tapped rapidly into the data device, then suddenly stopped and disconnected. “Done,” she announced, crudely sliding the panel back into place. It hung slightly ajar, but she didn’t bother with it further.
“Emily, hold up,” Jason said as she and Kip came back to the door. “Give me your stun stick.”
Without hesitation she unclipped it from her belt, trusting her teammate completely.
He dropped one of his shields to accept the second weapon. “When everyone is through, hit the number 2 to close and lock the door, then run.”
“I understand,” she said, walking over to the panel and setting her shield down so she had a free hand.
“Come on,” Jason prompted Neira, leading her through just as Jack and Randy arrived.
Dan came through last, hefting his long sniper rifle across his chest. “Twenty seconds,” he said as he ran past, indicating how far behind them the Black Knight was.
When he was a good two steps through the doorway, set inside the three meter thick concrete wall, Emily tapped the ‘2’ key and the door promptly slid back into place. Grabbing her shield and rapidly turning about, Emily ran across the courtyard and up onto a large elevated patch of mulched dirt and trees, eschewing the path that the Black Knight was coming up. She dropped behind one of the larger trunks and hid, hoping he’d pass her by, but knowing that if he didn’t she’d still be buying time for the others.
She first caught sight of him running into the courtyard, sword still attached to his belt, as he went up to the door and tried to input the open code. Emily found it mildly curious that he would know what it was, but when it didn’t work he didn’t waste any time with a second attempt and took off to the left, backtracking slightly and crossing over to another of the available passages through the wall.
Emily blew out a steady breath of relief at him having missed her, then began tracking after him from a distance, alert for other enemies laying in wait.
After fighting through a nest of well imbedded trainers on a diagonal terrace full of outcroppings to provide them cover, Jason dispatched half his remaining team to intercept the Black Knight behind them and buy time. He, Paul, Megan, and Dan escorted Neira up towards the final climb that led to a small square surrounded by columns and imbedded inside the park sidewall at the end of the course.
Dan found himself some decent cover and held position, covering the advance of the skirmishers while Jason stayed with his ward, keeping her down and out of sight behind another of the giant pots holding tropical trees. His teammate’s sniper rifle puffed once and a trainer abruptly stood up from behind cover, his left hand covered in green paint.
Paul downed the careless man with two quick shots to the chest and ran up one tier, drawing out another trainer which Dan then downed. Megan came up along a different path and took out one of her own, with Paul flushing two more, which Dan promptly took down. A few moments later Paul signaled back that the finish area was clear.
“Move,” Jason said quietly, but firmly, picking up Neira by the arm and almost dragging her forward. Her feet caught up to the motion within a few steps and she slowly ran forward, carrying her shield with her. Dan went with them, running ahead and taking up a sniping position to defend the hacker against the other trainers still out on the course, who could be redeploying to this end at any moment.
“Megan,” Jason said, gesturing for her to come to him as Neira got to work on the pedestal.
With a careful glance towards the other end of the course, Megan broke cover and ran over to Jason.
“Stay with her,” he said, handing her his shield.
“Good luck,” she offered, accepting the shield in addition to the one she still wore on her back and ducking down behind the tech to cover her otherwise exposed position directly in the center of the square.
Jason unclipped his second stun stick and activated them both as he started to run back towards the fight in the distance. “Paul!” he yelled, jumping down from one terrace to the other.
“Right behind you,” his teammate said, dumping his shield as well and brandishing his single stun stick.
The Black Knight, already finished with their teammates, save for Brian who was at a distance sniping in an attempt to distract the bastard, met them halfway, intent on getting to the hacker before she could win the challenge for them. Jason took at him with both stun sticks slashing, keeping his body moving about as the Black Knight blocked his attacks and swung back.
Paul got there a few seconds later and circled around to try and attack from the back, but the Knight’s long sword swung around in a circle, causing him to step back to avoid getting hit.
Jason pounced on the opening, brief as it was, and jabbed into the Knight’s midsection, then ducked and rolled left to avoid his return swing. He batted at the incoming overhead blow, barely deflecting it in time.
Paul jumped in from behind and jabbed into the Knight’s back, then retreated as he was swung at again…staying in the fight and buying valuable seconds.
Seemingly perturbed with the trainees lasting more than a few moves and the fact that the hacker had reached the finish area, the Black Knight ignored Paul completely and ran bodily into Jason, taking the quick hit by his stun stick and kneeing him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. He also took four quick strikes on his back by Paul as he inverted his sword and drove it down into Jason’s chest.
A fifth and sixth hit by Paul caused the Knight to stumble, but he swung around awkwardly, prompting Paul to retreat a step, during which the black armored giant righted himself and brought his sword up. He ran towards Paul and slashed him across the leg after four quick moves, stunning him unconscious and out of the fight.
Another stinger hit the side of the Knight’s helmet, causing him to stagger again. Two more followed to the chest as Dan added to the massive amount of stun charge already delivered to the saturated black armor. Ignoring the snipers, the Black Knight slowly ran up the stairs to the next terrace, two below the finish area.
Megan saw most of what was happening and dropped her shields, leaning one up against Neira’s back as she picked up her rifle and ran out, seeing the Knight wobbling and knowing that every stinger delivered would bring him closer to falling.
“Got it!” Neira shouted, prompting
Megan to skid to a halt just as she reached the entrance columns. She did an abrupt about face and ran back to the pedestal and smacked down the finish button.
A ‘challenge-end’ klaxon blared out across the park as all the sunlight equivalent ceiling lights turned blue, indicating that the challenge had been successfully completed. Megan, not completely believing it, walked back out onto the terrace and looked for the Black Knight, wondering if even the end of the challenge would stop him from beating them unconscious.
She found him standing one terrace down on the steps, just staring back at her through his opaque faceplate.
Behind him Emily ran up and around, making sure to stay out of arms reach, tossing him a one-fingered salute as she passed by, but he didn’t see her. He just continued to stare down Megan for a long ten seconds before finally swinging his sword around in a vertical circle and smoothly reattaching it to the clasp on his belt, breaking eye contact and walking off back into the center of the park.
Brian caught up to the others a few seconds later, never taking his eyes off the giant. The trainees had never finished a scenario with the Black Knight, and it was unnerving to see him up close and not attacking. They were used to waking up to the face of a medic with the Knight long gone.
“Well that’s a first,” Dan said, walking up beside Megan.
“About time,” she echoed, finally turning around and looking for Neira, who was waiting by the pedestal, unsure of what to do next. “Nice work.”
The petite blonde smiled widely. “Happy to be of help.”
Just then a hidden doorway in the back of the square opened and a squad of medics ran out and passed by the trainees, though one lagged behind with the group.
“Any of you hit?” she asked.