by R. E. Graham
The Inquisitor braced himself on the countertop as his legs shook from the explosion.
“What’s…oing on?” Seneca asked as his holoimage became distorted and focused back together.
“I think we are under attack sir.”
“Varius…ait for my…ders.” The holoprojector lost signal and the image of the Director fell into a pile of pixels.
The Inquisitor punched the counter and spun around. He beat twice on the door to be released before it slid open.
Eva came rushing down the stairs and shouted towards Varius. “We have company!”
Chapter 20
Cycle: 412 Month: 7 Rotation: 13
Prefecture: Siimon
Planet: Eden
Location: Inside Mik’s Techtopia
Another muffled explosion rocked the hidden level below the shop. Varius stumbled out of the small room and held onto the doorframe for support. “Is it the KoPs?” Varius asked through gritted teeth.
“Yeah, a whole bunch of them!” Eva exclaimed as she motioned for the Inquisitor to follow her.
“Oh man. Oh man. Oh man!” Mik held his head and rocked back and forth in his chair behind the communication terminal.
Varius stopped just before the stairs and shouted at the frightened man. “Is there another way out of here?”
“N…no. Just the back door.” He pointed angrily at the woman with his long finger. “This is all your fault! We’re so dead!”
Eva reached out and grabbed hold of the Inquisitor’s shirt and pulled him towards her. “Come on, we got to get moving!”
The pair rushed up the stairs, their footsteps banging loudly against the metal. Since the door was left open Varius stopped at the top of the stairs and held his hand up for Eva to stop. Both held their breath as they listened to the sound of multiple sets of boots from both directions closing in on them.
Unsure of what else to do, Eva reached out and pressed the door button to close it. The Inquisitor’s eyes widened but Eva just held up a finger to her lips motioning for him to be quiet.
The sound of the boots tromping into the hall passed by the door and the pair exhaled in relief. Varius quietly began down the stairs and the woman followed behind him.
“Where did Mik go?” the Inquisitor whispered as he reached the bottom of the stairs again.
Eva looked around equally confused. She shrugged at first but then noticed a vent cover out of place. Varius noticed the same and walked over to the panel to inspect it. Sure enough, it was as if it wasn’t placed into place quite right. He yanked it back and looked over at Eva as she realized it was the opening to an underground tunnel.
“That rodent!” she whispered harshly.
The Inquisitor set the panel to the side and pressed a button on his gauntlet which activated a bright light. He inspected the opening at first then stepped inside to lead the way into the pitch-black tunnel.
While the tunnel itself was large enough to walk through at full height, it had a terrible damp smell to it.
“This must have been some kind of drainage system back in the day” Eva said as she wiped her hand on her pants after accidentally touching the sides of the tunnel. “Yuck!”
Suddenly the path of the tunnel stopped, but light from above shown on an old ladder built into the wall. Varius killed the light on his gauntlet and began to climb with Eva close behind.
As the Inquisitor reached the top of the ladder he could see that a large grate covered the top of the tunnel. He reached up with his right hand while he balanced himself with his left. “Errrr” he grunted as he struggled to lift the grate enough to push it to the side. It grated loudly against the metal floor.
Varius climbed up two more rungs and looked around. The tunnel strangely led up to inside of the little food shop that was next door to the Techtopia. He was shocked to find a little old lady staring right at him behind her store’s counter. She didn’t say a word, so the Inquisitor took the initiative to smile at her and continue to climb out. He extended his arm down to Eva to help her up the rest of the way all while keeping eye contact with the other woman.
“Oh, hi!” Eva said cheerfully as she realized the old lady.
“You’re them!” the woman screamed and ran out of the shop.
Varius watched the woman through the shop’s dingy windows. “Well that could have been worse” he said just as a team of armored agents ran up to her.
Eva swatted the Inquisitor in the chest and said, “Let’s get out of here!” as the old woman pointed at her store.
The guards’ heads shot up and they bolted for the door.
Varius spun on his heel and ran after Eva. Boxes of dried goods exploded into chunks of debris as the guards opened fire with their automatic rifles. The Inquisitor shielded his head as he slid the rest of the short distance to Eva and the backdoor that led to an alley behind the shops.
Another team that was guarding the back door of the Techtopia looked over and saw the pair as they exited the nearby store and ran the opposite direction down the alley. Immediately several of them chased after while another called in the sighting over his radio.
“I hope you have a plan!” Eva shouted back to the Inquisitor as they dodged garbage bins and old boxes in the alley.
“Working on it!”
The ground began to shake again, and Varius’ heart sank at the sight of the all-white Sierra WarMech stomp its way in front of the alley and aim its weapons at them.
“Cover your eyes!” Eva called out as she retrieved a thin cylinder from under her shirt and twisted the top of it. She half stopped running to throw the cylinder up at the WarMech. The pair covered their eyes just as it exploded into an intense bright light smack dab in front of the WarMech.
“Follow me Inquisitor” the woman said as she sprinted for the feet of the Sierra. Varius followed as quickly as he could.
Temporarily blinded by the flashbang grenade, the WarMech’s optics fought to adjust quick enough. The mech pilot moved his Sierra back two steps into the street as the two ran straight underneath it.
In the confusion, the agents pursuing the pair had to stop in the alley as to not be stepped on as the Sierra spun around. It accidentally swiped the edge of the building to its right as it adjusted itself sending chunks of the outer wall to the ground.
A perimeter had been established quickly as the assault on the Techtopia shop began. From all of the commotion a big crowd of nosey onlookers began to assemble on the sidewalk. Eva rushed right into the crowd of people with Varius right behind her. The gathering of citizens stood in shock as the Sierra lumbered over to them weapons aimed menacingly.
The pilot’s voice bellowed over his mech’s external speakers, “Clear the area” and people began to scream and run in every which direction. Without stopping the Sierra charged right onto the sidewalk.
Another team of agents saw the two fugitives run into the crowd and chased in after them. An officer on the scene tossed up a seeker drone and pulled out a handheld device to control the machine. It boosted through the air and hovered just out of reach of Eva as its onboard lights flashed red and green.
Varius bumped into multiple people running in the same direction as him as he fought to get through the frantic crowd. The Sierra’s rhythmic thump, thump, thump of its steps kept the people scurrying to stay out from under its massive feet.
Eva hopped into the air to try and strike the seeker drone but it simply floated up higher. She grunted as a large fleeing gentleman slammed into her side knocking her over. Varius stopped with just enough time to pick her up and keep running.
Unfortunately, Varius stopping caused others behind him to go around his body and it resulted in a young lady getting knocked over. She screamed out as the crowd left her behind and she was squished by the charging Sierra.
The Inquisitor grabbed Eva by the hand and pulled her down another alley. While the agents were able to follow behind the alley was much to narrow for the Sierra to follow as well. The pilot smashed dow
n on his controls in anger.
Varius continued to pull the woman along with him into an open backdoor of a small restaurant and into its kitchen. “Split up!” the Inquisitor shouted as he went left. Eva continued to the other side of the kitchen as staff jumped out of her way.
The pursuing KoP agents followed after the woman and entirely missed Varius position himself behind them. One of the agents stopped and attempted to aim his rifle as the Inquisitor kicked him in the chest which knocked the agent back into a food cooler. Varius took hold of the moment and grabbed the agent’s helmet to slam his head into the prep station countertop next to them. Chunks of fresh vegetables bounced from the force of the impact and spilled onto the floor along with the agent.
Eva saw the four remaining agents close behind her and she backed up into the wall. She felt along the wall until she found a pan hanging off of a rack. The first agent rushed in with a stun baton up and she smashed his helmet as hard as she could with the cooking pan. Completely dazed, the agent crashed into the wall and slumped to the floor.
With a bit more hesitation, the other agents stopped out of reach and aimed their rifles. Eva put her hands up to halt them from shooting her when suddenly Varius jumped into the midst of them and tackled them all to the ground. The agent in the middle began to wrestle with the Inquisitor while the other two attempted to stand.
Eva rushed in and kicked the left one so hard that he flopped onto his back. The other brought his rifle up and the woman tossed a bowl of food from a nearby workstation at her. With disregard for the bowl the female agent blocked the food but was not expecting her attacker to strike her rifle down and then get jabbed in her neck. Eva followed up the brutal combo by grabbing the agent’s head and striking her in the helmet with her knee.
As the female agent tumbled to the ground Varius knocked his own opponent out. Breathing heavily the Inquisitor got up to his feet and the two ran off as fast as their feet would carry them. In the turbulence of the moment, the pair didn’t notice the duo of silhouettes watching them from the shadows atop a nearby building.
Chapter 21
Cycle: 412 Month: 7 Rotation: 13
Prefecture: Siimon
Planet: Eden
Location: Outside the Loading Dock Zones
After the pair of fugitives escaped the loading dock zone they found shelter in another abandoned warehouse. The sound of water dripping echoed throughout the inside of empty metal structure. Eva leaned forward with her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
“I haven’t had to run like that in such a long time.”
Varius ran his hand through his short hair and paced.
“How did they know to look for us there?” he asked out loud.
The retired inquisitor shook her head as she sniffed forcefully. “I…don’t know.”
“Are you sure you could have trusted that shop keeper? What if he sold us out?” the Inquisitor asked as he stopped pacing and crossed his arms.
Eva stood up but still fought to catch her breath all the way. “I doubt it. Mik seemed pretty freaked when they showed up.”
“Yeah, well he sure had no problem bailing on us.”
“You don’t understand, do you? He took a huge risk allowing you to contact the Bureau.”
Varius swiped away her comment and walked deeper into the warehouse. He spun back around angrily and pointed his finger sharply towards her. “I could just have easily strung him up on multiple counts of illegal communication laws.”
“True, and completely abandoned any hope of contacting Director Seneca!” she shouted back.
The Inquisitor didn’t want to admit she was right, so he walked further away. Just as he was about to lay into her again he was launched into the air by an orange blast of energy that hit his side. He spun through the air and landed in a stack of old plasti-crates which tumbled down onto him.
“Varius!” Eva shouted just before she felt the sensation of electricity shoot up her body. She crumpled to the ground and lost consciousness.
Through blurred eyes, Varius tried to look around him but couldn’t see very far because of the blinding light coming from above him. He realized that both of his arms were bound in front of him while he was also bound back to back with someone and that he was sitting on the floor.
“Eva?” he asked as he twisted his head back as far as he could manage.
“Yeah, I’m here” she replied with an annoyed tone.
With his vision returning to normal, the Inquisitor inspected the area around them again but could only see an empty warehouse.
“Inquisitor, you have quite a bit to answer for” an unknown male voice said as it echoed through the empty warehouse. The sudden voice made Eva jump.
“Who are you?” Varius shouted into the emptiness.
“I will be the one asking the questions” the voice answered back harshly.
“I won’t be answering anyone that I can’t see. Come out into the light” the Inquisitor ordered.
“Perhaps if you see me I will just have to kill you.”
Eva used her back to bump Varius. “Stop instigating” she whispered.
Ignoring his fellow fugitive, he grew angrier at the conversation. “Are you the Shadow Man? Come out here and face me!”
“So be it.”
An awkwardly long moment passed before a large dark mass jumped down into Varius’ view and smashed into the floor with a metallic crunch. He couldn’t discern what it was exactly until it stood up to its full height.
Full bodied armor.
Then another jumped into view off to his right.
“What’s going on Varius? I can’t see anything” the woman said as she struggled to turn her head enough for her eyes to see their captors.
Both figures approached the bound fugitives, their heavy boots grating loose debris beneath them with each step. There was a distinct sound to their steps that reminded the Inquisitor of a sound he heard many times on raids across the Republic.
Power armor.
The first figure stepped into the glow of the overhead light giving Varius his first real glimpse of one of his captors. Its armor was dark blue with portions of its armor glowing a dull orange. A strip of black cloth with white trim hung from both hips giving the armor a more ethereal appearance.
While the armor looked imposing, the Inquisitor could tell the wearer was very tall yet very skinny as well. The helmet had two large jagged bulbs that protruded from either side of the head, while the faceplate was solid black. To his surprise he could not spot any weapons but was certain someone wearing power armor wasn’t going to walk around without being armed.
The other figure also stepped into the light on the Inquisitor’s right, but this one had a totally different set of armor. First off it was a shorter person than the other, but the look of the armor was no less imposing. From head to toe it was a worn bronze color with a deep purple color for highlights emitting from parts of its armor. Like the first one, this armor had multiple strips of yellow cloth with purple highlights hanging from it but from its center of its waist and tucked in just under the neck.
Their helmet was much sleeker looking with what looked like a horn extended back behind the head. Again, this one had no weapons, but he knew he got hit by some sort of attack that sent him careening through the air.
“Are we in trouble?” Eva asked to help break the silence.
Varius ignored her question and tilted his head up to the dark blue one. “What do you want with me?”
“Aren’t you quite the defiant one?” he asked with the same voice as before.
“All I have left is defiance since you ambushed us.”
The dark blue one began to pace to the left. “Honestly, if I had it my way I would be extracting the answers from you with…alternative methods. Now, tell me what you know about the Shadow Man.”
Varius’ eyebrow arched. “Real tough guy talk for a guy in power armor. You are interfering with my investigation and unless you wa
nt the strength of the law coming after you, you will release me immediately.”
The armored man threw his head back and laughed mockingly. “You are a fugitive from the law. Orders have already gone out from the Bureau of Central Intelligence to apprehend you and the retired inquisitor there. Dead or alive.”
“Impossible. Who are you?”
“It isn’t impossible Inquisitor Varius. It is the truth” the other armored person said as a female voice came through her external speakers.
Varius looked over to her but remained resilient and careful not to divulge too much. “Who are you two? There would be no way that you would know so quickly of orders from the Bureau.”
“You don’t know the half of it boy” the dark blue one teased.
“Actually, there is Varius. We are Keepers” the bronze one said coolly.
“Keepers? Like Keepers of Peace?” Eva asked as she strained to see the bronze captor.
“Ha, no. We are not affiliated with the Keepers of Peace” the blue one scoffed.
“Then what are you keepers of?” the Inquisitor asked getting annoyed by the situation.
“We are the Keepers of the Republic” the female captor said as she crossed her arms.
“They are a myth!” Varius said in disbelief.
“You wish we were. Marth, passcode “insight”” the blue one said as he took a step outside the light.
“Access granted. How may I be of service Keeper of Knowledge?” the AI housed in the Inquisitor’s gauntlet asked.
Varius’ face changed into total confusion and disbelief as he looked down at his gauntlet.
“We are telling you the truth, and we need your cooperation for our investigation” the female keeper said calmly.
“So, you’re telling me you’re the “Keeper of Knowledge”?” the Inquisitor asked mockingly to the blue armored one.
“Yes, but you can just call me Knowledge.”
Varius looked to his bronze captor. She pointed a thumb back to herself. “I’m Liberty.”
“I don’t really understand” Varius said in confusion.