Hostile Takeover

The light outside stung my eyes. Three weeks in solitary confinement without light teaches you something; three weeks in solitary confinement without light also gives you time to think. An hour before I got locked up, a government agent came, said he had business with me, wanted me to get back into my old business. He also told me that my sentence would be shortened if I accepted his offer. I punched him in the face, after refusing; my killing days were over. After that I was shot in the neck with a tranquilizer dart, and the last thing I remember before waking up chained in a dark room was the warm sunlight on my face.

I sat down. The government official sitting in front of me looked at me with his discontent eyes, apparently looking self conscious about the bandage on his nose. He took out a file, containing some documents, a dossier and some pictures of a futuristic looking spacecraft.

Jones, his name was, spoke with his monotone, boring voice, "I'm giving you one last shot at this, so if you want to pass this chance of leaving this prison alive, feel free to spend your last 50 days waiting for your execution. Now, this ship," He handed me the picture, "is the HMS Animosity. Two weeks ago, a group of bandits took over the ship, and we want you to take it back. Now, we understand that you have.... Bad blood with these bandits, so I wouldn't expect you to refuse my offer."

He gave me another document. This one had a blurry picture of a man on it and some fancy paragraphs. I recognized him as the leader of the local splinter group of The Frostbite, the biggest bandit group across the few planets we call a galaxy.

"I'll take it," I said. "on one condition." Jones raised his eyebrow. "I want my old gear back." Jones narrowed his eyes, considering.

A few minutes later, he turned to me and said, "Alright. The car's waiting outside. Go get changed, I'll wait outside."

A few minutes later, I walked out of the prison gates. I was back in my comfy worn jeans, leather jacket and my torn black shirt. I boarded the car, sitting behind Agent Jones as he pulled out a file from his seemingly bottomless suitcase.

"Here are the floor plans of the HMS Animosity. Try to memorize all the hidden passages and not get lost. Now, your mission, is to eliminate the splinter group, bring the leader back alive if you can, and retake the ship's control. Simple enough?" He handed me the floor plans.

"Sure. As long as I don't get one of your Imperial Gears and crap, I'll be fine." I took the file.

"Don't worry. Your old equipments are locked inside our armory. No one could figure out how to use your stuff during your 4 month absence." He gave me a annoyed look, trying to vent his dissatisfaction.

"4 months? I didn't realize I was gone for that long," I said, smirking a little, "and to think I was about to go home with some girl at the bar that night," I laughed a little. Jones looked at me with his emotionless eyes, not even showing the smallest hint of being capable to feel humor. "Or not." I said, sinking into the oddly comfortable leather seat, and took a little nap.

When I came to, Jones was next to me. "Wake up, we're here." I sat up, exiting the car while wiping the saliva off of my face. I looked at the seat, "sorry about your seat." I apologized as I walked into the base with Jones.

"Here are your weapons and your armaments . Briefing will start when you're ready." Jones said as he walked away.

I took a long look at my armor. Months of storage made its white armor plates lose its shine. The sight of my carbon steel knife resting in its sheath made my smile as I began cleaning my armor and readjusting it. After I finished checking and configuring my weaponry, I walked outside, helmet in hand. My armor gleamed under the bright light as I walked towards the briefing room as instructed.

"Ah. How nice of you to join us." Jones said as he saw me enter.

"Us? Is there some-" I asked before noticing the girl sitting in the corner, cleaning her blade. 

She looked at me with her piercing grey eyes, "I've been expecting you."

I tilted my head and asked, "Who is she?" 

"She's going to accompany you on your mission. Found her out in the deserts of the Midlands," Jones said, gesturing towards her.

She tied her gleaming golden hair into a pony tail and turned to me with an annoyed look, "Made me a deal I couldn't refuse," she stood up, "Pleased to meet you." She held out her hand.

I shook it, "Pleasure's all mine. Got a name to go with that pretty face?"

She looked like she was about answer before Jones cut in, "You can get to know each other later. Now, shall we start the briefing?" Without waiting for our answer, he pointed at the screen, "This, is the map of the HMS Animosity, and the two of you will enter," he pointed at one of the exhaust vents, "from here." He switched the slide, showing the rules of engagement, "We have the element of surprise, use that to your advantage. Leave no bandit alive, save for the leader, that is. We'll need him for interrogation."

Both of us nodded. "You're shipping off in ten," Jones said as he walked out of the room, "be prepared."

Once he walked out of the room, the girl turned to me, "Don't have a name. Closest thing I ever got to a name was my code. I was trained by the Awareness since I was a baby. The only word I remember answering to was my code, 1024. You?"

I shrugged, "They all call me Riess. If you want history to remember you, I suggest you give yourself a name. History would rather remember the duo who saved the Animosity as someone with names, not 1024 and Riess."

"I'll think about it." She looked at her left hand, the word "Grace" was carved on her gauntlet. "I read a lot before I left the Order. Came across an age-old term Coup de grâce, and well, since I rarely let my targets suffer, they called me Mercy. And since grâce means mercy, I've been calling myself Grace since I left."

I once again extended my hand, and did my best smile, "Nice to meet you, Grace."

She smiled and shook my hand, "nice to meet you too, Riess."

Took us a few hours just to get to the exhaust vent, and god knows how long we have to spend beating people up. I looked at my reflection on the window of the space pod, fixing my hair as I put on my helmet. Blue lights lit up the visor of my helmet and I cracked my knuckles, bracing myself for the oncoming slaughter. Grace put on her helmet, encasing her in an armor of deep navy blue. The black slit that was her visor glinted with light. She sheathed her blade and sat down, preparing herself.

Why

We climbed down the exhaust vent and entered the maintenance room, Grace tapped a few buttons on her wrist brace and disappeared from view. Camouflage at its best. We crept out of the room, entering the view of a small squad of guards.

The one in front yelled as he held his rifle up. The other members of the squad lifted their weapons as well and aimed for me. I reached for my two submachine guns and did a somersault as they fired, narrowly dodging the bullets. I landed in a crouch, firing my twin SMGs. The three guards in front shrieked as immeasurable amounts of lead penetrated their body, and they fell, blood everywhere. The surviving three crept a corner as I saw a familiar flash of blue. Another grunt was heard as a guard fell to the ground, his neck slit. Grace appeared behind him and the two remaining guards aimed at her. She threw a knife at one and dashed for the other, stabbing the second guard in the chest as the first guard fell dead with a knife embedded in his chest.

I gave her a thumbs up as I heard a faint chuckle from her. we advanced through the ship, killing the guards and bandits in our way. It wasn't an easy fight, but we were skilled enough to take on the swarms of enemies. It seemed like the whole splinter group came together to hijack the ship. Resistance increased as we ventured our way to the control room, progressing from grunts to heavier armored Tanks.

As we entered a long corridor, Grace disappeared once again as enemies began to cover the corridor. I ran into position, punching a grunt and breaking his skull as I jammed my pistol into another grunts throat and firing. Blood splatted on my armor, ruining its white surface with a bright red. I loaded my pistol with armor penetrating bullets as I ducked for cover. Two heavily armored Tanks appeared at the end of the hallway, took a deep breath as I stood up and turned around, firing three shots at one of them. He grunted and took a few steps back, two of the bullets missed and hit a few grunts behind him, as the remaining bullet punctured his stomach. He screamed as a silver sword went through his chest. The blade withdrew as Grace spun around, facing him. She took out a pistol and shot the Tank in the head, killing him. As she continued to combat the grunts I realized the second Tank was missing. I realized that a second to late as I felt a huge hand press on my shoulder and spun me around. The Tank in front me wagged his finger, suggesting that I shouldn't have angered him. He pushed me to the ground as he took a knife out and tried to stab me. I held the serrated blade away from my face with my left hand as he pressed closer. I pointed my right hand at his temple as an armor plate on my wrist shifted back, revealing a small shotgun. His head turned and gasped as I smiled, firing the shotgun point blank.

His whole dead body jerked sideways as I stood up, wiping the blood on my helmet. I reloaded my shotgun, sheathed my pistol and took out a railgun as Grace finished off the rest of the grunts.

Kicking the door open, we found ourselves facing a horde of grunts with a line if hostages in front of them. The leader stood at the back, both hands holding a rifle. 

The leader smiled at us, "welcome, to your funeral!" He gestured towards us and the bandits slowly advanced with the hostages in front. They had a variety o weapons in their hands, all aimed at us behind the terrified hostages.

Grace disappeared again, and I heard a crash. She appeared behind the lines and stabbed two bandits from the back, taking their guns and attracting the attention of the swarm of bandits. I aimed my railgun at the nearest band of bandits, and fired. The electromagnetic accelerated projectile whistled through the air, killing the bandits, the projectile leaving a bright trail of light behind. Grace fought through the bandits, attempting to reach the hostages. I ran forward, ramming into the bandits blocking my way. I hoisted a hostage on my left shoulder as I broke the rib cage of a bandit with my fists. I aimed my railgun at another bunch of bandits, making my way to the gang leader as I killed the rest of the bandits. Soon only the leader was left, he faced us with an arrogant smile. He lifted his rifles and prepared to fire-

-and then he was shot in the back. He fell forwards, blood gushing out of the wound. A man in a suit faced us, his gun pointed at us.

He grinned, "I'm sorry, but I don't think he's the boss around here."

I sheathed my gun, "Sir, I'm glad you intervened, but we have to secure-" I stopped mid-sentence as I felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder. I turned around, Grace lied on the floor, unconscious. A burly man in military uniform stood there, a sledgehammer and a pistol in hand. I grit my teeth, dropping the railgun I had in hand.

The man's smile faded, "No, I mean he really wasn't the boss, I am." He kicked the dead man on the floor. 

"Why?" I asked. 

"Well," he lowered his gun, "this ship is a property of the English Military, and it is armed to the teeth," he waved his gun around, "just look at all this, a little modification and it could be ours," he smiled, "the private warship of The Frostbite." 

I staggered, "is that all? A splinter group like yours won't use the whole group just for a ship." 

The man brushed back his hair and clapped his hands, "Bravo, Sherlock Holmes, bravo. Of course that wasn't all.

The government controlling England isn't the government we used to know. The Black Skull took over the whole English government a few months ago, and we had to even the odds. Judging by your affiliations with that Awareness girl over there, you're not working with the rebels anymore, yeah?" 

I nodded, "The government captured us and gave us a deal; work for them or get executed." 

The man shook his head, "That's the Black Skull for ya; let me guess, the man who approached you calls himself Jones, and is completely emotionless?"

I stepped back an asked, "how did you know?"

He sighed, "His name is K. H. Lamm, one of the higher ups in The Skull responsible for recruiting skilled individuals. Now he's in charge of a government agency, he can force you people to work for them. I met him once, when I was still in The Frostbite."

I tilted my head, confused, "was? I thought you were still working for them."

The man bit his lip and said, "not anymore. I'm one of the rebels now. The name's Rick if you're interested." 

The door behind us exploded as I prepared to continue to question him. A team of men in brown armor and a black skull insignia on their shoulder rushed in, leaded by Lamm.

"Hello, Richard," Lamm said, his pistol pointed him. "Still thinking about that offer?"

Richard spat on the ground, "I'd rather die than to join you, Baron," he aimed at Lamm as well. "I am done working for you, or any other gang."

Lamm smiled, "Agent, step back, I'll handle this." Showing emotion for the first time, "this is quite personal; I don't want you to be involved."

I sided with Rick, pointing my rifle at the men, "No, I am done working for you, Lamm. Lets just fight this out, no government interference." 

Lamm chuckled, "very well." He turned to me, his gun still aimed at Rick. "If both of you want to fight, then we shall fight." He shot Rick in the arm and his chest, and he fell backwards, blood appearing on his suit.

Rick turned to me, his mouth filled with blood, "Ge... get to the... Esc.. Escape pod..." He pointed at a door towards our right before closing his eyes for one last time.

I checked my right arm. The bullet of the pistol almost penetrated the armor, and I could feel the bruise under my armor. The numbness from the bullet was fading, and I could feel my arm again. I took out both my rifles before charging, the machine gun mounted on my shoulder firing as I charged. The armored thugs fired at me with their rifles, the bullets bouncing off my armor. I slowly advanced as the firing squad was eliminated. Soon, there was only Lamm left. I fired at him, only to have the bullet go through him as he shimmered. 

His image disappeared as I felt my right shoulder bein pierced by a blade. I turned around, seeing nobody but Lamm in front of me, his face twisted into a wicked smile.

"I win," he said, pointing a gun at my face. "Armor piercing bullets. You won't even see them coming." I closed my eyes, accepting my death as I heard the sound of a gun firing. And then I heard a grunt, and something hitting the ground.

I opened my eyes, seeing Lamm on the ground, a pool of blood on his back. I saw Grace lying on the ground, a rifle in her hand. She stood up, shaking a little as she did so.

"We should leave, the ships going to blow," she said walking towards the escape pods. "Lamm activated the self destruct program, the ships going to destruct in a few minutes."

As we got inside the escape pod, a voice announced, "Self destruction in 5, 4, 3..." 

The pod launched into space as the ship exploded, debris flying everywhere. A piece of the hull hurled towards us and hit our pod, jerking it sideways as it plummeted towards a planet covered in gray metal.

"Engines destroyed, crash landing imminent," the voice calmly announced as the sirens blared inside our pod.

The pod caught fire as it pierced through the atmosphere of the gray planet. It plummeted towards the grounds I braed myself, holding onto the top of the pod while Grace did everything she could to minimize the impact. And then we crashed.

I emerged from the wreckage after what felt like an eternity, and Grace's body is nowhere to be found. I brushed the dust and dirt off my armor as I plucked a flower of sorts nearby and put it on top of the wreckage before walking away.

It was already dawn when I saw the compound. The gleaming fortress stood amongst the wreckage of a city, the gates guarded by two humanoid figures.

I approached the fortress, staring at the two humanoid robots in front of the gate. I attempted to ask them where I am before the two of them forced me against the wall and brought me inside the fortress, my armor doing nothing since the systems were down. One of them took my railgun and the other one took off my helmet as I forced into one knee in front of a throne made of refined, gleaming metal. A person sat on it, his face concealed by a visor with a hexagonal hive pattern. He stood up and looked at me behind those visors and spoke, with his cold, yet somehow enthusiastic tone.

"Hello, everyone calls me Hex. I used to be the well... Leader of the Black Skull. Now, I'm here, the Overlord and Leader of the Iron Legion. And I seek revenge on those who overthrew me, do you know any of them?"

Elsewhere, a piece of the escape pod was kicked aside, and a figure emerged beneath it. It took a look at the flower beside it, and took off its helmet. Grace breathed in the relatively fresh air before scowling. "Stop thinking I'm dead, bastard."