Crimson Rain (33 page)

As Surge dropped to his knees in pain, Zarfa broke the neck of the guitar over the back of his head. He dropped what was left and kicked him in the neck. Surge was planted face first into the ground, barely alive.

“
Surge, you really shouldn
’
t have done that. I didn
’
t want it to come to this. I guess this means there is now war between the Legion and Psyker Scream. You can tell all your little Synaptix buddies that right now, correct?
”

“
No,
”
Surge coughed out, defeated and humiliated.

“
No? I thought you alerted Zax about my tipping Crimson off?
”

“
I was bluffing. Our psychic link isn
’
t that strong. I lost communication about a day ago. I would need to call his com-link and if you hadn
’
t noticed, I
’
ve been a little busy.
”

“
Right, well thanks for coming clean. I guess if I kill you here, we can
simply
say it was a tragic loss in the face of a Faraza ambush. Badger doesn
’
t need to know about my moving of a pawn piece if you remain silent.
”

Surge managed to roll over, looking Zarfa in the eyes. He was scared; it was a look that Zarfa hadn
’
t seen until now.

“
Please! Can
’
t we can work something out? Be civil!
”

“
Ha! Civil? You should have thought about that before you attacked me. Funny how when things don
’
t go according to plan, people suddenly want to negotiate. You make me sick.
”

“
But it wasn
’
t my—
”

Surge
’
s words were cut short by Zarfa stomping the soft part of his neck. His trachea collapsed like a tent and he was squirming like a worm
,
trying to breathe. Zarfa picked up the gun he had knocked out of Surge
’
s hand and pressed it to his forehead.

“
This is my
mercy that
I don
’
t let you suffocate in agony.
”

He pulled the trigger and blood, brain
,
and bone splattered into Zarfa
’
s face. Surge didn
’
t even twitch. He
instantly
stopped moving and lay still on the ground, cold. Zarfa picked up his backpack that he had set next to the speaker. He proceeded up the stairs out of the train station, covered in blood and holding the pistol in plain sight.

No more letting my guard down. Who knows what might be waiting for me up there. I
’
ve got to find Zajifa and gather the
L
egion.

* * * *

Eighteen… Nineteen… Twenty.
Max took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. If his hands weren
’
t perfect and robotic, only responding to conscious thought, he would be trembling. He burst through the door of the shed the elevator had taken him to. His eye locked onto two targets across the street on the rooftop of the apartment building that Zax and his posse were hiding out in. He fired two bursts of three shots each without even looking down the scope. His hands were perfect and steady. Both bursts hit their target
s
, eliminating two enemy snipers immediately.

Max sprinted toward cover on the roof, hiding behind a large air conditioning unit. His eastern side was covered and the sniper would have to guess where he was from that angle. The sniper on the western building could still see him and was no doubt lining up a clear shot.

Max had heard bullets whizzing past him as he ran to take cover. He heard a round crash into the air conditioning unit he was taking cover behind. The bullet hit the large fan and clinked around as the shot echoed in the distance. His eye was drawn to the target,
which
looked
as
small as an ant. In the time it took for a single heartbeat, he had raised the rifle to his eye and was looking down the scope. He saw his enemy.

He was ugly, wearing a black leather jacket with chains and spikes decorating it in the
gaudiest
fashion. He was laying prone, a large cigar smoldering between his teeth. Tough guy biker shades rested askew upon his face and he had a
m
ohawk he must have thought made him look like a real badass.

The sniper was grinning as Max could see his finger slowly squeezing the trigger. It was too late; Max had already fired. Three more rounds came with tumultuous fury. The first round pegged the sniper in the shoulder. The second, in the neck. The third found its spot nestled right between his eyes. He was never even able to fire his shot, one that would have surely wounded Max.

One more… One more… Stay calm
,
Max, stay calm.

He had
quickly
killed three of his four targets with ease, but he was still nervous. Still scared that Crimson and Luther may be on the ground dealing with rounds coming from above while he plotted his next move. Max ran out from his cover and kne
lt
facing the east.

The sun stood behind Max, painting him as a perfect dark silhouette. He quickly spotted his last target and his last target had spotted him. Max could see him down his scope, squinting, trying to not be blinded by the sun as he lined up his shot on Max. Max
’
s eye had locked on and
he
adjusted his arms for another precise shot. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger, as did his enemy. A bullet whizzed past Max
’
s face, scraping his right cheek and causing a minor cut that would bleed worse than it really was.

Max
’
s burst found its spot dead on. Three rounds straight to the enemy
’
s head. The enemy sniper that had been lying down already went limp immediately. Max
’
s work with these four was done. He rushed over to the north side of the building and looked down. He saw Crimson and Luther exiting the building on one side of the street while the seventeen were spilling out of the building on the other, taking cover behind hovercraft or whatever they could find.

Max looked down his scope at C
rimson
. She quickly took cover behind a car and started laying down suppressive fire from both of her guns. Luther charged into the center of the street, his four arms aiming in different locations, wildly sweeping bursts of shots toward the enemy.

A hovercraft that several of the Psyker goons were hiding behind erupted in a ball of smoke and fire, killing six of the seventeen. It had taken too many rounds in the fury of their rain of bullets. Two men sprang from behind cover and began firing on Luther. Several rounds hit his body, knocking chunks off of it. He directed his guns toward them and
,
in a barrage of bullets, tore their bodies to shreds.

There was another cluster of men hiding behind the columns of the entrance to the apartment building. Crimson pulled out a de-ionizing grenade from her belt and pulled the pin. The grenade had been designed to break down and turn to dust organic particles, but would leave objects such as concrete, glass, and steel alone.

The grenade found its mark and the men couldn
’
t scramble out from behind their cover in time. It exploded nearly the moment it had landed and in a white flash, they were turned to smoke, leaving only a pile of clothing and their weapons behind.

There were only four men left and one of them was Zax. He had no intention of going down without a fight. He commanded the other two soldiers to try
and
flank Luther while he and his partner tried to get to Crimson
’
s flank. The two who were going after Luther took cover behind a short concrete barricade; they began firing upon him from his side.

Several bullets hit, destroying one of his carbon fiber legs and
nearly
dropping him to the ground. His frame had been made light for close range combat. She did, after all, only use him to train in melee and martial arts.
As his large frame struggled to remain upright on one leg, he faced the two who had maimed him.

Another torrential downpour of bullets rent into pieces the concrete barricade they were hiding behind. Dust mixed with blood misted the air where they had once been keeping cover and Luther fell to the ground. His balance mechanisms were having trouble compensating for all the damage he had taken.

Max targeted the partner of Zax and let a burst go. He dropped dead, revealing their location. It caught Crimson
’
s attention and she spotted Zax. She took aim and let a bullet fly in his direction; he did the same. Hers hit his gun hand, blowing it off. It had been shred
d
ed to strips of confetti by the bullet and Zax dropped to his knees. Crimson stomped over to Zax and kicked him in the chest, planting him backwards to the ground.

He
laid
there on his back, terror filling his eyes and blood spattering his face. He was trying to break free from Crimson
’
s combat boot pinning him to the hot, uncomfortable concrete on his back. He tried hitting her ankle with his good hand. She
laughed
maniacally
and pressed him into the ground harder.

“
You
’
re Zax, Badger
’
s second in command, right?
”
she questioned, pressing down hard enough to force the air out of his lungs.

“
Yea… Yeah, I am. Let me go or there will be hell to pay!
”

“
What kind of hell? Like, he might try to kill me? Oh wait…
”

“
I can make it worth your time!
”

“
Oh really, how do you propose?
”
she asked
,
unzipping her hood and letting down her mask.

Zax was being irrational. People
tended to be
that
way
when they
were
trying to save themselves. He was about to make offers that meant nothing to her, but in his mind, they would be worth considering.

“
Money… And I
’
ll get Badger to leave you alone…
”

“
I don
’
t need money, and what got you here is you taking orders from him, not the other way around. You can communicate with him telepathically, right?
”

“
Yeah! Yeah! I can!
”

“
Good, you tell him this. Tell him I am going to let you go, but first, I want him to know that I killed his pathetic little assassination party. Can you do that?
”

“
Yes!
”

Zax was silent for a moment as he communicated with Badger. The look on Zax
’
s face told them that Badger probably wasn
’
t thrilled to hear the news.

“
Okay, now that you have his attention, tell him I received a tip from a friend. He
’
ll know what it means.
”

Zax told Badger; it was apparent what she meant by it.

“
Now tell him I lied,
”
she said as she held her submachine gun over his body and unloaded the last of her rounds into him,
riddling
Zax
’
s body
with holes
against the pavement.

She had no idea what Badger may be thinking, but she knew he would be able to sense the severing of the psychic bond. She knew there would be wrath and vengeance directed at her, but she didn
’
t care. It was Badger who sought to draw first blood, not her.

Max had made it down to the street too late to hear any of the conversation between her and Zax. When he arrived, he was panting and happy to see that Crimson had lived through the onslaught.

“
I
’
m surprised you didn
’
t shoot more from up there
,
‘
Deadeye,
’”
she said sarcastically.

“
You looked to be enjoying yourself. I didn
’
t want to ruin your fun.
”

“
It
’
s good you didn
’
t. I would have been upset.
”