Prominence

Part 8 : The Elder One

Del peeked around the corner of a wall inside the ground level of the skyscraper. Alpha was standing out in the open and slowly approached the main stairwell of the building. Pressed up against the wall on the other side of the stairwell was one of his team ready and waiting with a shock rod.

A shock rod was a standard issue weapon whenever they were tasked with capturing prisoners. It fired a short beam of electricity into the enemy rendering them momentarily paralyzed or permanently dead depending on the settings. It was a short range weapon and only useful in close quarters.

Alpha approached the stairwell slowly and before he was halfway across the main foyer he was challenged with a staccato of woodwind like sounds. He responded with something similar. Del had no idea what was being said, for all he knew Alpha was telling them exactly where his men were.

All they needed was for the Orlak to come down from the staircase so they could take it out quietly. The singing conversation continued between the other Orlak and Alpha. If Alpha was nervous he was not showing it in any way the Del could recognize. He simply stood still in the middle of the foyer.

"By the three suns of Hebra, step out into the foyer you jumped up tree!" he cursed under his breath.

"It's not going for it, permission to rush it," requested Hizez over the common channel.

"Negative, hold position!" snapped Del.

At that moment the Orlak rather warily stepped out of the stairwell and into the foyer. It only came a little way but it was far enough and his man waiting next to the stairwell pounced. The shock rod arced out with a sizzling and deadly electrical pulse. He caught the Orlak squarely in the side of its torso and it collapsed to the floor with a dull thud but not another sound from its mouth.

"Ok, both teams go now!" ordered Del as he too rushed from his hiding place and into the building. That was one down with who knew how many to go. The challenge was not killing them all, it was going to be killing them all without making a sound and alerting the others. He ran up to Alpha who now stood over his dead brethren.

"What did he ask you? Did he alert the others?" asked Del urgently.

"There was no suspicion. I used your ruse that I had been separated from my combat group."

"Good then let's keep going."

Alpha did not move however and instead continued to stare at the dead Orlak.

"Why did Vaslus kill this Orlak when you can paralyze instead. This Orlak is only a spawnling."

"I am sorry but, we don't have time for prisoners Alpha. Now let's move unless you want to lose Drrdetala."

~*~

Del dived back behind the base of the antenna array on the roof of the skyscraper as a series of kinetic projectiles smashed into the roof and framework around him. Hizez caught some shrapnel from a ricochet and fell to the ground beside him howling in agony. About ten meters to his left he could see the two other members of his first team lying motionless in pools of their own yellow blood. They had both been cut down in the initial exchange with the remaining Orlak on the roof.

They had made it about halfway up the skyscraper methodically taking down sentries as they went each time using Alpha as bait. It was working quite well too. The Orlak did not seem to have any comprehension that one of their own may be lying to them. Unfortunately during one such take down another Orlak stumbled upon them as it came down the stairwell.

From that point onwards the operation was a race against time. They pushed hard in a close combat assault up the main stairwell using their full arsenal to keep the Orlak on the back foot and retreating. However, the remaining Orlak had quickly consolidated directly to the roof faster than he could push forward with his attack. So by the time Del and his team reached the roof they were ready and waiting.