Before the Battle

Reckoning 16/20

--Mika Marat--

It was sheer luck that we escaped.

I was still shuddering at the memory of the carnage Imara's psychotic killer had unleashed. And I thought our friends were bloodthirsty savages, but compared to what he did... I began to shudder again.

We didn't reach the ship until midnight, and I hoped we'd lost our pursuers. There were only a handful of men left from Raskov's gang, and even fewer from the other gang that had been sent to help us with Imara.

The only thing that made me feel a little better was the thought that the famous General was finally finished. Information varied, some said he was dead, others that he was only wounded, but from the way that assassin was behaving, it was safe to assume that things didn't look too good for his sweetheart.

However, things didn't look much better for us. If we didn't leave this cursed island soon, Imara's soldiers would catch us. Or worse. We'd fall into the clutches of that mad killer. That was what scared me the most.

"When will the ship be ready to sail?" I urged Raskov, who shouted one curse after another at his exhausted men, but it didn't make them move any faster. Tired, and in many cases wounded, they scrambled about the deck, trying to prepare the ship to sail away from the shore.

The ship we were on was much smaller, but there was no other ship left, Imara's soldiers had sunk all the others. The only one they hadn't found was this one, which Raskov had hidden in the bay as a last resort.

"Get down and stay out of this!" the crude barbarian shouted at me.

We were all getting on each other's nerves.

Even the self-assured Raskov understood that Imara's pet was not to be toyed with. His strong words about how he could take him out without any trouble faded after the bloody slaughter of his men. 

Now we all wanted one thing. To get out of here as soon as possible.

The narrow cabin smelled of fish and also of diesel, for there were supplies of fuel for the engines.

Satoshi sat quietly on one of the crates, writing something in the dim light of a flickering lamp.

"You're not worried?" I asked him nervously.

"Shira will find us sooner or later," he replied unperturbed. "If Imara is really dead, he'll do everything he can to hunt us down and take revenge."

Those weren't exactly reassuring words, but I had expected nothing but brutal honesty from the former Imperial agent.

I sat down on the floor and bowed my head. How had I gotten myself into this?  But it was too late for regrets.

The shot was fired.

And another.

Terrified screams and cries for help reached us from above.

"It seems to be the sooner," Satoshi added with stoic calm, while I felt my heart pounding in my throat.

I raced for the exit, screaming in uncontrollable terror as Raskov's head rolled down the stairs to my feet.

I staggered backwards into the room, my arms and legs shaking so badly that I couldn't stand and fell to the floor. I hit one of the cans and it toppled over. The leaking cap began to spill fuel onto the wooden floor.

The screaming and shooting outside stopped.

There was a grave silence.

Then he stepped in.