Five: Guardians

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//Report: Quinn, Jackson
//The Via Claudia.
//Rome.
//Currently being arrested.
//Resume log.

The next thing I knew, I was being arrested.

The cold barrel of a gun pressed against the back of my head. The soldiers swarmed us, seizing the power converter and tablet from my hands and pinning my arms firmly behind my back as I was forced to my knees.

I turned toward one of the soldiers in front of me, a tall woman with black hair peeking out from inside her helmet.

“It's nothing personal, guys,” I attempted. “I know you must just want your paycheck.”

The soldier's ballistic-fibre mask stared emotionlessly back at me, a reflective black sheet. I felt a gun barrel tap my neck from behind.

“Quiet,” a gruff voice snapped.

I leaned my head backwards as far as I could, shooting a glare at Gruff Voice. A moment later, a hard shove from behind sent me crashing to the pavement. My arms had yet to be restrained so I caught myself just before I hit, hands striking the hard flagstone.

Amani looked stricken as she was pushed to her knees, following me to the ground in quick succession.

Black Hair glanced at her partner, then down the barrel of her rifle. She seemed somewhat hesitant. No wonder—most of Axion's ground forces got little to no training. The real money, after all, was in mech pilots.

Gruff Voice glanced up at Darius’ Erebus, then down at me. He leaned forward, imposingly, his reflective black helmet hiding his expression.

“Tell your friend to power down the mech,” he commanded, “or we'll power it down permanently.”

He leaned in closer, until I could practically smell his breath. 

“Believe me,” Gruff Voice whispered, “it would be far more fun if you let us do it our way.” He made a whistling sound and a downward motion with his hand. “Splat.”

Black Hair chuckled, and I couldn't help but wince at the mental image.

“Fine,” I sighed. “Darius—”

“Mechs,” Darius responded.

I hesitated. “What?”

“I see mechs,” Darius repeated. “Two legs, two weapons. They look like Predators, but they have white armour!”

Black Hair tapped my leg with her boot.

“Well?” she snapped. “We don't have all day.”

I turned to Amani, wondering how to warn her without tipping off our captors. She merely stared back at me, eyes wide. Her comms were on. She'd heard.

I glanced up at Black Hair and smiled.

“You’re not gonna like this next part.”

“I was about to say the same thing,” Gruff Voice snapped.

Darius gasped.

“Jackson, Amani, duck!”

I rolled forward, making myself as small as possible as the street exploded in a tidal wave of stone fragments, shattering pavement like glass as something massive impacted the ground. A wave of dust swept over me, blotting out the sun, and I heard a shout of surprise from Gruff Voice.

The rifle barrel pressed against my neck disappeared for a split second and I lashed out in front of me, sweeping Black Hair's feet out from under her with a swift kick. She went down hard, ballistic mask striking the ground, and lay still. Amani pulled me to my feet, the power converter already in her hands, and we took off running. 

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