A Dash of Scarlet In Paradise

THE MAN WITH THE CRIMSON BLADE

XIII

It had been some time since the two survivors had coordinated the infiltration, and Vector began to concern about Marcus' situation. It had taken them so long that it was already the second time they were able to experience the cold nightfall of Nirvana.

The sharp brightness of the computer in front of Vector was surely damaging to his eyes. He continued to take a brief look at every room with a security camera installed, but he couldn't identify which soldier Marcus was pretending to be.

"I've think I've lost you Marcus, please respond!"

More leaves began to brush the ground, being moved by the stressed voice of Vector. Although the planet was untamed and harsh, there was something out of the ordinary that diverted Vector's attention.

There was a repeated beeping coming from somewhere in the trees above, and then Vector saw an object fall next to his feet.

It was a grenade, and it was triggered. A timer ticked away in the form of glowing red numbers on a curved screen. It extended its two ends and showed Vector something even worse, more mini grenades.

"What the!" Vector shouted in shock as he got hold of the grenade and hurled it past the subsided logs.

He pulled the laptop across the mud and wrapped his rifle in his arms, tumbling aside to safety. He counted.

However, there wasn't only one explosion, but many blows. The grenade fired all its mini grenades into the air and every one of them resulted in a spur of ember. The bomb caused the surrounding plants to catch on fire, and the animals to scatter.

Vector flicked the safety switch on his gun and viewed down his sight, targeting at the trees above him, but there wasn't anything up there.

He eased down a bit, looking back at ground level. He knew that somebody was with him, but he couldn't see who or where.

"Show yourself, you coward! Come out! Face me!"

"Oh yes, sound confident,"

Vector shivered as the deep echoing voice answered his demand. He faced the other way and saw a man in gunmetal black armor, the helmet easily recognizable from its red visor.

"Stay where you are!" Vector had his gun pointed to the mysterious man's head.

"Oh relax, can't we resolve this matter in a more civilized way?"

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

"Don't fret, nothing will happen if you submit to the Planetary Authorization Unit, in other words, follow me and you don't die."

"Planetary Authorization Unit? You have no authority here! This planet..."

"It belongs to my boss, and my boss alone. That's enough talk by the way."

The man strode towards Vector and forced him to back up near the fire. There was nowhere to run, so Vector decided to take his shot. Only one bullet was sent off.

He thought that it would've been the end of the story then and there, but it didn't seem like deflecting a single bullet was any problem for the PAU agent.

Extra fins of titanium flipped out from the agent's gauntlet to build a metal shield the size of a book. He placed it in front of his head and the bullet basically knocked off of it, like a fly to glass.