Penguins of Anarchy III: Edge of Disaster

Thirteen

Drake and Glyphton spent ten minutes circling the skyscraper. It was in a good spot; from the top, Drake would have an excellent view of the city square. It was also one of the tallest buildings in the city, meaning he and Glyphton would be hard to spot.

"There's a whole lot of activity in the square, and not much here," Glyphton observed. "Security will be paying more attention to the area closer to the president. We can use our packs if we have to."

"That's a last resort," Drake replied. But he agreed with Glyphton; the speech was about to start, and he needed to get in position. He looked around. There were hardly any penguins around, and those he could see weren't looking and were far enough away that they might not notice the blast of his jetpack's thrusters over the chatter in the nearby square. "Alright, let's do it," he finally said to Glyphton.

The two of them removed their coats and exposed their jetpacks and weapons. They ignited their packs and shot straight up until they reached the roof of the tower. They ran to the other side of the roof. Drake grabbed the sniper rifle slung around his shoulder and dropped to his belly. Glyphton crouched behind him, holding his assault rifle in an alert position, keeping an eye out for anyone who came to the roof from the door fifteen meters from their position.

Drake loaded his rifle. "We've got one shot at this," he said. He had no suppressor for his rifle, so the moment he fired, his position would be compromised.

He looked through the scope of his rifle as he lay at the edge of the roof. He zoomed in on the stage set up in the middle of the square. The crowd of people below cheered as President Agamemnon emerged, though some were shouting for Omniscion. Agamemnon approached the podium and spoke through the microphone, his voice booming across the city, "Thank you all for coming. Now, it was originally planned for Commander Omniscion to join me today, but it seems he had more important matters to attend to and could not make it." There were groans of dismay from the crowd. "However," Agamemnon continued, "I still have good news. Africa is won!" The crowd erupted in cheers. Many jumped up and down and shouted wildly.

"There is some more news, however, that is slightly more urgent," Agamemnon said more grimly, his voice lowering. "We have discovered that enemy soldiers have somehow managed to get past our borders." The crowd gasped in surprise.

"Did you hear that?" Glyphton hissed in a whisper.

Drake's heart sank. Someone's cover was blown. They knew they were here, unless the jet who had shot down their gunship had merely reported the incident to the city's security officers. But that was unlikely, because the jet pilot had no way of knowing that the gunship had been piloted by enemy soldiers, or that they were heading directly for New York City. He still hoped that, somehow, his and his teammates' presence remained anonymous.

Drake got his answer when two security guards brought a beaten-up penguin in a thick coat onto the stage. "Bloody icicle, it's Nekron!" Glyphton exclaimed, now lying down next to Drake.

No. Not Nekron, Drake thought. How could it be Nekron? Nekron was fast, smart, and coordinated. How could he have been caught? Drake and Glyphton watched helplessly as the guards stripped off Nekron's coat, revealing a bulletproof vest and pistol holster, though it was now empty. The crowd gasped again.

The guards stripped off Nekron's bulletproof vest as Agamemnon continued, "Now, it seems that someone thought they stood a chance against our defense measures. And they managed to get farther than anyone before them." Agamemnon took Nekron by the arm and positioned him right in front of himself, knowing the traitor was unarmed. "Even so, as you can see, they have failed to keep themselves hidden. So whoever else is operating with this rebel, reveal yourselves now, or else he will die."