The Assassin and the Crown of Stars

The Assassin and the Crown of Stars: Part Two

Nova and Mace stepped out into the ever-present blue light, the door swinging and locking behind them. Nova glanced down, instinctively checked her scanners for any signs of live. Nothing. The alleyways were still as silent and still as the cold air around them.

Nova swallowed, pushing down the doubt that tried to creep up her spine. She stuck out her hand. "On the flip side?"

Mace hesitated before gently taking her hand. "On the flip side RedWidow."

Nova nodded, letting her hand fall back to her side. "Make sure you tell me when you get there. Have Huntsman and GreenLynx contact me as well."

Mace lowered his chin. "Will do."

Neither of them dared moved, the dead air filling the void between them.

Nova took a breath. "We should get into position."

Mace didn't look up. "Good luck Nova. Take care of yourself out there."

Nova nodded again, uselessly, before slowly spinning on her heel and walking away. Even as the silent ticking of her scanner faded, alerting her to the fact that Mace had indeed left for the city square, Nova couldn't make herself look back.

If anything happened to her, she knew Mace would blame himself. He had requested again and again to be on standby while she broke into the palace. Nova could still picture the spark of defiance in his eyes when she'd told him he'd be stationed with GreenLynx and Huntsman at the city square. They needed him more, she'd reasoned with him, if anyone got hurt, they'll need his medical abilities. He'd follow orders, Nova knew, but not happily.

The alley Nova was following came to an abrupt dead end. Nova tilted her head and looked the buildings around her up and down. Even the tallest building was only six stories high, but it would have to do. Nova flicked her wrist, releasing the claws in her gloves and boots. Silently, Nova sunk her claws into the side of the nearest building. The sound of scrapping metal on metal cut through the darkness as Nova lifted herself up. She swore, repositioned her weight, and continued her ascent.

There had been a time, long ago, long before even Nova was alive, when not everything was made from rusted metal and broken scraps. When there were creatures besides humans and the sky had been blue and visible through the clouds of smoke. When there had been clean water and fresh air. But that had been before The War, before the radiation had sent the surviving humans underground or into the Terra-dome. Blinding hate and anger hit Nova so hard she choked. This is what she was fighting for, a better future, a better world, for her people. And the people sitting, unbothered and comfortable, on the other side of the gleaming white walls of the palace were the only thing standing in her way.

Nova's foot slipped. Metal on metal screamed, but Nova ignored it, groaning as she finally pulled herself onto the rooftop. She raised her head up, taking one gasping breath after another, searching for any fresh air mixed in with the smoke and dust floating in the air. Her city, her world, broken and dark lay before her. But she was already looking up, up to the top of the Terra-dome. It was so close that Nova could hear the endless whirring of the dust coated pipes and machinery fighting desperately to keep the atmosphere within the Terra-dome habitable.

Nova have been six when she'd scaled a building for the first time. She still remembered returning home, covered in the dangerous black dust from the Terra-dome and ginning wildly. Somehow, the few thousand metal buildings and dark sky had seemed beautiful and exciting to her then. Her mother had only smiled as she scrapped the muck off Nova. "My Little Spider." She had said. "My Little Adventurous Spider."

Now, thirteen years later, Nova stood, her back straight, her eyes dark. The last row of broken and empty buildings before the inner city now lay before her. The last few steps before she sealed her fate. Rolling her shoulders, Nova retracted her claws and strode across the rooftop. A hissing sound joined the choked whirring of the life support machines; the invisible electric wall blocking out the troubles and dangers of the outer city. Nova's visor easily identified the heat radiating off the wall, screaming warnings to stay back scrolled past her eye. She blinked the warnings away and shrugged the pack off her back and began yanking out supplies: another two or three knives, a radiation suit, an air tank, a grappling hook, a bullet resistant vest.