Pirate Assassin

Page 37

The plan was more or less a simple one. The team would disperse to areas with a high number of fallen people and empathise with their difficulty and gain their trust. On the pretext of giving up, they would remain unmolested since they didn't have any electrosuits anyway. After well into the tournament, major groups would be fighting to get as many electrosuits as they could. This would allow Zack and his company to swoop in to the weakened groups and take every electrosuit available just when the tournament was about to end and the fighting was at its peak. The problem was: would there be enough?

Zack told all of them his plan and honestly pointed out this discrepancy. Zack knew that it might turn against him, but he had to take the risk. "I'm telling you plainly," he shouted from the hill he was standing on top of, "because this is no time for suspicions. We need to trust one another, as the Supreme Commander said, to be united in a cause. Why do you need to betray one another when both of you can emerge victorious? So, are you with me?" the crowd roared and Zack winced inwardly. He hoped that the other groups didn't hear him; their main advantage was their unrealised existence. Zack stepped down and Corby and Carvin were looking at him in awe. "That was awesome, Zack," Carvin said. Zack bowed graciously. "Thanks guys. There's around an hour left. All we need to do now is wait for the signal and..." but a thought tore into his head the same time as their ACT channels opened. "Guys! They're all gathered near the northen mountains! It's chaos here; you gotta come now!" Zack looked up at his selected squad of commanders. "Ready your groups and head towards the mountains," he told them. The fence was erected before it actually reached them, but since it was the most obvious landmark, they just indicated the nothernmost wall as that. "Remember, wait for my signal." They nodded and went to gather their groups. Corby looked at him. "Well, looks like we're gonna actively participate after all," Zack nodded. "Did I ever explicitly say we weren't?" and went to find Fletcher.

"You guys ready?" The group of thirty nodded. "Thank the stars above that they included a flare gun in all the stuff." Fletcher grinned. "Imagine what would've happened if they hadn't; we'd have to send smoke signals or something!" and the majority of the group chuckled. A blast nearby sparked them out of their humour. They peeped over the ridge line to witness, as Elyss described perfectly, chaos. Electric shocks flew everywhere as well as stun grenades by their easily identifiable green shockwave and strange wavy sound. Zack and a few other snipers who were silently lying belly down in the shade added random sniper shots to thin the crowd even further.

However, time was ticking and no side seemed to have a definite advantage until... "Zack! Bradsfort group has the clear advantage, followed by Shaw! Shyla's HQ has been sacked!"

"Thanks Elyss. Keep me posted." and he opened his ACT channel. "Corby, your team is a go. Remember, electrosuits are the first priority!"

"Copy that. See you on the victory stand!" and laughing he discommunicated. Zack wasn't finished yet. "Fyzen, Kivden, Jackie," he called on his communicator, "Send your groups to sack Shaw's HQ. Get the suits and rendezvous at Bradsfort's place." Then turning it to a general communication, "Everyone else, support Corby's team!"

Victory was swift and decisive. Bradsfort's group who had taken a huge pile of electrosuits at the cost of almost half their men were no match for almost 300 fresh cadets. They didn't even know what was happening before they hit the ground. All they knew was that one moment they were celebrating on the forest track towards their base of operations, the next, they were surrounded by cadets who materialised from the treelines and zapped them all silly. Corby would especially shock Bradsfort and one of his cronies who had needlessly shocked him twice a few hours ago. They took the pile of suits and went on their way to the HQ, singing and talking loudly. At a distance, the sentries thought they were the victorious party until they opened fire. The fighting here was quite fierce but the cadets at the HQ were beyond outnumbered and were thrown heartlessly into the mud outside. Zack spotted a fleeing party with a large crowd of people chasing them. He alerted the others and they went out to help their fellow men. The snipers picked the front ones off to slow down the momentum but they were still gaining. Luckily for the raiders, they were slowed down enough and reinforcements came smashing into Shaw's regiment like a sledgehammer. The raiding party, and their precious bounty made it back safely and the whole camp cheered.

Zack sent groups out to patrol around. To this moment, he still had no idea how long the shock lasted. He had a few groups remove Bradsfort's victory party further away and just for the fun of it, they placed them within a stone's throw of Shaw's pursuit group. That would be a shock for Bradsfort. He looked proudly at the pile of suits. "Only a few minutes left. I never thought you'd do it, but you did. I can't believe we're gonna beat all those Government brats." Zack raised an eyebrow. "You're not? All this time I assumed you were." Fletcher shook his head. "Nope, and I refused when they offered me citizenship. I've seen too much of what they do to those people who don't fit into their pretty little box." Corby walked towards them, also eyeing the pile happiky and Zack asked him, "So Corby, how does that wish thing work? Are you telling me that our group of almost 450 people only get one wish?" Corby grinned happily, "No see, I have this idea. Why not we split our entire group into those squads of thirty? Or less, if they want it."

Zack was about to tell him he was a genius when suddenly the entire camp burst out in electricity and stun shockwaves. Zack fell to the floor as he watched a group of about fifty people walk past his downed body. He recognised one of them. "Fyzen! What the hell are you doing??" Fyzen glanced scornfully at him. His long face, lidded eyes and oily tone made the expression even more so. "What are we doing?" he sneered and some of his group snickered. "We're taking this. I'm not gonna share these with you filthy Outsiders! Why should I disappoint the crowd? They came here to see REAL marines fight, not you sad excuses for marines."

"You traitor! You freakin bastard!!" Corby seethed. Fyzen tsked at him. "My, my. Hard to do anything when stunned, isn't it? Well, you gave me the idea, smart little Outsider you are. You could be a very good servant boy," and he laughed and shoved Zack's face in the mud. "Stop!" a feeble voice rang out. Fyzen turned to see Carvin and a few other young men. They might have caused Fyzen to be a bit worried about how they escaped the camp-wide stunning....if their hands weren't shaking so badly. "Oh gosh, what are you going to do with me?" he mocked and the entire group laughed but Carvin continued courageously, though he was still trembling, "I also know a few things about bombs and I know that a similar shock will nullify the first." Fyzen frowned but was still cocky, "Oh no, orphan boy, but you wanna know something? I have the only grenades in the camp! And even those, I only have three!" To his surprise, Carvin smiled. "That would be enough, I think. Elyss, now!" "Thought you'd never ask." a feminine voice said and a vicious kick, square on his back, sent him crashing into the mud. Elyss tossed the grenades to Carvin as she and fifteen others began to take as many out as they could before they recovered. Carvin set one off near Zack and Corby stood up with a roar and smashed his leg up the nearest enemy's groin. The man screamed in a pitch probably a bat would wince at. Corby fluidly activated his electric baton and put it at full power, where one tap could knock out a person. He weaved through the group of fifty, causing five to fall down before they even blinked. On Zack's side, when he was free, he rolled and launched his legs up and slammed his feet up one of Fyzen's men's chin and deftly windmilled, causing three more to taste mud in their mouths. Flectcher helped too, showing off crude, but effective body slams and headbutts.

Before long, Fyzen sat up groggily only to witness five people standing in front of him amidst his unconscious fifty fellow conspirators. As with all slime, he began the inevitable pleading and excuse making. "It was all a joke. They made me do it! I...I..." all the while preparing to release his last stun grenade. As he was about to throw, Elyss put a hand on his cheek and moved closer. Fyzen gaped in surprise, but then thought that his charm had bought this hot chick but she said softly, "I'd let that grenade out of your hand if I were you." Startled, he rolled it out of his hand for Elyss to kick it aside and Zack punched in the face. "That's for backstabbing us, traitor."