Pirate Assassin

Page 42

One moment, Zack was standing at ease in the field and the only thing he worried about was what tactics the finalists would have used. The next, he was thrust into real war. Orders were bellowed across the field and before he even knew it, he was already clutching a sniper musket, two plaslocks and his pack of ammunition, a spotter sight and a few grenades. This was not the tournament or a simple daily training; this was real. Real weapons, real shots. Real bombs, real damage. REAL DEATH. His ears had already centred on the sounds of dying men as they screamed their last. He was just following the cadets back to the Academy hall when Elyss stopped him. "Zack, we have to help cover the cadets! We've been training for this, we can't just run away!" Zack stopped. He took a deep breath and steadied his shaking legs. He looked at Elyss straight in the eye and nodded. "I've gotta go to a higher place. Where are Corby and Carvin?" He started running to a side staircase.

"I don't know. We got separated."

"We have to trust in their abilities then," and he was aware of an unkempt figure with a cutlass poised to strike. He drew and shot in a swift motion. It literally flowed into action after months and months of practice. The body dropped lifeless on the floor but Zack was still running up the stair with Elyss right behind him.

They emerged from the dark staircase and Zack was struck blind by a sudden stab of light. Evanescent as it was, Zack heard the hum of a swinging cutlass, then a scream and a thud. His eyes adjusted to behold a dead body lying right at his feet, sliced almost perfectly in half. Elyss nudged him, "Always be alert. If one sense is incapacitated, utilise the others." Zack realised how close he was to dying and took Elyss' words to heart. "Thanks for the warning. Go and help out the right wing, I'll try find a higher vantage point." Elyss nodded. "Be careful, Zack. Don't make me come dashing to your rescue!" and she ran off. Zack took a deep breath, checked that his plaslocks were loaded and ran in the opposite direction.

As open-spaced as the field seemed, the pirates had picked the worst place to attack. At certain levels in the stands, the walls that prevented people from crashing down onto the seats below, and also for people to walk around, were quite high that if dropped on one knee, a man would be well covered. Zack was running along the wall when he spotted a most admirable sight. "Professor?" Bang! Curuthers pulled back the bolt and inserted another bullet in one fluid motion. "Hello, Ying," he said, eyes glued to his sight. Bang! Next to him was a boy and a girl. He recognised them as belonging to Fletcher's and Ocelot's squad. Bang! "This level and above is quite safe. Stupid pirates came guns blazing from the bottom," Bang! "Idiots..." Zack began setting up his apparatus. "What are you doing??" Curuthers demanded. Zack paused. " Setting up my equipment.." he replied uncertainly but it made Curuthers even angrier. "Fool! Forgot what I taught you already?? I got this area covered, but what about below and above me?" Zack hastily repacked. "Sorry. I forgot..." Curuthers looked at him, his normally serene face stern. "Make sure that you don't. EVER AGAIN. In war, one mistake will be your last."

Zack found a good vantage point, two levels above Curuthers and directly opposite. Cadets were fleeing upwards, so the 'clear' levels that Curuthers described were quite non-existant. Unhindered, he set up and began covering anyone who was in his sights. Without a spotter, he was quite hard-pressed. He actually missed a few shots, in one instant, the failure resulted in the marine's death. He knelt there shocked for a second but rallied himself with an effort. He was startled as there was a crash behind him and a strong stench of smoke assailed him. He lauched himself sideways as a blade pierced the stone where he had been lying. He fired his plaslock instinctively. Two shots missed but the third caught the pirate in the upper part of his sword arm. He howled in pain and in that lull, Zack shot him in the chest. He collapsed backwards. Zack calmed his breathing when a panicked thought flashed in his head. "Zack!"

"I'm okay, I'm okay," he replied, "Concentrate on yourself. I can't imagine if.."

"Pssh, I'm not gonna let down my guard for this. Unlike you." Elyss teased.

"How's things where you are?"

"I'm somewhere on the third level; we could use your help, we're pinned down here covering a group of frightened cadets." Zack had the feeling she was rolling her eyes. He scanned through the level and saw them. A few quick shots later, Elyss and the marines were busy leading the cadets up the stairs nearby. "Thanks brother dear," she thought, "The linking corridor to the academy is on your level. We probably can't hold them off the way things are going so keep your eyes out."

It felt like a few hours had passed, Zack didn't know. It could have been mere minutes for all he knew. His rhythmn had been set now and all that was in his mind was the sight and the target. The crowd had thinned considerably but now, he had to protect his level from hordes of pirates raining in from above from their ships and also from below. He was now running up to a higher level; he had moved from cover to cover round his current level - and it wasn't good for a sniper to be so stationery. He just hoped Curuthers was okay, a wheelchair wasn't the most mobile form of transportation. He set up and began picking off random targets again when a voice startled him, "Need a hand?" He whirled around to see Jarc with a long-barelled rifle as well but without letting his surprise delay him he asked, "Okay, thanks. Spotter or shooter?" Jarc smiled grimly as he knelt down near him. "Spotter. 179 metres. Windage, 2 lines." he said and Zack took the shot before he even realised he had saved someone from being stabbed with a knife. So a new routine began, Zack aiming and shooting with Jarc calling out instructions and sometimes firing himself. However, unless reinforcements came soon, nothing could stop them from being overrun.

"Zack, all the cadets we could saved are back in the main building! Evacuate the area now!" Zack took a shot instead of replying. "Jarc, the cadets have been evacuated. What now?" He fired again as Jarc grunted. "148 metres, 1 and a half gain. We can't leave yet. There are fighting marines here. We have to cover then until ALL of them have evacuated, no matter how slim the chance is until we are compromised or they're all dead." Zack glanced at Curuthers' position and shot a pirate creeping up on him. "You heard him, Elyss. We're not leaving." Elyss growled. "Fine. Then tell me where you are so that I can meet you." Zack told her, knowing better to argue. Jarc suddenly cursed. "What is it, Jarc?"

"The pirate head, I imagine has appeared and he's got an Enigma Symbiote."

"What the heck is that?" Jarc told him the pirate's position with a pale face. "See for yourself." Zack looked and gasped. The pirate, swathed in some kind of fur coat over a shirt with half its buttons unfastened, tough leather pants and combat boots was making men scream in pain as he dislocated soldiers' bones with a tightening of his hands. "What the hell is that?? Should we shoot him?" Zack sputtered as another wave of cracking sounds reached his ears. The pirate was striding up the levels calmly - second, third, fourth - anyone who came in their way had his or her bones wrenched from their sockets in pain. Zack lost whatever colour he had on his face. "Jarc. Elyss is on the way here."

"What???" Jarc exclaimed.

"I asked her to come so-"

"So tell her to turn back!!!"

"Yeah. Right. Sorry I-" but he was interrupted by an explosion of pain. Jarc widened his eyes. "He's got..."

"ELYSS!!!" he screamed, not caring whether they heard him or not. He could see some of his 'entourage' turn and nudge their leader and pointed in his direction. The leaders eyes saw him, then he clenched his fist tighter and Zack heard her cries of pain echo in his mind. "GET AWAY FROM HER!!!" he bellowed and ge raised his rifle as they all stumbled as if hit by a blast and in one swift motion, he locked the bolt back in place and fired. He felt the world go into slow motion as the bullet flew its slightly arched path, spinning like a top in the air. He saw the pirate captain's face, how it morphed from quiet confidence to a confused grimace as the bullet punched exactly at the hollow of the neck and out through the other side. He stopped breathing before he even touched the floor.