Pirate Assassin

Page 43

The moment it hit, Zack was gone, racing down to Elyss' level. He didn't care about Jarc's calls, only about the sister he never knew he had but got to know and love over the past months. He skidded to a stop next to her body. She opened her eyes weakly as her body was hit by spasms of pain. "That was close," she whispered weakly, "If you hadn't distracted him, I'd be dead." To Zack's immense relief, only her sword arm had been wrangled and nothing else. Still, the waves of pain that hit him, and which Zack suspected Elyss tried to minimize, almost made him want to collapse as a hammer-blow of fatigue struck him. To add to his troubles, he heard shots and footsteps and looked up to see what was left of the captain's entourage was barely being held back by Jarc and Curuthers sniper fire. One broke ahead of the pack and swung an overhead strike at him. He watched, expecting to feel the contrasting heat of the lasers lining the cutlass and the cold steel. "So this is how it ends. At least, at the very least, I managed to do something. I wasn't useless just as I was back at home," and he smiled. The pirate, though the trajectory of his blow did not change, looked confused but at that moment, help arrived.

A thick purple bolt of electricity hit him square on the chest and he screamed before falling down, dead. "Are you alright?" a deep voice asked. He turned around and stared utterly amazed at the form of Supreme Commander Flounder. "Y-yes," he stammered, then steadied, "but my sister needs help. Her right arm was mangled by the pirate captain, I think." Flounder looked at the captain's dead body, in a pool of blood. "Mangled? How?"

"Err, I'm not sure. But I'm told that he had an....Enigma..Symbiote? Or something like that." The Supreme Commander looked at him, startled. "You killed a pirate captain with an Enigma Symbiote? How..? Wait, no. The girl needs medical attention. Medic!" A medic came runninng and Zack was suddenly aware of dozens of soldiers deep in a firefight and some, shouting orders. "It's bad. But not as bad as it looks but I need to bring her to a medical facility." Zack was torn between staying and fighting or going back with his beloved sister. The Supreme Commander quelled his internal conflict with a smile and a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Go. You've done enough. Leave the rest to us." Zack nodded and saluted. "Good luck sir," and he ran with the medic back to the Academy hall. Flounder looked at the dead body of the pirate captain and beckoned Tetrad over. "Commodore, you say you scouted this boy?" Tetrad nodded. "Remarkable..." He whispered still staring at the corpse when Tetrad spoke up, "Villy Porka. Captain of the Bone Eater Pirates. Bounty of 34 thousand gold credits." Flounder shook his head in wonder, his dreadlocks barely moving. "If Tucker Wicky thought he could twist the boy into a loyal thrall, it just might be the biggest mistake in his life." Commodore Tetrad kept silent.

Zack, Corby and Carvin were anxiously waiting outside the operation theatre. Corby had helped hold off the pirates until all the cadets had cleared off the field. He had one arm in a sling, caused by what he termed 'just a cut'. Carvin, slightly ashamed, admitted that all he did was run away like all the others. Zack gently patted his back as his tears started flowing. "Carvin, its okay. I also ran. If Elyss hadn't stopped me, I would've just sitting in the hall too. You knew that you couldn't do much and you ran so that you wouldn't be a burden. If you had stayed, in all honesty, you would have gotten yourself killed for nothing." Carvin gave a laugh. "I can't tell if you're trying to console me or make me feel worse," he joked but Zack shook his head. "No, its the truth. You can't be one of those storybook heroes who charge in with just will. You need to assess the situation and find a correct way out. Retreat IS an option, no matter what people say." The surgeon came out of the operating theatre. "Doctor, how is she?" Zack asked. "She's alright," and there was a sigh of relief, "It's probably her Wolf constitution, but her bones weren't as damaged as much as a normal person's. We just had to twist the bones back," Carvin blanched, "and she will need to rest to allow the bones to fix naturally."

"Can we see her?" Zack asked. The doctor chortled.

"Yes you can. She actually woke up by herself. You can talk to her as the nurses wheel her to her ward." Zack bowed to the doctor. "Thank you," he said sincerely. The doctor smiled.

"Salute!" There was a chorus of gunfire as the marines paid their respects. All the cadets were here paying their respects. Some cried at their squadmates' coffins, some just stood by them with a hand on the it and others were absent, not wanting anyone to see them cry. Even though marines and cadets alike had tried their best, there wad still a large number of deceased, especially when pirate captain Villy had arrived. Zack stood by the coffin of Curuthers and the brave couple who had stood by him. In the last moments, just when help had arrived, he was stabbed in the back and his two compatriots had been gunned down. In such a short time, he had already lost, perhaps not a friend, but definitely a treasured ally. Though he didn't know the other two, he also felt a sense of loss, as he remembered how they all were comrades in arms during the tournament. He just stood there, the hot tears of sadness mingled with frustration, dripping onto the floor.

Zack sat brooding in a chair next to Elyss' hospital bed. Corby and Carvin had gone back to their rooms since they felt that if they'd stayed, it would've been too crowded. Elyss asked Zack to go too but he stubbornly refused and with a sigh and a shrug, she relented. She was sleeping now, if you could call it that, but Zack sat so still that even Elyss didn't sense anything. He was brooding over his lack of abilities; if there hadn't been that uncanny stroke of luck that they stumbled, Elyss would've been very much dead. He couldn't save Curuthers or his two guardians. He gripped the arm of the chair till it creaked. "Whatchu thinking about, brother dear?" Elyss asked as she turned to him. He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She was startled, though not unhappy. "Whoa there!" she giggled, "You're not usually this affectionate, what's up?" Zack gave her a steady gaze. "You almost died. Curuthers and a lot of cadets and marines died. If only, somehow, I could've done something..." He covered his face in his hands. Elyss was silent, then patted his back. "Do you think power or abilities will make it easier? Or will it make the battlegrounds more bloody than it already is?" Zack looked up to see Elyss leaning back on her bed. "With great power, comes great responsibility," she murmured and grinned at him, "See? I remember my Spiderman!" Zack laughed and ruffled her hair. "No less true though," he said seriously and Elyss nodded. "Dictators, tyrants.... and maybe pirate captains like Villy Porka probably had the same sentiment, and yet, they were corrupted with that power. So the question is, brother mine," and she looked at him straight in the eye, "If you actually get a power that will enable you to do all that you wanted, would you be able to control it?"

Jarc walked into Sgt Troffs' office and saluted but Troffs looked worried. "What happened, Troffs?"

"I don't know whether it was just coincidence but Villy Porka attacked just as the cylinder arrived."

"You think he knew? After all, he claimed that the Nomnic Symbiote was drawn to one of his crew." Troffs shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, he's dead now, and so's most of his crew. It was a foolish move attacking such a pivotal Government point but that isn't the reason I called you." Jarc raised an eyebrow as Troffs took a deep breath. "It's missing." Jarc's eyes bulged out. "What....? Missing? How?"

"We don't know. But since there was all the commotion, the alarms were ignored, most thinking it was more pirates. When we checked, we found the cylinder open and the contents gone. No trace whatsoever." Now it was Jarc's turn to look worried. "You don't have the facilities here. It could kill hundreds before you get the proper equipment!" but Troffs shook his head. "No, I think it senses its bonder. The only thing to do now is to keep an eye out." Jarc nodded reluctantly then Troffs changed the subject, "Villy's idiotic move threatens to break the already delicate peace between the Government and the Pirates." Jarc snarled, "And you can trust those Conglomerate fools to escalate things! Bloody executives and their arrogance."

"But it looks like, my friend, that you will soon be needed in action again." Jarc shook his head with a small smile.

"No, our generation is gone, Troffs. Now, my legacy will continue through my son and yours, by one of your cadets." They both smiled and Troffs went to the nearby fridge and took out two bottles of alcohol. "Well, let's drink to that, shall we?"