FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Mercenary is the first arc of The Underground series

Chapter 29 of 32

Conference #3

"Sir we've got two dead bodies on the roof, and shots reported being fired in sublevel three." A voice muffled in static as he reported over Hets's intercom.

However, the grey stallion simply smiled. "Ah, it seem that our mercenary has returned home." He turned around. "Well it seems that you were on the money this time, Atir. Alias seems to have grown some kind of bond with this young vixen which brought him back here."

The gazelle couldn't help but smiling, as this was much better than the last conference with his boss. "You know he's going to be coming after you, sir."

Hets simply nodded. "Let him." He replied simply. "All goes well, we can hang him up downstairs, that should induce a certain level of fear. If all goes wrong, well then I will have a meeting with our dark friend. Either way, I win."

Atir scowled. "You're not worried, sir?"

Hets simply laughed at the notion, sitting down in his chair. "Atir, you must not worry yourself with details for now. The point I am simply trying to make is that Alias will be dealt with." Grabbing his glass of water from his marble desk, Hets took a long drink. "Now," He said, placing the glass back down on the table, "I want you to personally lead the effort into finding Alias." Hets pushed the button to the intercom down. "Leoben, get your men to the thirty-third floor, Atir will meet you there." Hets released the button, waiting for Leoben to reply. "Leoben?" Hets asked into the mike.

"Sorry, Hets, Leo's a little busy right now." A different voice crackled through.

Hets paused for a moment, then a smile broke across his muzzle. "Alias." He replied in a calm way. "How good to hear from you once again."

"Just like old times, right?"

Hets nodded to Atir, who rose from his seat and turned to the door. "Alias, I must warn you, we will find you, and when we do, I will have you killed."

"You've been doing your best already." Alias's crackly voice replied. "I got to tell you Hets, your security sucks."

Hets chuckled at this. "I agree, actually. The rent-a-cops you have been dealing with are far too overpaid and under trained. I have a whole new set of friends I would like to introduce you to. They are special order straight from a militia group from one of those nameless third world countries we like to toy around with. I think they will find you quite entertaining."

"Good." Alias replied. "I'll be right up."

There was a click and the radio went dead.

The stallion opened his middle desk drawer and pulled out his nickel-plated pistol. He caught a glimpse of himself in the polished metal and smiled. This day had been long in coming.

"I want fire teams Alpha and Bravo covering the north and south stairwells." Atir belted out to his platoons of soldiers outside Hets's office. "There's only two ways he can come at you from there." He turned around, still giving out his orders, "The rest of you, I want you covering the elevator lobby." The teams began to break up, going to their proper positions. "Lets get one thing straight! This fucker is a ghost! I don't care what gun you have, who trained you, or how many kills you have under your belt; you have never dealt with anything like this before. Underestimate him; you're dead. Think you can handle one fox on your own; you're dead! Find the bastard; kill him!"

The hired guns moved quickly and without talk. They were well trained and disciplined to the extreme. He turned to his Rogue group. "You're with me." Atir informed them. "We are the last line of defense. Take a spot outside Mr. Hets's office. There's one door, anyone with black fur crosses through, shoot them!"

Atir looked down the long hallway that was essentially Hets' office lobby. Marble pillars lined this hallway leading to a set of glass doors. Lazarus Plaza was designed to be an office building, not an institution that could be locked down on the drop of a hat. It would seem that Atir would have the upper hand. He had superior numbers, and firepower but still the gazelle was nervous. The images he viewed from Alias's file were constantly reappearing in his head, causing him to shut his eyes, attempting to clear his mind from those horrors.

Small wonder Alias was as fucked up as he was.

"Sir, motion sensors show movement in the southern stairwell." A deep voice behind Atir informed.

"Good, inform Bravo. I'm headed that way!" Atir replied, as he jogged to the end of the lobby, pushing open the glass doors. He made his way around twists and turns in the corporate sky-rise. He strained his ears, listening for gunshots, but heard nothing. Finally he rounded the corner and found all of Bravo still waiting by the door.

No shots had been fired, no alarms raised; nothing. Atir slowed to a walk.

"What's happening on the motion sensors?" Aitr spoke into his radio.

"Movement's stopped, sir." The voice replied. "It just disappeared."

Atir spun around on his heels, only to see an empty hallway behind him.

Where are you, you bastard? Atir thought to himself.

He then turned around as he heard something fall to the floor. Atir stood about twenty feet away from where fire team Bravo stood, but his eyes were sharp. He saw a tiny black box fall to the floor in the middle of the huddle at the door.

Instincts kicking in, the gazelle jumped around the corner, just as the hallway erupted in an orange blaze. Bravo, the entire strike force, had no place to go as their bodies were crushed by the force of the explosion, then scorched by the ensuing heat. Atir leaned around the corner long enough to see a shadow in the orange haze fall from the ceiling vent to the floor. He landed gracefully on his feet, taking a knee. His black trench coat made an elegant drift down around him like a cape of a vampire. His arms were extended outward, keeping his balance. The smoke from the antipersonnel mine, which had exploded, engulfed him in a manner that only added to the mystique of his character. As his head tilted upward, Atir made eye contact with him. The green of his eyes cut right through Atir's body armor and into his soul.

Alias had returned.