Dark Arrow Ch. 08

"It was a brilliant plan," Ren said with a smile. "The commander had a ship on standby and knew many of the uncharted or unstable jump points. They fled the system within hours of your father taking Irenna from her hospital bed. I'm sure you've started to put the pieces together Erillia, and you're probably feeling a bit lost because you feel like it isn't quite fitting together. The last piece of the puzzle is the name Irenna took after they fled. Irenna DeGraw became Nadia Thoresson, and after two years of protecting and watching over her Edward LaRoche fell in love with her, married her, and claimed a daughter born by her."

Erillia gasped. She'd expected Ren to say her father had been one of the men who fought with Roman DeGraw. The fact that she could have been the illegitimate heir of the Emperor never crossed her mind. Her knees shook as she tried to process everything. Her mother's actions made a bit more sense in light of this revelation.

She'd never understood the desperate need to blend in her mother had shown after her father's death, but now she felt she was starting to comprehend.

"Yes, Erillia, you are the daughter of Edward, you can rest easy on that score. I checked heavily into that when I was first sent here. You were born over a year after your father rescued your mother." Ren's face clouded and he scowled for a second. "I'm sorry Erillia but I have to break your heart. I was sent here by the advocacy to kill your father."

"No!" the scream torn from her throat and she fell to her knees. "Please no Ren, don't let it be you. Don't tell me the man I gave my heart to, the man who helped me put all the pieces back together again finally, is the man who killed my father." She broke down in sobs, pausing the replay as she collapsed wrapping her arms around herself and crying uncontrollably.

Finally, she wiped her eyes and glared at the tablet. She didn't want to hear the rest, but she needed to. She could feel the coldness she'd become accustom to before she'd run into Ren settle around her heart and soul again. No matter what Ren had to say she owed it to herself to hear the truth. Steeling herself she activated the replay again.

"I wasn't as smart as your father, and for that I'm sorry Erillia. I came here and found your father. I'd been told he was advocating unrest and might be attempting to lead an insurrection. Of course as soon as I arrived on Terra I found that was entirely bullshit. Then I fucked up," Ren paused and shook his head. "Instead of telling your father the situation I just went back to the Advocacy and told them he was no threat."

Erillia blinked, waiting for the hammer to fall. Unwilling to believe that her fears were unfounded. Refusing to accept that Ren had done what she feared he'd done when there was no need.

"Of course they said they accepted my judgement. I was given another assignment that I completed, and then another, but by that time I was questioning the Advocacy too much. I dug into the situation, and found I was being used to pick off anyone who might remember, or incite any sort of dissolution with the Emperor, but mostly I was being used to take out anyone who might have evidence of the horrible things the Advocacy and the Emperor were doing."

"I was a god damn fool," Ren said sadly. "I learned my lesson though. The last mission they sent me on when I was granted access to the records database to research the situation I broke into the records and downloaded as much information as I could. I downloaded your father's situation because I wanted to know why he was in disgrace. I never dreamed I would end up being with you. Never dreamed I'd have more of a reason to care about the case than to clear the name of a man I idolized and respected."

"I do though, and the time has come to use the information I gathered," Ren whispered softly. "By the time you get this I will have released the information through a network of connections I developed over the years since I left. The Advocacy is coming for you as much as for me Erillia. You're a threat because someone could claim you were an heir to the throne. You're not, but there are forces that would use that to start a revolution they've been wanting to start for years."

"You'll have to run," Ren said sternly. "They won't stop now, but with the story out there they will have to be subtle and they will have to do damage control. It will buy you time to get away and keep running. Unfortunately you're going to have to go alone," he smiled sadly. "I saw the Advocacy shuttle hit atmo yesterday. I have to buy you time and give them a distraction. By the time you get this I'll have set everything in motion and in all likelihood I'll already be dead."

"I wish I could stay with you little one," he said gruffly, and Erillia sobbed at the catch in his voice. "I have to do what is needed to give you your window of opportunity though. Know that I love you Erillia, and I wish with all my heart things could have been different. There is a list of transports and jobs on this tablet. Destroy your old one and take this instead. I've made sure it can't be traced. Pick a route off world and go. Don't stop running, and live your life. Don't make the same mistakes I made, goodbye little one."

With a blown kiss the replay ended. Erillia stared in shock at where the hologram had been. Her mind a jumble of thoughts as she stood in a daze. Her tablet buzzing finally broke her catatonic state. Grabbing it from her belt she glanced at the screen.

"Shooting in down town. Advocacy agents exchanged fire with a subject suspected to be connected to the assassination case. The subject is now in custody and Advocacy agents are confident that questioning of this suspect will lead to a resolution of the case."

Erillia stared the screen feeling the dread she'd been fighting to keep at bay the last four days sweep through her like a tidal wave.

"GOD DAMN YOU REN!" She roared out. For a moment despair drug her down into the darkness, but then she glanced back at the tablet in shock. The words "in custody" ricocheted around her head and her hands shook. They hadn't killed him yet! Ren was still alive, though she'd bet he wasn't going to be for long. For a moment she stood stunned, but then she shifted into action.

She was running back to the hover car with Ren's bag thrown over her shoulder before she truly processed what she was doing. Her mind spun as she jumped into the car and dropped the bag and her bow. Jumping into the pilots seat she punched in a path to return to Terra. For a moment panic swelled in her as she tried to think, but finally she simply let it go. She was a fighter and she was going to fight, that was all she really needed to know.

As the car rocketed towards the city, she closed her eyes and did her best to let go of all the stress and doubt that weighed on her with this decision. The Advocacy had to pay, of that at least she was certain. Finally, she nodded her head. Explosives, and lots of them, were the order of the day, and luckily she knew just where to go for them, but there was another stop she needed to make first.

************

6 Hours Ago

************

Jonathan had come through and come through in spades. She couldn't believe it as she packed the explosives into the hover car. She shook her head and glanced down at herself again and the note she held.

"The code for the firearms warehouse is tx59a17. The code for the explosives warehouse is b1g800m. You'll find the items are all listed in the computer terminals found right next to the door. In the back of the explosives warehouse is a locked hermetic unit. Inside it you'll find something I think you'll like and want. The code for that is Alpha41sqd7. Good luck Reaper."

Rattler was right, she most definitely wanted what he'd had in that container. A full military grade set of scout armor. She still couldn't believe it even as she admired the suit as best she could. The HUD display was disorienting at first, but she was starting to sort it out. Glancing at her hands and body the readings popped up on her display. Mild shielding, armor fully intact, no damage noted. Information that was soon to change.

While the suit had been designed and fitted for a man she and McNeal were of almost identical height and the suits internal cushioning was able to adjust to where, while not perfect, the fit was more than adequate for what she was going to do. Glancing over the items she checked them against the list she'd made in her head. Finally nodding she sighed as she climbed into the car.

The nanites she'd stolen from the hospital had been the hardest thing to acquire. She knew Jonathan would have the weapons and explosives she needed, though she'd never expected he'd come through with a set of armor. She'd actually felt guilty breaking into the medbay at the hospital and stealing the autojects, but when it came right down to it she and Ren were going to need those nanites if she had a hope in hell of pulling this off.

She flew the car as close to the Advocacy tower as she dared and then set down. Pulling out the explosives she divided the XE357 into packets and set the detonators in place. It took her an hour to get all the charges ready. Finally, she dumped the contents of Ren's bag out and packed the charges into it carefully. Slinging the bag over her shoulder she set the car to fly around the city in a tour pattern for two hours before returning to that location and then jumped out the door.

*************

Current time

*************

It had taken her almost the full two hours to get the charges set. She'd placed them on a chain relay so when one was triggered they would all trigger. When everything else was done, she'd stripped off the armor and taking the six largest charges she'd made a mad dash across the open courtyard to the tower. Placing the charges around the tower she'd again dashed back to the surrounding buildings and put her armor back on.

She'd tied the explosives to a remote detonation with 6 separate receivers so that if one of the charges was found the others would still be there to trigger the explosives. She'd also tied in three deadman's switches that she armed after reapplying the armor. With the armor's systems monitoring her vitals if the armor was destroyed or she died and wasn't able to trigger the explosives they would self-trigger.

Finally, she'd returned to the car and gone about prepping the last of her plan. Luckily the suit came with a built in parachute and she was able to improvise another which she attached to the crate she placed the weapons she wasn't carrying into. Then she took a couple hours to prepare herself for what was coming. Ren had trained her for combat, but she had to think he didn't expect her to be doing something like this.

Eventually she'd sat back down in the pilot's seat and plotted the car's course. Initially she'd wanted to rush in and save Ren immediately, but as she went about gathering the items and supplies she needed she'd changed her mind. Granted she had no love for the Advocacy or anyone working for them, but there were more than a few local people who worked there because it was a job.

More than likely they had no idea of what the Advocacy actually did and while she was prepared to kill anyone she needed to she'd rather keep the body count as low on innocent parties as possible.

After a lot of thought, she'd settled on an early morning attack. Hopefully most of the security staff would have gone home, though the people from Ren's unit would undoubtedly still be there. Still it should eliminate anyone who wasn't a hostile. She wouldn't have to worry about target selection, and she could go in guns blazing as it were.

So as the car approached the Advocacy towers and the warnings flashed about restricted airspace she disabled the car's remote functions preventing traffic control from diverting the car from its path and disabled its proximity sensors preventing it from avoiding a crash.

Leaving the seat, she opened the side door and felt the wind grab at her as she stood in the doorway. As the car passed over the tower her HUD lit up green and she shoved the crate out the door, watching to see that the jury rigged chute deployed and sighing with relief when it did. Ren had talked theory and even help her do a couple small dummy chutes but she'd not had to actually test it until now. She was just glad it wasn't her that had to depend on the chute.

The car swung wide and made a second pass over the building. Standing in the door she tried to control her breathing. All too soon the HUD would light up green again and she'd have to jump, and when that happened she needed to be ready. She saw the building approaching and felt her pulse jump again. This was it. There was no chance of turning back from here. Then again, she chuckled ruefully to herself, there never really was a choice. Then the HUD lit up green and she stepped to the door.

The wind tore at her. There was no going back. No changing how things had happened. She'd made her choice and all she had left to do was live out the consequences of that choice. One last breath. Just enough time for one last regret.

Then she was falling, fighting the urge to flail her arms uselessly against the rushing wind. Eyes squeezed shut she forced herself to try and calm down. Quietly she murmured words she'd heard her father say too many times to count. Words that hadn't been heard on Advocacy property in three decades.

"Out of the night that covers me. Black as the pit from pole to pole. I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul." Her eyes snapped open, alight with vengeance as she gripped the stock of the RM Magnum.

"In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud," She whispered. Remembering the next verse of her father's favorite poem. "Under the bludgeoning of chance my head is bloody, but unbowed."

She took one last breath. "Time to end this," she whispered softly to herself as she brought the gun into firing position and braced for impact while her mind drifted for a second back over the last two days.

The chute deployed automatically. The jerk shaking her as it snapped her up hard, slowing her descent. She watched the car veer off over the building before heeling hard over and accelerating as rapidly as it was capable of. She braced as it hurtled into the side of the building. There was a pause that felt like an eternity to her and she released her held breath staring at the shattered glass windows where the car had entered.

She'd been sure the car would catch on fire if not rupture the fuel cells and explode on its own. She'd left enough fuse to catch fire if the car lit up so it could trigger the two charges she'd left behind. After a moment she sighed. Apparently the building was less of a stress than she'd expected. Reaching down she pulled a transmitter of her leg. Verifying with her HUD that this was the trigger for the charges in the car. With a huff she pushed the button.

There was a moments pause followed by a bloom of light and a roar as the charges detonated. The impact of the shock wave made her chest hurt and the rush of the expanding air threw her around in midair dragging her chute up and making it jerk and dance around. With a start she realized the HUD was alarming she was going to miss the roof. In desperation she reached to her hip and drew her combat knife.

Reaching up she slashed one of the chute lines lose. She fell like a rag doll as the chute lost its integrity and crumpled into a useless streamer. With desperate strength she grasped the second line and slashed it free as well. Tumbling through the air as she tried to get her feet under her. This was going to hurt. The Magnum hanging from a strap around her neck flapped against her. With a last burst of energy, she threw the knife towards the crate she'd tossed out earlier and braced herself for the impact.

The shock hit her like a punch to the gut as she slammed into the roof and rolled with the force. Groaning she forced herself to move. Everything hurt, but she didn't have time to think about it. Her HUD showed no damage to the suit so she had to assume she was mostly ok as well. She'd loaded the suit's med unit with the three nanite syringes it could hold, and its automatic stabilization subroutine hadn't kicked in so she wasn't in immediate danger from the landing.

Rushing towards the crate she scrabbled across the roof, spotting and grabbing her knife as she went. Dropping by the crate she pulled out the weapons and explosives quickly stashing the two pistols and one each of the ballistic and plasma rifles to the attachment points of the suit. The spare clips and explosives save for the 5 grenades she had clipped to the waist and side of her armor she'd stashed in Ren's bag which she slung over her shoulder.

Taking the remaining plasma rifle in hand she slung the strap of the remaining ballistic rifle around her neck letting it come to rest alongside the Mangum as she turned to face the roof access door.

She'd counted on the explosion to draw attention away from the roof long enough for her to enter the building. Once in the stairwell she was confident in her ability to handle any and all comers, but on the roof if they could get through the door they could flank her.

Moving quickly across the roof she stopped and listened at the door. Even the amplified hearing afforded by the armor didn't detect any noise coming from behind the doors. Taking a deep breath, she whispered a quick prayer and kicked the door.

The force, amplified by the suit, was sufficient to drive the door in on the first blow, grabbing the crumpled meatal she heaved it out of her way and brought the rifle to a firing position as she moved into the stairwell.

Moving carefully, she paused and listened as she descended the stairs, but all she could hear was the roar of the flames from the explosion further down. The tower was twenty-seven floors, and the car had hit on the twentieth floor.

Making her way down the seven intervening floors she saw that the explosion had blown open the concrete of the stairwell and damaged the stairs mildly. She was glad she'd only used a handful of explosive now for the two charges she'd left in the car.

For a moment she hesitated but the HUD showed the stairs while scared by the explosives were still structurally sound. Stepping quickly through the debris she rounded the corner and froze.

It was faint, and without the armor she might had missed it, but a soft voice came to her ears. A few hushed words only, and for a moment she second guessed herself but a chill spread up her spine and she gripped the rifle readying it.

Stepping softly, she advanced down the stairs, rifle at the ready. A moment later she saw a flash of movement below her. She froze, pressing herself into the wall as she sighted down the stairs and waited. She'd expected a rush of adrenaline and a struggle to control her breathing since this was not her usual attack.

She'd been prepared for a bit of battle shock to set in. Instead she felt a hostility and cold fire well up in her like she'd never known before.

The desire to kill that Ren had pushed her so hard to unlock came unbidden to her now like a long lost friend. These men had taken Ren from her and done god only knew what to him. They were coming to take her or kill her.

Unfortunately for them she wasn't their normal prey and she was prepared for the fight. Hell she realized she was even relishing the thought of getting to end these people's lives.

She took a deep slow breath as she focused down the stairs, hyper alert for the first sign of movement. She held her position doing her best to meld herself into the wall. Then suddenly there was a flit of motion and the first target came around the corner.