them and saw the H.O.P.E. assault team pouring out of the stairwell and into the corridor just thirty metres away.
‘Go! Get to the Shroud,’ she yelled to Nero, pulling the last flash-bang grenade from her harness and tossing it back through the hole in the door. She heard it detonate as she ran across the hangar towards the waiting Shroud, the drop ship’s engines spinning up with a high-pitched whine. Above her was nothing but the dark night sky; clearly whatever had disabled the security system had also deactivated the holographic field concealing the landing pad.
Suddenly a masked figure in gleaming white body armour dropped to the hangar floor from somewhere overhead, blocking Raven’s route to the Shroud.
‘Going somewhere?’ Ghost asked.
‘Yes, through you,’ Raven replied, drawing the twin swords from her back.
‘I’ve been waiting a long time for this,’ Ghost said.
Raven struck, aiming a sweeping blow at the other woman’s head, but Ghost blocked the blow with her forearm. The sword struck the armour plate with a crackle, but did no damage. Ghost struck back, the straight edge of her hand snaking out and hitting Raven in the wrist, paralysing her hand so that the sword dropped from her numb fingers. Ghost followed up with a flat-palmed blow to Raven’s chest that sent her staggering backwards. Raven fought to take a breath while ignoring the sharp pain. The last time she had been hit that hard and that fast had been when she’d been fighting Cypher’s robotic assassins.
‘I’m going to take you apart piece by piece,’ Ghost said. It was impossible to tell through her smooth white faceplate, but Raven felt sure that the other woman was smiling. Ghost flicked her wrists, and triangular black blades shot out from beneath the armour on her forearms.
Raven backed away. She could hear the rest of the H.O.P.E. soldiers pouring into the hangar somewhere behind her. Ghost raised a single hand, ordering them to hold position as she advanced towards Raven again. She struck impossibly quickly. Raven barely had time to raise a katana to block the killing blow aimed at her neck, deflecting Ghost’s wrist-blade just enough that it only opened a gash in her shoulder. Raven winced and struck back, but her blade bounced ineffectually off her opponent’s armoured chest plate.
‘You can’t win,’ Ghost said, and kicked at Raven’s thigh. Raven gasped in pain, dropping to one knee and raising her sword to block Ghost’s blade as it swung towards her again. Ghost pushed downwards, forcing Raven’s sparking blade back towards her own face. Raven pushed with all her strength, but the other woman was impossibly strong and she could feel the power draining from her arm as the blade moved closer and closer.
‘Hey!’
Raven glanced past Ghost and saw Nero standing at the bottom of the Shroud’s loading ramp, a large pistol levelled straight at Ghost. Raven felt the pressure on her sword ease the tiniest amount as Ghost turned her head to face the Shroud. Nero pulled the trigger and the flare gun fired, the hissing red ball of fire shooting across the hangar and striking Ghost’s faceplate. Ghost staggered backwards and Raven leapt to her feet, running for the drop ship.
‘Kill them!’ Ghost yelled at the H.O.P.E. assault team, her hands covering her face.
Raven ignored the bullets that whizzed past her as she raced up the ramp into the Shroud’s cargo bay.
‘GO!’ Nero yelled over his shoulder as he slapped at the button that closed the boarding ramp. Up on the flight deck the pilot maxed out the throttle, the Shroud’s engines roaring as it shot up out of the hangar.
Ghost watched from the hangar floor as the Shroud lifted up into the night sky.
‘Targets are in flight,’ she said calmly.
Otto looked up from the pavement outside the G.L.O.V.E. building, watching the Shroud climbing into the sky.
‘Now, Malpense,’ Trent’s voice crackled in his ear, ‘bring them down.’
Otto
‘Go! Get to the Shroud,’ she yelled to Nero, pulling the last flash-bang grenade from her harness and tossing it back through the hole in the door. She heard it detonate as she ran across the hangar towards the waiting Shroud, the drop ship’s engines spinning up with a high-pitched whine. Above her was nothing but the dark night sky; clearly whatever had disabled the security system had also deactivated the holographic field concealing the landing pad.
Suddenly a masked figure in gleaming white body armour dropped to the hangar floor from somewhere overhead, blocking Raven’s route to the Shroud.
‘Going somewhere?’ Ghost asked.
‘Yes, through you,’ Raven replied, drawing the twin swords from her back.
‘I’ve been waiting a long time for this,’ Ghost said.
Raven struck, aiming a sweeping blow at the other woman’s head, but Ghost blocked the blow with her forearm. The sword struck the armour plate with a crackle, but did no damage. Ghost struck back, the straight edge of her hand snaking out and hitting Raven in the wrist, paralysing her hand so that the sword dropped from her numb fingers. Ghost followed up with a flat-palmed blow to Raven’s chest that sent her staggering backwards. Raven fought to take a breath while ignoring the sharp pain. The last time she had been hit that hard and that fast had been when she’d been fighting Cypher’s robotic assassins.
‘I’m going to take you apart piece by piece,’ Ghost said. It was impossible to tell through her smooth white faceplate, but Raven felt sure that the other woman was smiling. Ghost flicked her wrists, and triangular black blades shot out from beneath the armour on her forearms.
Raven backed away. She could hear the rest of the H.O.P.E. soldiers pouring into the hangar somewhere behind her. Ghost raised a single hand, ordering them to hold position as she advanced towards Raven again. She struck impossibly quickly. Raven barely had time to raise a katana to block the killing blow aimed at her neck, deflecting Ghost’s wrist-blade just enough that it only opened a gash in her shoulder. Raven winced and struck back, but her blade bounced ineffectually off her opponent’s armoured chest plate.
‘You can’t win,’ Ghost said, and kicked at Raven’s thigh. Raven gasped in pain, dropping to one knee and raising her sword to block Ghost’s blade as it swung towards her again. Ghost pushed downwards, forcing Raven’s sparking blade back towards her own face. Raven pushed with all her strength, but the other woman was impossibly strong and she could feel the power draining from her arm as the blade moved closer and closer.
‘Hey!’
Raven glanced past Ghost and saw Nero standing at the bottom of the Shroud’s loading ramp, a large pistol levelled straight at Ghost. Raven felt the pressure on her sword ease the tiniest amount as Ghost turned her head to face the Shroud. Nero pulled the trigger and the flare gun fired, the hissing red ball of fire shooting across the hangar and striking Ghost’s faceplate. Ghost staggered backwards and Raven leapt to her feet, running for the drop ship.
‘Kill them!’ Ghost yelled at the H.O.P.E. assault team, her hands covering her face.
Raven ignored the bullets that whizzed past her as she raced up the ramp into the Shroud’s cargo bay.
‘GO!’ Nero yelled over his shoulder as he slapped at the button that closed the boarding ramp. Up on the flight deck the pilot maxed out the throttle, the Shroud’s engines roaring as it shot up out of the hangar.
Ghost watched from the hangar floor as the Shroud lifted up into the night sky.
‘Targets are in flight,’ she said calmly.
Otto looked up from the pavement outside the G.L.O.V.E. building, watching the Shroud climbing into the sky.
‘Now, Malpense,’ Trent’s voice crackled in his ear, ‘bring them down.’
Otto
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