Hey y'all, and welcome back to Falling from the Skies. This is Foulds speaking, and I have taken control for the moment. I'd just like to say that when I came up with the idea of a joint project, I never expected it to come together so quickly. I am honoured to have worked alongside Mesanshade last chapter, and Keeperofthescarf in this chapter.
Scarf himself is unavailable for comment, but I'm sure he loves y'all dearly.
Anyway, read, enjoy, and review!
All the best, Jon Foulds
Sami stood in the darkened room, considering the assassin in front of her in pensive silence. For his part, he was staring back at her, meeting her stare with a piercing gaze and cold deliberation, with the ghost of a smile playing across his lips. The most disturbing thing was how he looked straight at her, even though he was only looking at a reflection, thanks to the two-way mirror in the interrogation room of Orange Star's regional HQ. Somehow he knew that Sami was right there.
The assassin sat in a featureless cell, calmly sitting on a scratched plastic chair, which was in front of a battered wooden table; some prisoners were less composed than the room's present occupant. The cell was made entirely of concrete, except for the two-way mirror and an iron door. Sami's room was far smaller, and was mainly filled with recording equipment. Nell sat behind Sami, writing up the official report.
The assassination attempt had occurred yesterday evening, and it was now mid afternoon, though nobody could tell in Orange Star's underground prison complex. Sami, now wearing her casual clothes, turned away from him and picked up a small clipboard, covered with tiny notes by various intel officers and weapons experts. It was a list of the equipment they had found on the assassin, who had stayed silent since his capture.
Her eyes flicked over the list for the fifth time, again utterly confused by it. A powerful handgun used by the officers of Blue Moon and Yellow Comet, except with a laser targeting sight attached. A throwing knife from Green Earth's illegal underground arms trade, normally used by gangsters. Grenades that Orange Star's weapon testing engineers had never seen before.
Sami glanced back up at him. He was no ordinary infantryman. Of course, Orange Star had their own sniper rifles, grenades and throwing knives, but they didn't get used in real combat. It took so long to train a sniper that it wasn't worth the time and effort. Grenades had a habit of doing as much damage to your own army as to the enemy. Knives were just gratuitously brutal. Whoever this guy was, he was good. It took years to master any single one of these weapons. If Black Hole had trained soldiers like this, then the alliance could be in serious danger. Sami shuddered at how close that bullet had been. The red-haired CO turned to Nell, who was sitting behind her,
"Any word on who he is yet?"
"He doesn't match any records. The other nations checked his details too, and nothing showed up. He must be Black Hole"
"Could there be any mistake?"
"I doubt it"
Sami remained silent. She had a thought in mind, but she wouldn't tell Nell. Sami couldn't help but wonder if maybe he wasn't from Black Hole. A Black Hole elite tactical force was unheard of. Anyway, Sturm threw everything he had at the alliance in the final battle. If Black Hole had possessed peerless special forces at that point, then they would have been deployed to protect the missile platform. A year ago, Black Hole had no special forces. And yet now, Hawke had a soldier whose skills must have taken a decade to perfect. It didn't add up.
Sami looked over his attire; yet another piece of the puzzle. As she had suspected when she first saw him yesterday evening, there was no Black Hole insignia, or any other markings to give an indication of his allegiance. He was, however, kitted out in the best equipment available, and his attire was far superior to any standard issue Orange Star kit. This was the sort of gear that Sami would supply all of her troops with, if she was given an endless supply of money.
Grey combat fatigues covered most of his body. Over this attire, he wore charcoal-coloured body armour, which covered his torso, and a dull grey neck guard. Light blue armour protected his shoulders and upper arms. Several holsters, pockets and clips were tied to his thigh. Every last piece of combat gear fitted him perfectly. More importantly, it was, for all its strength, lightweight, and wouldn't hinder him at all. A bandage was wrapped around his leg where Sami had shot him, but it had only been a flesh wound, and he would recover within a week. One thing especially stood out. He had tied two rags around his right shoulder; one yellow, and the other orange.
Sami turned back to Nell, and spoke slowly,
"I want to interrogate him myself"
Nell paused for a long time, before sighing,
"Be careful"
Sami nodded and strolled from the small observation room into a dingy hallway. They were on the very bottom floor of the HQ, so it was purely functional. She checked her rifle was loaded, and then unlocked the door, stepping through, and stayed standing, with her weapon raised.
The man casually looked round at her, seeming distinctly unimpressed. His head was uncovered, and his short brown hair fell neatly back. He was probably about thirty. Sami had learnt to roughly evaluate people's fitness on sight, and she instantly knew that he was very well trained. His blue eyes were dim, and yet there was the slightest gleam of sapphire, as if they had once shone with life, but it had long since faded. He spoke first, very plainly,
"Good afternoon Sami"
"Who are you?"
He smiled, and tilted his head in amusement,
"That's not the question you want to ask"
She glared at him bitterly. It was as if they had just met. He didn't seem to care that he had tried to kill her. She replied,
"Who are you working for?"
"Now there's the question. Isn't it hard when we're not colour coded?"
"Don't play games with me. Do you any idea what we could do to you for your assassination attempt?"
"If it's anything less than the death penalty then I'm not interested"
"Where are you from? Why did you try to kill me?"
"Oh Sami, don't take it personally. Everyone always seems to be trying to kill everyone else. That's just the way things are"
"You're working for Black Hole"
He laughed at this, a cold and bitter laugh, and then replied,
"No, not at all. Come now Sami, I'm sure you can work it out. Anomalous weaponry with illegal modifications. Superior body armour with slight customisation. Highly specialised skills. Working alone. Assassination. What am I?"
Sami would have hit her head against the wall, but didn't want to show any weakness to the assassin. It was so obvious,
"You're a mercenary"
"Exactly"
"Who hired you?"
"I don't know"
"Don't play dumb with me"
"Oh Sami, do think for a moment" he said admonishingly, "You're alive, and so I'm not getting paid. Therefore, I have no obligation to my employer. In fact, I will do everything in my power to try and secure a pardon. If I knew who hired me, I'd say"
"Tell me what you know"
"I was hired on Moji island by an anonymous agent. I have no idea who it was. All I know is that they were willing to pay a huge amount if I could infiltrate that party and carry out an assassination"
"Why did your employer want you to kill Orange Star's COs?"
"Not Orange Star COs, Sami. They wanted you dead, and only you"
Sami paused for a long time. She always tried to stay cool, but suddenly felt very alone and scared,
"You were armed when we captured you. If you wanted me dead, why didn't you turn and fight?"
"I didn't know it was you following me"
"Who are you?"
"That doesn't matter. I left my name behind a long time ago"
Sami left without another word, and sealed the door behind her. She quickly walked back into the observation room,
"Nell"
"I heard. This is very serious"
"What's going on?"
"I don't know. Sami, given the circumstances, I think it might be better if you were to lie low for a while"
"Nell, I have to help with the investigation!"
"I'm sorry Sami, but as your superior, I am temporarily relieving you of all duties, and placing you on a compulsory vacation. You can stay out of sight on the south coast"
"But Nell…"
"Please Sami. You have to understand this is for your own good. If somebody wants you dead then I can't take any risks. Until we can solve this mystery, we must keep you safe"
Sami didn't reply. She knew Nell was right. The pair left the observation area, heading towards the briefing room. The assassin stared ever onwards, meeting the gaze of his own reflection.
Jess walked slowly up the steps of the abandoned grand staircase, her dress uniform still sparkling in the last rays of sunlight let in through the windows. A lone figure stood on the balcony, holding a small package out in front of him in his left hand. He didn't turn around, even though Jess' shoes clicked smartly on the marble floor as she approached him.
"Eagle, what are you doing?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer. Eagle slowly turned around to face her, a guilty look on his face for a moment, and an unlit cigarette between the fingers of his right hand.
"What does it look like, Red? Do you have a light? I don't suppose there's one built in to that petrol tank you always haul around." Jess took the cigarette from his hand with a reproaching look.
"Eagle, you quit five years ago."
"After a night like that, I need something to calm my nerves, and there aren't any free fighters to fly at the moment."
"The Great Eagle is anxious after a bullet or two? You've been shot at thousands of times, and this time, you weren't even the target."
"Sami was." He stopped for a moment, staring off the balcony into the skies. "If she hadn't been so quick..." He trailed off, seemingly unable to finish the sentence.
"But she was quick, Eagle, so what are you worrying about now?"
"Worry?" Eagle's face hardened. "Now it's rage that I'm trying to control, when I think about what's going to happen now. Black Hole is going to suffer for this." Jess realized Eagle was shaking from anger.
"Calm down, Eagle. Remember the last time you went on a crusade of revenge? You nearly ended up killing Andy, Max, and Sami, because Sturm was able to manipulate your emotions."
"Now Black Hole is trying to get them killed again, and I'll see to it that Hawke knows an attack on one of us is an attack on us all."
"What are you going to do, mobilize the entire air force and bomb one of Hawke's bases into oblivion?"
"His palace sounds like a good place to start."
"Sure, just breeze past the anti-airs and the missile sites and his elite squadron."
"My pilots can do it without breaking a sweat."
"Even your ego knows you'd take heavy casualties. What if a dozen pilots die in the run? Are the lives of our soldiers worth avenging an attempt, just an attempt, on Sami's life?" Eagle didn't respond. "Green Earth is what really matters, what's really worth fighting for," she continued. "Each one of us is going to die eventually, so the only thing any of us can do is try to protect our homeland. We make a few stupid decisions when we're angry, and we throw away hundreds of years of our history by getting ourselves conquered. Our nation has to come first, even if that means that our friends and allies are forsaken."
"Would you sacrifice Sami without a second thought, just for the safety of Green Earth?" Eagle asked softly, his voice full of bitterness.
"Not without a second thought, but yes, I'd do it. Wouldn't you?" Again Eagle did not respond. "Wouldn't you?" Jess repeated. Eagle turned to watch the stars,
"I'll make sure I never have to make that choice, Jess." He walked back towards the staircase. "Let's go find the others."