Episode 179

                “Oh no you did not just shoot that green sh!t at me!”
                                Captain Steve Hiller, Independence Day

                Eli was the first of the five original riders to come out of the cramped elevator. With a pleased look on his face, he scoured over the parking deck, at the blinding clinical light that showered the line of vehicles. “A place for everything and everything in its place.” He joked as his men fanned out, allowing more of the Hand agents to come down from the next arrival of the elevator.

                Fifteen Hand agents soon moved out over the deck, sending along in the serene silence, checking between every vehicle and empty space. They scoured quickly and professionally over the parking lot, moving with clockwork precision and efficiency. In moments, the fifteen returned to Eli’s waiting presence, all of them standing before him.

                “Good job.” Eli said, smiling broadly to them all. “You all searched between every vehicle, in every space, in every nook and cranny. Did you find any evidence of intruders?” They all shook their heads. “I see.” Eli nodded. “Now, can you tell me how you missed the mud that had been tracked right into the very middle of the room?” He said, pointing behind them.

                Vincent dropped down right behind Eli, dropping fist first onto the sniper’s shoulders. The fifteen agents all turned around in shock, just as Sydney came up behind them, her footsteps falling like silent breaths. Whipping out her twin short swords, she spun them like buzz saws, tearing through two agent’s thick leg muscles, fraying their hamstrings out from their legs.

                Blood fell as the two fell and the dame moved on. The two agents on either side of the assault turned right to her, but the dame jumped up, kicking the agent on her right directly in the face. She spun around from the impact, aiming to roundhouse the left agent, but the steroid-induced speed of the man’s hand caught her leg in the air. But Sydney didn’t pause. With a fast bend, she lunged forward, stabbing her left sword into the mans’ arm, driving the blade down through his forearm, then jumped forward at her captor, to drive her right sword directly into his throat, puncturing the back of his neck.

                Eli whirled around, bringing his rifle to bear on Vincent, but the knight parried the swing with his right arm, planting a hard punch across the sniper’s face, knocking him back. But as Eli dove back from the blow, he pulled the trigger once, the loud echo of the shot ringing out with crystal quality. Vincent’s side burst open in blood as red sprayed across the wall behind him.

                Eli landed in a roll and came up to his feet, to see four knights taking the fifteen Hand agents apart. Four were down. Three were dead.

                Jason leapt back as an agent swung his sword for the knight’s neck. Parrying with a fast sweep with his katana, Jason sliced the man’s hand, cutting off his thumb with a clean struck. The black sword fell from his debilitated hand, but the agent turned around suddenly, aiming with his pistol. Jason jumped back, hiding behind one of the cars.

                Sydney parried a sword swing with her left sword, only to slice the agent’s bicep with her right sword. Moving immediately at the slice, she drove the blade of her left parrying sword up into the man’s triceps, severing those muscles, before she sliced across his neck, spraying blood out into the air as a fine, red mist.

                Morgan parried a sword slice at his stomach, then immediately threw his sword back behind his back, over his shoulder, to stop two sword strikes meant for his back. Reversing the motion, the knight drove the Grosse Messer down into the first Hand agent’s shoulder, splitting his left arm from his body. Suddenly spinning like a top, Morgan swung his sword like the axis of the earth, separating the two men behind him from their heads. Continuing the spin, he came around to roundhouse another agent in the head, the force of the spinning kick knocking the man in the air. Before the man could even land, the knight swung his sword in a hard arc, driving it deep into the man’s chest, splitting him cleanly in two.

                As Morgan came to a stop, two more agents rushed at him. The nearer of the two lunged for him with his sword, but Morgan dodged to the side, slicing his sword in a parallel slice at the man’s forearm, as if skinning his arm. But driving deeper inside, Morgan flayed all the muscles off the man’s arm before driving the blade of his razor sword straight through the man’s neck.

                The angle of the slice drove the man’s decapitated head up into the air. Aiming the trajectory, Morgan sent the head straight into the hands of the Hand agent who rushed at him. The man, panicking, caught the head, just before Morgan impaled the head with so much power; he drove the blade of his sword into the agent who held it.

                Ledger drove his finger hard into an agent’s neck, causing the drugged-up fighter to start going into convulsions that turned into spasms. Moving past him, the sniper ducked under a sword swing, only to come up with a hard kick down behind him into the knees of the man who had just swung for him. Not even looking back at his foe, Ledger threw a fast knife down into the back of the man he had just dropped. Leaving him there, the sniper rushed across the floor.

                Eli saw Ledger coming. He held up his rifle, firing at the knightly sniper, but Ledger ducked around it. In the din of the firing shots, Ledger cocked his shortened shotgun, leveling it fast. A quick pump of the trigger and the side of the parking deck wall exploded in sparks as the door of the elevator was dented in numerous places.

                Eli jumped over the few still-living men as they tried to overcome their pain to help their leader. But as the sniper turned around, he saw Ledger following him step for step. He aimed his rifle again, but Ledger closed the distance too quickly.

                The knight punched the sniper right in the face, spreading blood over his own fist. “That’s for ruining my last shotgun.” Ledger bit viciously.

                Eli dropped down, his left leg flaring out low to sweep Ledger’s feet out from underneath him. But the knight simply bent his legs, steadying himself for the impact. Instead of falling, he simply stopped the sweep cold.

                But it gave Eli the chance to hold the rifle to Ledger’s forehead. “Die!” He screamed, pulling the trigger. But just before the gun could fire, Morgan tackled Ledger in the side, knocking him clear of the rifle’s vindictive blast.

The two knights hit the ground hard, landing against the wheel of one of the cars. Eli took the opportunity to get to his feet and instantly, he was running. “I’m getting tired of saving you.” Morgan grumbled, crawling up off of Ledger.

                “Go take care of those downed guys.” Ledger order, rushing to his feet, already running after Eli. “His ass is mine.”

                “Does he know that?” Morgan yelled to the running knight.

                Jason and Sydney dropped down next to Vincent as the knight leaned against a car’s wheel. He held his right side with his left hand, his katana resting against his shoulder as he stayed quiet. “Are you okay?” Jason asked as the knight looked up at the two.

                “No, you idiot. I’ve been shot!” Vincent shouted, unable to keep from grinning.

                “It looks clean.” Sydney said, checking the wound. She moved Vincent, ignoring his exclamation of pain. “The bullet exited. It didn’t hit anything important.”

                “I don’t know.” Vincent said, sitting back. “Sure hurts a lot.”

                “Can you fight?” Jason asked. “We’ve got a lot more to do.”

                “Just let me know where that bastard is who shot me.” Vincent said, clambering to his feet.

                “Ledger’s gone after him, but we’re going to have company pretty soon.” Sydney said. “Can you fight?”

                “I don’t’ think I’ll have a lot of say in the matter.” Vincent said, finally drawing his katana up with a breath. “Just give me some band-aides. I’ll be fine.”

                Sydney looked over the trunk of the car they were standing next to, just in time to see Morgan bring his sword down in a hard chop. Against her own will, she jerked her head away, forcing herself to drive out the sound of the crisp, pained shout that followed.

                “What’s going on?” Mint yelled into the speakerphone.

                “We’re under attack!” Eli shouted, obviously running as he yelled into the walkie-talkie.

                “How many?” She asked, as the sixteen technicians watched her, pretending to continue their work.

                “Five.” Eli shouted. “But I think I wounded one of them. We’re in the lowest level of the parking deck.”

                “I’m sending you a detachment of sixteen men, Eli.” Mint said condescendingly. “Is that going to be enough?”

                “Mint, they’re knights!” He screamed.

                The sixteen heads all looked up. “Knights?” Said one. “Did he say knights?”

                “Okay, Eli. I’ll send you two detachments.” She said, swallowing hard. “Thirty-two men should be enough to take care of five knights.” She hit a button on the control panel, then looked at the sixteen men. “I want you to contact two more teams of Hand agents and send them to the parking deck. “I also want you to call Jericho back here, but I do not, I repeat, do NOT want any of you disclosing this information to him until I speak to him first. Understood?”

                “Yes ma’am.” They all chimed in unison, turning to their tasks.