She ran and she ran, and yet it seemed as if she was holding still, maybe even losing ground compared to her target. Impossible. Or at least it should have been. Bines was somehow keeping up, the gravity helped, as they were both headed in the same direction; down the stairwell. Tess didn't even bother calling out for Jack to stop. It would be wasted breath, and she needed all of the breath she could get.
The chase drug on, taking them through a poorly maintained corridor. The dancing and inconsistent lighting played hell with her vision, until the helmet's visual enhancement layer kicked in. Edges of all the objects appeared as thin yellow lines, and her target, in red. The hallway was long and crowded with various objects. Everything from boxes to barrels full of trash attempted to spoil their day. However, they were catching up. She undid the clasp on her stunner's holster in anticipation.
It turned out to be premature though. An intersection of the hallway yielded a large menagerie of animals, chickens and roosters to name a few. They were running about in a frenzy, stirred up by the criminal's passing. Tess collided head on with a few without breaking stride. Solid thumps reverberated up and down her legs. She herd Bines gasp as he stumbled and fell on something. Though a familiar thump caught her attention more. Further down the corridor lay a woman, from her clothes it was obvious she lived here. Red blood spurted rhythmically from her neck wound.
That caused Tesla to pause for a moment. Not due to the gruesome nature of the wound, but because of the opportunity. Bines was slowing her down, he was going to get hurt if he continued, and there were other important things that needed to be taken care of. "Bines, stabilize this civvy and rendezvous with Bravo, get out of here. I'm going to get Jack." There was no argument, in the middle of an operation, there was never time for one. Either you followed your orders, or team mates could die. Though by the look on his face, he made his disapproval clear. "Confirmed." She took off her helmet and tossed it to him. "Don't worry, I'll get him." She winked, and was off like a rocket, ponytail streaming behind her.
Without the helmet, she was considerably more exposed. The head contained the command center of the whole body, and as such was the most vulnerable spot in the body. However, she didn't intend to slow down enough for anyone to get a chance. She barreled through a small gaggle of sour smelling locals, knocking them from their feet, and paused for a split second at a junction, before spotting her quarry. Taking off down the corridor, she speed vaulted a moldy wooden box as the whole building shook, almost making her lose her balance. I didn't think I'd landed quite that hard.
"CP to all units. We're seeing debris from an explosive device that's been set off on the thirtieth floor. Confirm?"
"Falcon to CP, thirty first floor, confirmed. This building is coming down."
"CP to all aerial units in the vicinity, prep to evacuate all BESC personnel. All active units, proceed to clear an LZ and activate beacons. Say confirm."
"Fox Two confirm."
"Fox Three and Six, Alfa, already clear."
"Bravo confirm."
His back bobbed up and down, she was so close to winning, she could already feel the satisfaction of 8 million volts of electricity flooding his body. On the other hand, she would have a lot to answer for if the building came down with her inside. Though she wouldn't be answering anyone after that.
Fuck that, I'm in this to the end.
"CP to Fox one, confirm?"
There was one option, get Jack. The very real possibility of dying was just an encouragement to get the job down. Redoubling her efforts, she sprinted down the hallway. Even incoming fire from behind her couldn't distract her, it simply earned a few rounds from the Knocker, before she dropped it for weighing her down. Whoever was chasing her would hopefully either stop to grab the valuable weapon, or trip on it.
"Fox one, respond."
The chase eventually led to a central housing area, ringed by apartments and, unfortunately, an almost impenetrable sea of people. She could try to barrel through and risk getting shot in her very exposed cranium...or. She reached to her belt, pulling out four small cylinders. Last year, these gadgets had shown up in the crowd control lockers. The year before they had become every SRTU member's best friends. Crowd control in a nice, tidy package. Sprinting headlong into the crowd, she tossed the cylinders as accurately as possible, nevertheless, one tumbled over the edge of the walkway. Thankfully, the other three landed, planted, and incapacitated nearly half of the civvys on the gantry. Unfortunately, Jack was off in the distance, running like a mad man. Someone ate his wheaties.
She continued the chase, the pistol stunner now in her hand as she closed in. Left and right she zapped anyone who got too close, she didn't have time for delays. Wait, I need to think for a second. He has to have some plan to get off of this soon to be pile of debris. And this area would be a great place to do it. Every level of the staircase had a landing pad. In various states of disrepair, but all useable. Hes getting a ride from someone.
As of yet, she hadn't been able to close the gap. But an idea suddenly sparked. Tess was making no ground going head to head in a race. So she'd have to cheat a bit. As they passed the landing gantry on their level, she stopped completely, watching Jack continue to run down the spiral. The next floor's landing area was directly below where she was now, so either hed have to come back up, or keep going.
"CP to Fox one, respond immediately!"
Grabbing the rail, she hoisted herself over it and dangled off the side, rail in both hands. Jack was almost to the second landing area, she'd have to make this fast. But hell, that was a longer drop than she expected. A veritable chasm stretched beneath her armored legs, the walkway seemed narrow, a hard target to hit. Commit completely or fail. She made up her mind, swung, and let go.
Everyone tells you how the height is terrifying, almost no one tells you how exhilarating the fall is. Its pure adrenaline, the good stuff. IT was over so fast though, the shock reverberated through her armor, but the rest dispersed as she rolled with it. She came to her feet just in time to see Jack's panting face come into view, so close, there would be no was she missed. Tess raised her PDP and lined up the iron sights. "Get on the ground, NOW!" Her finger tensed on the trigger, she'd had enough.
"CP to Fox one, get out now! You have no support and the building is coming down. Say confirm!"
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