OOC: I hope this isn't too overwhelming
IC:
After a few minutes of frantic speeding and out-running the local law enforcement, winding between skyscrapers and under bridges, Sinim finally sighed through his teeth and said “I think we've lost them. As I was saying earlier, my brother and I have business somewhere nearby that requires our immediate attention. I'm sorry but you'll have to tag along.”
Nayton knew that he had no control over the situation and nothing he could say or do would change that. He silently put himself at the mercy of his superficial captor with the car keys. “This won't be dangerous will it?” he asked, hoping that the answer would be simple and comforting (though he had a hunch that would be proven accurate momentarily).
“Definitely not,” was all that Sinim said.
Nayt stared at him with a blank expression that would have shot daggers and would have silently brodcasted “I despise your guts and wish bad things befall you,” if he weren't concerned for his own safety. Since he barely knew this Sinim, who had minutes ago been holding a gun to the face of his actual captive in the backseat, and didn't trust him enough to feel comfortable about the dynamic situation, he merely scoffed and turned his glance to look out the window.
The area below them was now dark as he realized they had left the city and surrounding suburbs, and were now racing above federally protected forests, which were steadily turning into swamplands the further they went.
Sinim broke his attention as he said: “We're almost there. I'll set the car down outside the complex. You two stay in the car. I'll be back, hopefully soon, and even more hopefully, in one piece.” He tossed a small Falcon 3 to Nayt, telling him to keep Leigh in check and use it if anyone hostile were to show up.
Sinim landed the sedan 50-some meters away from a simple, single-floored building, perhaps no bigger than 200 square meters. Most of it was likely underground, he assumed, as Sinim had referred to it as a facility. He reached under the dashboard and pushed a button, which put a few gears in motion, revealing a hidden weapon compartment in the center console between the two front seats. From it he brandished a large scoped assault rifle and a small alien pistol, likely Skedar-developed. With the rifle locked and loaded he plowed out the door and burst through the only door into the building.
After the hinged door to the complex slowly clicked shut, Nayton reached over the center console, closed the open driver's side door, and toggled the locks.
“Um, you mean to tell me you're going to listen to that guy and just stay here?” Leigh asked from the backseat, clearly annoyed by the decision.
“Well, I know that, at least for the moment, I'm safe in this car. I don't know what's in that building, but I know it's less safe than being in this car. There's nowhere else to go, since he took the car keys, unless you'd like to go wade through the miles and miles of wild swamp and forests out there in your mini-skirt and high heels.” She glanced down at her legs and feet and realized that the old guy in the passenger seat was right, she didn't want to trudge around in slime and damage her perfect skin. And her shoes were only a few days old.
A few moments of awkward silence passed while Nayton fiddled with the pistol. He didn't feel comfortable pointing it at someone he still regarded as a student, but fortunately it seemed it would not be necessary. He was more worried about the “anyone hostile” that Sinim said might show up. He'd never used a gun before. Not a real one anyway. Living in a big city he'd decided to be smart and carry a compact stun-gun. Even then he'd only fired it twice: once when a mugger assaulted him outside an airport late at night, and once by accident on his foot. He still had it on him, tucked under his vest. He wondered if maybe he should let Leigh use one or the other, but didn't deem her trustworthy enough by this point.
“So, what's your story?” He asked Leigh.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, who are you, what do you do, what caused you to help those guys spy on me?”
She kept quiet for a moment, perhaps deciding how much to reveal, beyond what she'd already told him. She explained that she was just a girl trying to get by without relying on her stern parents. She had already been working at the bar that Nayton would later begin to frequent when he took the job at Northwestern, and that's where she had first heard of NUFLO and where she took an offer that she couldn't refuse. They fabricated a transcript and processed her through the admissions system and got her admitted to the university. Then she signed up for his class, which she didn't actually have the pre-requisites for, and kept an eye on him. In exchange, NUFLO (or rather some guy affiliated with NUFLO) would leave her a $500 side-tip at the end of each week (on top of what she was making at the pub) that the project lasted, and a final bonus. So far she'd only made $1000 off the deal, which would certainly pay the rent for a few more months, but she was depressed that the contract would likely be coming to a conclusion soon.
Nayton could sympathize with her a little; he didn't actually know what it was like to be a girl trying to get by in a big city, but he'd been classmates with several during his undergraduate years and counseled some as an academic advisor before beginning interstellar research and teaching. Leigh looked at him now like a lost puppy begging for scraps of food. He suspected that she was trying to reconcile for what she did earlier and make more allies to help her out. It wouldn't surprise him if she'd be strongly rebuked by her NUFLO correspondent for failing her mission and spilling the beans. He didn't have any ill-will toward her. Afterall, she'd ultimately done nothing against him, aside from losing his precious hat. He imagined he could actually like this girl if he weren't presently holding a live pistol and sitting outside a dangerous (potentially terrorist-operated) facility in the middle of nowhere.
“So, what is it exactly that you're researching?” Leigh asked him. “I'm not asking on behalf of those NUFLO guys, really. I'm curious.”
Nayt wondered if he really should divulge the information to her. She seemed to be genuinely sincere in her curiosity, but it had the potential to backfire if by some twist of situation she was back under the control of NUFLO. He himself didn't even understand the more complex stuff that might be used against him. He figured he could at least explain the basics, since they weren't confidential and little could be made of it.
“Essentially, I've discovered a new spectrum of light. It's pretty crazy stuff. It basically defies the logics of the light that we're familiar with. That is, light is a type of wave that varies in wavelength, and thus frequency; long wavelengths like radio waves and micro waves have low-energy yields, and short wavelengths like ultraviolet rays, x-rays, and gamma rays have high-energy yields. Well, this new spectrum is the exact opposite of the principles that we apply to light here: it has an extremely long wavelength but seems to emit a high amount of energy, much higher than that of gamma rays, while also being relatively stable and safe. Furthermore, it can penetrate the Earth's atmosphere, meaning it's available to us here on the surface without having to extract it from somewhere and import it into the atmosphere. It's almost as if the spectrum of light is somehow circular, and the two ends, high and low frequency, are connected, and what I've discovered is some sort of, connecting piece or something. I hope that through my research my colleagues and I can find a way to use it as a new energy source to replace the nonrenewable resources we've been using for the past few centuries.”
“That was a mouthful,” was all Leigh had to say at first. After letting the information sink in a little more, she continued: “So this is pretty crucial stuff? Like, ground-breaking discoveries to solve the problems of global warming and polar ice caps melting and that sort of stuff?”
“Well, yes and no. I'm not sure that it'll
solve global warming, as it's a pretty solid theory that it's not entirely man-made, but it should help. More importantly, it should rid us of our dependency on oil and nuclear power, which have both proven to be fairly disastrous for the human race. Wars have been fought over oil, and nuclear waste caused by power generation is dangerous and indestructible. Not to mention all the people that have been affected by nuclear accidents like Chernobyl.”
She smacked her lips and said “So it it's pretty crucial then.”
“Yeah I suppose.”
“Like the foundation of a new age of humankind.”
“Please, it's nothing that great.”
“But it is. New technological discoveries like these always bring about a change in humankind. Like when steam was first harnessed.”
Nayton was a humble person. He didn't like to think too greatly of his work, but he supposed that Leigh had a valid point. If he could find a way to harness the light wave in large, stable quantities, that is. It would probably be very expensive and he'd need to get a lot of endorsements to find out, but time would handle that issue.
He'd begun to get comfortable in his seat, and Leigh was riveted by the conversation. He had almost forgotten about the whole being-left-alone-in-a-car-by-a-stranger-next-to-a-dangerous-building-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-with-the-supposition-that-hostile-people-may-show-up-and-attack-them thing when he saw the door that Sinim had disappeared through a few minutes ago fly open and a bunch of armed men in dark black and blue armor file out, followed by scientists and technicians in casual garb.
“****!” Nayton said and ducked down in his chair, hoping that the armored guardsmen weren't out to investigate the mysterious car that had been spotted just outside the building and that if they indeed weren't, they wouldn't get curious about it. He glanced back and saw that Leigh had also ducked down between the seats. He reached under his vest and grabbed the small stun-gun and tossed it to her, telling her to use it if things got sticky.
To their misfortune, the guards indeed showed up to inspect the car. Upon finding the doors locked one of them smashed the window in and flipped the locking mechanism from the inside. Two guards opened the doors and thrust their weapons at them, yelling to get out of the car. Nayton had the Falcon 3 somewhat out of sight, but he couldn't bring himself to use it. He was too scared, and they already had automatic rifles aimed at them. Not to mention the body armor and superior numbers. He dropped it to the floor and put his hands in the air, attempting to work his way to the open door.
As he slipped across the center console, he saw Leigh fire the stun gun at the guard aiming his gun in the backseat. The stunning round hit him in the neck, emitting blue sparks and flashes as he dropped his weapon, reached for his throat, and fell to the floor. At that moment, the guard with his gun on Nayton reached in and grabbed him by the collar throwing him onto the ground as another guard bashed another window in behind Leigh and clapped her in the head with the butt of his rifle.
Nayt was lying on his stomach. A guard had a muddy boot pressed against his neck and a gun barrel to his head while another began to search him. Leigh was thrown down next to him, a dirty boot administered to her neck as well. Nayt tried to look around, and guessed there were about six guards; four of them holding him and Leigh down and searching them, and another two, maybe three standing by watching the building's exit.
The guard finished scuffing him down and presented his only findings, Nayt's wallet, to the group. “One Nayton Feyes, 31 years old, resident of Illinois, organ donor. He's got $38 on him. What else has he got in here...” he said as he started to file through his business and credit cards. The other guard seemed to be taking longer to scuff Leigh, despite her having significantly less clothing in which to conceal things as Nayt did. Probably just enjoying his job too much.
“Mister Feyes,” he heard Leigh timidly cry out before she was told to shut her trap. She cried a little as the boot on her neck was pressed down harder.
“For ****'s sake,” Nayt thought to himself. “This can't be happening. What the **** is going on around here? Where'd those [CENSORED]s Sinim and Razor run off to?” There wasn't anything he could do anyway, so he just laid still, once again at the mercy of someone else's hand.
He had heard Leigh start to cry out again as he heard a single gunshot go off and both guards fall on top of them, their weapons dropped to the floor, blood staining Nayt and Leigh's clothes. The other guards scrambled behind the car as another two went down in the process. Nayt pushed the lifeless corpse off his body and crawled over to Leigh. He helped her push the guard off her and the two of them crawled away from the bullet-exchange that was going on above them.
As they secured a little distance from the gun fight, Nayt finally spared a moment to see what was going on: three figures had come out of the facility and were now shooting down the guards by the car. Now only two guards were left, both ducking behind the car for cover and popping up to shoot occasionally. But now Nayt could only see two people dodging the guards' bullets, and seemingly firing off wild shots in the direction of the helpless sedan, which now had several new cosmetic bullet holes in its side.
He barely had a chance to notice as he heard blood-curdling screams from behind the car as a young girl sliced the two guards' throats open. The two men, along with some new guy who'd just shown up, a small technician with a bad limp, ran with due haste away from the building toward the car. The girl with the strange black blade had seen them and was now coming their way.
The ground beneath them started to vibrate, and there a low, barely audible rumbling sound. It quickly grew louder, and the shaking more violent, until bits of land suddenly started erupting in explosions of fire that threw smoke, dirt, and bits of shrapnel everywhere. Nayt and Leigh both remained on the ground, covering their heads as the explosions erupted around them. The plot of land right next to them started to bulge slightly, just as the dagger-wielding, throat-slitting girl grabbed them and dragged them away. A moment later, a large explosion tore through the ground that would have killed them both had the girl not interfered.
Realizing her benevolent intentions, Nayt and Leigh began to cooperate with her and scuddled to their feet. As they started to run, the building behind them lifted off the ground just before it went up in a giant cloud of smoke and exploding fire. A loud “BOOM” rang through the air, resonating loudly in Nayt's eardrum and actually caused him to lose his balance slightly. Bits and pieces of the building went flying at lethal speeds as it was entirely consumed by the voracious destruction. The techie, who had been limping away from the building, was hit square in the back by a large chunk of concrete a few meters in front of the sedan. He fell to the ground moaning in pain.
As the explosions died down, the five of them emerged from behind the car and watched the smoldering ashes of the building blow away in the wind.
Nayton was the first to speak. “Who the hell are you guys, and what the hell is going on around here?”
The tall guy in black, with a sniper rifle over his shoulder, and the girl with the strange black weapon (and the very peculiar set of wings on her back, which Nayt had just noticed) ignored him and began trodding back towards the remains of the building with concerned haste.
The guy who stayed behind, wearing what appeared to be a lab coat, which he promptly removed and explained was part of the disguise spoke next. “I'm Robert Black, call me Twilight. Uh, I'm here on a secret mission to extract information from the terrorist group here. The two you see running towards the fire are Mike 'Sureshot' and Nikki. I think they're related. They were here to destroy the facility, but made some compromises to help me out a little before finishing their job. And who might you be?”
Nayt coughed and cleared some of the smoke from his lungs. “I'm Nayton Feyes. I'm just a guy who got dragged here by some guys I met at a bar. Your average story.” Leigh leaned against the car and stood herself up straight, apparently having twisted her ankle a bit at some point between the exploding earth and diving for cover behind the automobile. “Name's Leigh Reinfeld. I'm with him,” she said as she jutted her head to Nayton.
Twilight rubbed his chin for a moment, clearly not sure what to make of these two random civilians, wondering who the guys that brought them here were and what they were up to.
“They've got to be around here somewhere! A simple explosion like that wouldn't take them out!” Nikki yelled.
The trio behind the car turned their attention to Mike and Nikki who were scouting around the perimeter of the destroyed building.
“Well, let's see,” Twilight started to explain. “There were two guys fighting in the complex as we were trying to out-run the self-destruction timer. They both seemed familiar with Nikara. I suspect they're looking for signs of one or both of them.” Twilight turned away and brought up a communication device which he began to type into. Nayt looked back at Nikki and Mike; Nikki had begun trying to move rubble from a fairly open hole in the ground while Mike attempted to console or rationilze with her – Nayt couldn't quite tell which.
He'd begun to wonder what had happened to Sinim. Was it him who was fighting with the other guy down there? Or maybe it was Razor; he had left ahead of them afterall. It was then that the realization hit him like a sledgehammer that the girl, Nikki, has wings similar to the ones he saw Razor reveal as he jumped out of the flying car. “She must be his daughter,” he thought to himself.
His guess was confirmed moments later as he heard Nikki crying “Dad, dad...” in both a sad and angry-rage sort of way. It's as if she was both sad that her father may have died, but also angry at him for possibly dying. The latter seemed more likely from a girl of her spunk, but he didn't put it past her to be sincerely crushed by this assumption.
Nayt turned and stared off into the wild swamplands, trying not to feel like an eavesdropper as he waited for something to happen. Leigh slid down to a sitting position with her back propped up against the car and rested her head on her arms, which sat folded across her knees.
Nayt had started to wonder if there was any chance of getting the car running when a loud explosion interrupted his train of thought. He spun on his feet and saw a giant column of fire shooting up in the sky with sparks spraying from the top of it.
“I thought the whole place blew already,” Twilight said in disbelief. “I don't think this was a part of the self-destruction process.”
As they took a closer look at the top of the jet of fire, they could see three figures riding it as it shot further and further into the air, apparently in grappling combat. Nikki shot to her feet as she noticed who was at the top of the firey column. Mike also seemed to be happily surprised by what appeared to them.
In a quick motion, the three atop the explosion jumped away from each other, all in a different direction. They each landed in a crouched position, almost shaking the ground around them as they synchronously touched down with breathtaking force that would've broken any normal person's legs. They each slowly stood and gained their composure, not a one bothering to check themselves for injuries or to brush the dust and still slightly smoking cloth from them.
Mike and Nikara both yelled “Dad!” and ran to join the two fighters nearest the automobile, which Nayt was finally able to identify as Razor and Sinim. Their offspring stood between the two of them, weapons aimed at the tall hunch-back in black standing opposite them. Razor and Sinim dropped their firearms, out of ammo, and brandished melee weapons. Twilight cocked his submachine gun but stayed his ground.
“Ahh, what a pleasure to kill two pairs of father and child at the same time,” the hunch-back in black said as he licked the blood from his lower lip. He flipped his long black hair behind his head and brought his strange demonic blades in front of him as he sized-up his opposition.
“Not today,” Razor said through a growling face. “I don't know what your purpose here is, but you won't lay a hand on my daughter.”
“Oh he can try,” Nikara interjected. She was cut off by Mike before she could finish her sentence.
“Well, perhaps not today....” the dark one said as he looked past the four-some in front of him to the three faces watching him through the windows of the shot-up sedan. Sinim turned to follow his gaze; the others kept their eyes firmly on the man in black. It was then that Sinim realized this was the guy that Leigh had said her orders had come down from. Tall guy with long black hair, bulging back, blades that seemed grafted to his wrists.
He spoke through his teeth trying to get Razor's attention, without speaking loud enough for the others to hear. “I think Daishi's after Feyes,”
Razor narrowed his eyes and perceived that the professor must be behind them and answered “So it seems.”
The two of them tightened their stance and readied their weapons. Sinim smirked and said to his brother “This wouldn't be so tough if you weren't drunk you know.” Razor scoffed.
“Well, I hate to break up the family reunion, but there are more important matters to attend to,” Daishi said as he seemingly instantaneously disappeared and re-appeared in front of Razor, Sinim, Mike, and Nikki, in an incredibly fast motion that left dirt trailing in the air behind him. He made one wide swing with a dark blade, swiping at the four of them, which Razor and Sinim managed to take the brunt of with their sword and staff. In another near-instantaneous movement, Daishi had slipped past the dislodged four-some and was now airborne, sailing over the car. Twilight pulled back on the trigger of his CMP as he caught sight of Daishi, but was quickly knocked to the side by a blunt side of one of his swords.
“****,” Nayton exclaimed as he covered Leigh's form against the car with his body and bit his lip, waiting to be hacked to bits. But all that happened was a swift punch in the back which dropped him to his knees on top of Leigh, and the two of them were both scooped up in Daishi's arms.
The fire that Mike and Nikki had begun to shoot halted as Daishi brought his hostages up in front of him, a slight cackle escaping from his lips. “It was a nice try, but you'll have to try harder next time, kids,” he said, just as an extendable ladder dropped down behind him. Without turning, he grabbed onto it with his free arm and went sailing off into the night sky as Mike and Nikki shot at the no-longer cloaked hover-copter. Within seconds it was no longer in sight.
Daishi climbed into the chopper and threw his two captives against the wall and ordered the soldier on duty to tie them up. Nayton was still in immeasurable pain. It felt as if his spine had been shattered and the vertebrae were now forcing their way outward through the rest of his body. He laid limp as he groaned and tears rolled from the corners of his sealed eye lids.
“Now, Mister Feyes, I know you're in no condition to talk now, so don't feel obligated to respond just yet.” Daishi began to pace the steel-plated floor with his hands held behind his back. “But know this: I'll be needing you to work for me. See I've had an eye on your research for some time – I've got inside men – and in this case, woman" – he said as he looked at Leigh, who contorted her face in guilty defiance "– everywhere, and I know what's been going on.” Nayt stopped groaning and resumed the unhealthy process of trying to gnaw his lip off to divert attention from his splitting back pain in order to hear this crazy sadist better.
“I know of the scientific breakthroughs you've had in the past few months with your new discovery. And let me assure the money and equipment that piddly university would have to offer would not be enough to make much progress. No no no. But rest assured that I have plenty of resources available for you to work with, the best of the best. I'll let you work on your project for your own scientific reasons and keep the credit. You can even release the discoveries for society's own good – yes I know about that “alternative energy source” nonsense you're on about – but, you're going to take it one step further and help me out with a little project I've had my eye on. Deal? Don't speak, just nod.”
Daishi stooped down to look directly in Nayton's eyes. Fearing that he'd suffer worse if he refused, he nodded his head.
“Now that's a good lad. Back to HQ!” he hollered to the captain.