Ark 7: The Sariel

Chapter 20: Showdown

"When you set off on a quest you have yet to know how it shall end. It is at the end when you truly realize what you've set out to do, and what you have become while trying to accomplish your goal. Your journey shapes you but the journey's end, that final showdown with who you are and what you have come to be. That is what defines you, that is who you are."
-Original Yet Again(not as poetic as before but it gets the point across)

Reynes:

"Close the doors and get ready, this is it. I guess it's my job to put this pest down permanently!" I looked at the few survivors of the Security Core's ruthless attack. I readied my modified Tyrantek Blast Revolver, bought off an Ausländer black market dealer. I could here the gunshots as everyone outside this room was cut down without mercy, I never thought that the Core would mount such a vicious attack on our base, I never thought they would take a "no prisoners" approach against my men.

"Sir, the Core is almost here! What do we do?" One of my guards yelled from the door.

"Let them come..." I readied my gun, this is it, the final showdown between me and my sins.

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Jax:

We were nearly there, I could feel the anger, the rage, boiling in my blood, the adrenaline coursing through my veins, I was ready, it was time Reynes paid for his crimes. We neared the final door, I could here movement inside, I could feel that Reynes was within, I told Alice to open the door and the others got into firing positions to breach the room.

"When we go into this room, I want only us coming back through it alive, got it?" I readied my rifle. Las looked at me with a worried look, I payed no heed and ordered the breach. We ran into the room and opened fire, cutting down everyone who moved, blood splattered the walls as the last of the rioters fell, leaving only him in the middle if the room, his gun still readied in his hand.

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Reynes:

"Well, you got me kid, you win." I laid my revolver on the table in front of me.

"No, not yet. I win when you lay bleeding on the ground, when you feel the cold creeping through your body as the heat, the warmth of your blood leaves it, then and only then will this be over!" The kid, Jax, yelled at me.

"So that's how the Core does things now? They kill unarmed people?" I replied, testing his boundaries.

"No, that how I do things now!" He set his rifle aside and pulled out his sidearm. He raised the gun to fire, to finally get his revenge.

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Las:

"Jax! No! Don't do this! This isn't what your mother would want!" I yelled stepping in-between Jax and Reynes.

"Don't tell me what my mother would want! You don't know!" He yelled, I could see the tears welling up in his eyes.

"Jax....if not for your mom think about Celia! Would she want her big brother to murder someone in cold blood?!" I was running out if things to use against his conscience.

"I....I...I don't know...." He started lowering the gun, I knew I had caught him, I just had to reel him back in.

"Yes you do Jax, you know. No matter how much you don't want to believe it, you know what Celia would want you to do!" I stepped closer to Jax.

"I....but I....you're right...what have I done?" The tears finally started to come.

"Jax it's ok, it's over, you did it, you saved the Ark." I looked at him, watching the turmoil inside his eyes.

"No....we saved the Ark, all of us....." He was fighting a battle I couldn't even imagine, the deadliest kind of war is the on fought with oneself. I started moving towards Jax, help him win the war he fought with himself, I heard the crack of a gun firing and froze.

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Jax:

"How? How could this be happening? What have I become?" I asked myself, my arm hanging limp at my side.

"You are a monster! Just finish it, embrace the animal you have become!"

"But I didn't kill him?!"

"It doesn't matter, think of all the others you've killed, all the other rioters!"

"No! I won't do it! I won't fall beyond recovery!" I was battling myself when I heard the crack of gunfire. I saw the red, I saw Las, I saw, I heard the gasp of air escape his lungs, the thump as he hit the ground. I screamed, he fell, I heard another shot ring out, Reynes chest exploded in a red mist. He fell to the ground lifeless, I could see a dark form disappear from behind him. And just like that it was over.

A/N: That's it for book 1 brátans! I might write an epilogue but that remains to be seen. Thanks for reading! And please I beg you comment on what you thought of the book! Thanks!