DIVISION 52 - BOOK I

CHAPTER XXIX

This one is for the readers. You took this to #140 today...

– S C O R P I O N –

I shot through the sky like a comet.

My speed was fuelled by my anger as well as my urgency.

He had ruined everything. Again. This would not happen a third time. He will draw his last breath today. I thought with complete certainty as the rain started to crash into my visor between the towering buildings.

"Incoming comm link from Proximo Dartega." The robotic voice sang in my ear.

"Confirm." I growled.

I dodged a slow craft and dipped sharply into a gap between two buildings. I was minutes from them now.

"Scorpion. We have him in our sights. We are losing our opportunity every second that we leave this—"

"You will wait for my arrival." I snapped in the helmet.

He paused for a fraction of a second. "Yes, commander."

"I will be there momentarily." I confirmed before shutting off the comm.

It had been 10 days. Why did he choose now to surface, and why was it in the outer storage facilities. The very same one that pathetic Ruben decided to store my weapons and build his own criminal empire before I had ended him.

I didn't continue my line of thought as I approached the storage base. It was a sprawling network of warehouses. Many of which contained a strong supply of items heading for the black market. Thunder crashed overhead and briefly turned the world white.

It couldn't of been better timed. It shrouded everything and it would only draw darker soon as night approached.

I commed my team and swiftly found where they had set up surveillance. My cycle was hidden down one of the many side allies and I went to join Proximo upon the roof of a warehouse. He dropped me a nod when I crouched beside him. His dark hood was pulled low over his eyes and his fusion rifle remained scanning the area carefully. That scope could pick out a bread crumb from a mile away. Full night vision optics as well as thermal for complete visibility to human targets.

"He has been inside that warehouse for 45 minutes." Proximo murmured as he continued to look down the scope.

"Motive?" I questioned. I flicked a nod to one of my guards and he handed me a plasma rifle. I took a look for myself.

"He must be expecting some rather valuable cargo if he is risking being in the open like this." Proximo noted.

"Indeed." I twisted the dial and focused through the rain on a group of guards pretending to chat and admire a nearby fusion craft. All were hooded and all were masked. No way to tell if any one of them was Hades.

"I saw him with my own eyes. He's in there." Proximo almost growled next to me.

"How many do we have on standby?" I demanded. I knew we would need a strong force to confront him and I wanted nothing left to chance this time.

Proximo smiled grimly. "Enough."

I knew I didn't even need to press the matter. Proximo was nothing if not thorough. He also had a certain affinity for over kill...

"Then we wait." I murmured. I then linked in every other comm in the area. "The bastard has to come out eventually. When he does, I don't want anything fancy. You have a line of fire on any of them and you shoot to kill." I stated.