HORIZON: The Fall

Chapter Ten - Why is it Always the Bugs? (1)

LOCATION: PROMETHEUS, THE CITY OF FOREVER (DEFIANT, REGAL SYSTEM)

Sergeant Ford dashed away from the crash site with inhuman speed, rushing towards the nearest opening between two buildings. Luckily for me, I had a little bit of inhumanity in myself as well. Dashing away from Maria's Angel–3, I swiftly followed him out of the park. The streets in this area were nearly empty in this sector of the city, the only part of my plan that had worked so far. The sector was one of the oldest areas of Prometheus, but was nearly abandoned after the establishment of Ark IV. Before then, it had been one of the most populous sections of all of Prometheus. Nevertheless, it still had the bright lights and massive billboards.

A scream in front of me drew my attention. The agent had grabbed a mother and her child from the sidewalk and had his gun pointed straight at them. I skidded to a halt as he shuffled further down the sidewalk.

"Put the weapon down," I commanded as I took my aim.

"There's nothing you can do, filth!" he snarled. "I have the cards now."

"Listen to me!" I shouted, my hands trembling. "Surrender now, and you will be treated with care."

"Pitiful humans." A laugh burbled past his lips as he shook his head. "You will never learn. Even from here, I could still kill a quarter of the city."

I shifted my aim, swallowing. "I could always just shoot you in the head."

He shuffled behind his hostages a bit. "You would have to go through them first." The agent laughed.

"I think I would rather save millions of people than save two who may not even live."

He actually seemed afraid for a moment, then he laughed again. "Don't try to fool me." His laugh faded, replaced by a sneer. "I know you would never kill innocents."

"You'll find I'm full of surprises," I said, impatience skittering across my skin. But he was right – I didn't want to have to shoot them.

"I'm sure of it," he spat, his sadistic grin never leaving. "I'll kill millions with this device, and your Republic will become nothing but dust!"

"No." I lifted my chin as I adjusted my grip on my revolver. "If you strike us now we will only come back stronger," I assured him.

"And you will never live to see it," the agent cooed mockingly. "You have a family, don't you? Hmm... Achilles, wasn't it?"

I shuddered at the thought of those bugs crawling all over my home.

"Ah... It seems I've found a weak spot." His maniacal smile grew. "I will see to it that your homeworld is burned to the ground, and when we are done, your family will join us as our slaves, along with the rest of your pitiful Republic."

"Why? Why would you support those slaving zealots?" I questioned, continuing to push him further down the sidewalk. "Why betray the Republic?"

"It's sometimes funny how little you humans know," he growled.

The child started to cry, its screams piercing the night as we continued down the sidewalk. Bystanders stared at the scene from the opposite sidewalk, agape. Several took out cell phones and called, assumedly, the police. Little did they know, the police were already on their way.

We kept shuffling, neither making a move. "The police will be here any minute you know," I said, willing my voice to remain steady. "None of this will matter."

"I'm planning on it," the agent snarled.

We reached an intersection, and police cruisers dived down from all directions, each aiming their cannons at him. "Stand down!" a voice cried through a megaphone. "You're surrounded!"