shadows11

"Where's Vlad?!" Koto's screams were soundless amidst the crackle of Cliff's hefty Panther cannon. Gunfire pattered in response, charging the air with cordite. The Trolls eyes were a blaze with excitement. He held to his spot at the center of the room marked clearly by his own blood. Bullets ricocheted all around him. Some found home but he didn't flinch. The pain simply reminded him that he was still alive. Cliff fired another round and the room shivered with force.

"Pullback!" Someone screamed from beyond the smoke. Koto rolled off of the bar top, disappearing behind it as the second wave of sec troops mounted their attack. He landed beside Shimmer. The bald mage wasn't moving.

"Shimmer?" Koto questioned, shaking his fallen partner as he did. Shimmers head lolled to the right. Most of it was gone.

"Jesus Christ…" Koto peeked over the bar top and let an angry burst fly at the first trooper he could see. The bullets slammed into an officer and he went down. Another sec troop arrived to take his place.

"Now's our chance Cliff!" Koto left Shimmers body where it was, leaping over the bar top. The last round Cliff fired had punched a gaping hole through the side wall, away from where the troops were coming. It was big enough even for a troll to fit through.

"Come on we gotta move Cliff. We're dead if they box us in here!" Koto screamed again but the Troll didn't hear him. Or perhaps he didn't care. This was his element. Everything that had happened up until now had been by someone else's rules. With killing iron between his hands, he was certain that this phase of the game would be by his. He had a full house and wasn't about to fold.

" Frag, we can't take them all! I'm gone!" Koto screamed back at Vlad as he made his way towards the sizzling hole. The sec troops were making another run at the front entrance. Cliff still was not prepared to budge.

" Damn you Cliff." Koto cursed under his breath before he turned back to join his companion in battle. The sec troops were backing away from Cliff and his hefty panther cannon. For a moment, victory seemed close at hand.

" Smoke em out!" One called from outside. Koto hadn't thought about that possibility. Neither of them had a gas mask. Staying any longer meant certain death. Even Cliff, in all his fury, understood that. A silver canister bounced past them and erupted in a mix of smoke and tear gas.

"We go now Cliff, I still need you!" Koto screamed, tugging at Cliff's bloody shirt. A second silver canister landed closer to them, and then a third. Cliff hesitantly followed Koto towards the makeshift exit. He barely squeezed through.