The Scarman Enigma

[|Scarecrow|]

Airspace, Los Angeles Capital

The Thunderhawk dropship swooped gracefully over the spires of upper Los Angeles Capital as her pilot took her over for a second pass. The first had revealed a chaotic scene of scattered vehicles, gunfire, and a lot of local police presence, all over the Starwood Hotel tower complex. The Thunderhawk banked sharply and swung around, approaching the tower from the west.

Several floating landing platforms surrounded the higher levels of the tower: an array of rentable Anti-Gravity decks for the Starwood’s wealthy and commercial customers. The first Thunderhawk to leave the Danaan with a complement of Marines and Sadukar warriors had already converged with the LZ, depositing soldiers on the platforms around the tower. Light arms fire chattered between the platforms and the building’s upper levels, as the Freedom Fighter combatants exchanged fire with the pirates inside.

“LZ acquired,” the pilot’s voice crackled over the internal comm, “Hot, hot, hot.”
With a lurch, the Thunderhawk decelerated over the top of the Starwood Hotel, taking care to miss the building’s lightning spire. The main entrance swung outward, and the side doors slid along in their tracks, exposing the lines of patiently waiting crewmen inside.

Marcus unlatched the wall bracket from around his chest, pushing it up on its hinge and locking it back into place on the wall. He pulled his rifle from his weapon locker and moved quickly across the deck.
“Ropes!” He called, as he merged with a couple of marines on the starboard side of the ship. The three of them unbuckled some long, tough cables from hatches within the Thunderhawk’s walls and secured single ends to rails above the open side door. They then dropped the reels down towards the tower’s upper maintenance platforms.
“All teams, move, move, move!” Fleet Admiral Robert Merlow barked the order as he latched himself onto one of the cables and disappeared out of the side of the Thunderhawk. On the opposite side of the ship, and at the open front, other cables were being attached in a similar fashion. Marcus latched himself onto the cable Merlow had used and swung himself over the side of the dropship.

“Targets!” Merlow’s voice sounded in his ear as he descended.
As soon as the warning came, weapons fire lanced up at him from down below. Beams of searing hot laser energy and the zip of projectile ammunition seemed to engulf him as he descended.
“Cover!” He yelled as he hit the deck, unlatching himself and diving for a nearby air conditioning unit. The unit exploded in a shower of glittering metal fragments as he dove behind it.
The Black Flag had seen the Thunderhawk coming, presumably in the obvious wake of her predecessor. An unknown number of enemy combatants were already present on the rooftop of the hotel tower.

A Freedom Fighter Sadukar warrior collapsed next to Scarecrow, clutching at an open wound just below his neck. Marcus grabbed him and dragged him into cover behind the ruined aircon unit.
“Come on, you’ll make it,” Marcus said under his breath as he sat the man up against the unit. He reached down to his belt, quickly producing his field medical kit. He growled as he saw that another bullet hole had appeared in the man’s skull. The Sadukar warrior lay still, his eyes sightless. Marcus gritted his teeth and dropped his medpack. Leaning out of cover, he opened fire at the enemy positions.
“We push now!” He yelled into his comm, “Or we’ll be stuck here.”
“Agreed,” Merlow’s voice returned, although Marcus had no idea where his friend was.
“Follow my lead!” Marcus grabbed his fallen medkit and returned it to his belt. He then took a deep breath and broke cover.

- - -

Starwood Hotel, Ground Level

Sayne Jadyn pulled his jetbike up high to avoid the gathering of blaring sirens. The local law enforcement had turned up in force and blockaded the entire base of the Starwood hotel. Getting inside was going to be difficult. He leveled his jetbike and slammed on the air brakes, bolting over the roof of one of the police vehicles. The bike emitted a deafening boom as Sayne brought it to a halt. An armed response team stood around the hotels main entrance, making sure that all of the civilians and residents of the hotel were evacuated swiftly. Sayne unholstered his blaster pistol and jumped from the jetbike. He began to walk purposefully towards the nearest police officer. The man stood with his arms stretched out, directing the scores of terrified hotel residents. Sayne disposed of him with a point blank laser blast into the small of his back.
The shriek of the blaster turned the heads of the armed response team. The stricken police officer muttered something unintelligible before slowly toppling forwards. As he fell, Sayne neatly removed the mans sidearm, bringing it up with his free hand to fire on the other officers. The armed response team barely had a chance to work out what was happening before Sayne opened fire. Three of the officers went down instantly with bullet holes and laser scorch marks appearing rapidly over their bodies. Saynes duel onslaught caught the law enforcement team completely off guard and before they could react, half of their men were already down. Sayne crouched behind one of the parked cruisers and took cover as the police officers began to return fire. Bullets rattled off the metal hide of the aircar as the officers fired their RPL submachine guns in Saynes direction. They all panicked, looking desperately for cover. Sayne leaned out of cover and took two more of the officers out with his stolen handgun before finishing off a third with a well placed head shot.

Taking his chances, he made a break for the hotel entrance. Heavy weapons fire began to rattle from somewhere behind him. Rounds began kicking up dirt around his feet as he sprinted for the revolving doors. Bullets scythed through the air, missing him by mere inches before crashing into the glass front of the reception hall. Glass shattered all around him as Sayne dove through one of the now vacant windows. He rolled when he hit the floor and carried on running into the waiting area. More law enforcement officers appeared in front of him, firing close quarters combat shotguns. He killed another two with well placed shots to the head before sliding to a halt behind a large brown leather sofa. Bullets began ripping into the sofa as he took cover, several laser rounds narrowly missing his head. The shredded sofa caught fire as more laser rounds smacked into it. Smoke began billowing out of the rips and tears, forcing Sayne out into the open again. He ran for the reception desk, firing from his hip as he went. He slid over the counter and landed on the other side, temporarily out of harms way. Round after round tore into the desk, splintering wood and reigning debris down on Saynes head. He had to move, and quick. The bounty hunter was still close behind and catching up fast. He glanced across to his left and saw the exit to the emergency stairwell. Taking a deep breath, he broke cover and ran.

***

Miyu Greer and Kurt Manning entered the square from opposite ends. They zoomed over the gathered law enforcement vehicles and braked when they arrived at the main entrance. Kurt instantly saw that the place had already taken a beating. Hardly any of the glass panes that made up the front of the reception lounge were still in their places. There were corpses everywhere and one of the patrol cruisers was riddled with bullet holes. He slowed down and dismounted before his jetbike had even stopped. He began to run across to the main entrance, but was met with an array of weaponry.
Hold it right there, A deputy growled at him, his blaster aimed directly in between Kurts eyes.
Whoa, slow down, Kurt raised his arms, Its okay, Im with the Navy.
I dont give a rats arse who youre with! The deputy growled, Ive just lost twelve men, youve got some explaining to do.

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