The Rise of Jacob Keller

[Leo]

By the time I reached the final stair on the landing, the gunfire outside had ceased and the house was quiet. I paused there, at the bottom stair, for a few seconds...listening to the wind howl outside. I subtracted that sound and listened to the groaning of the house in the resolute silence of the growing storm. The house popped, the kitchen flooring, I looked to my left and noticed a closet with the door slightly opened. I quickly moved into the closet and quietly closed the door enough to hide my location but still see out enough to get a glimpse at the assassin.

There he was, moving like a ghost through the house interior towards the stairs. He quietly climbed the staircase up towards the room where the Councilmans body laid. If I were to get to the basement, I had to wait until he got to the second landing before making my move. I stood quietly watching the man reach the first landing without incidentand then he stopped, frozen in place.

He looked towards the closet.

*Click* went his handgun, then that stairwell became the place of Armageddon for a brief moment. I brought my gun up and kicked open the door and fired two shots. One missed, the other connected at the mans thigh. He groaned and returned fire, clipping my shoulder socket. Wincing I rolled over to the doorway on the other side of the stairs.

I threw the handgun aside and quickly brought my hands to my back and magnetized the palms, bringing the assault rifles into my hands. I spun the guns around as the man reached the bottom stair and fired three quick bursts into his armor, sending him reeling backwards towards the closet. He fired two shots off in my direction as he retreated back towards the kitchen, one of them nicking my helmet, the other clipping my hip.

Again, I winced in pain as it shot through me. I wasn't used to getting hurt like this, it was rare I ran into someone as good as I was at the craft of killing. I moved as quietly as I could towards the front door near where the door to the basement was. I leaned against the wall and looked to my shoulder. I felt the back and realized the bullet hadn't left my body. I winced further as I dug my finger into the wound and let the bullet fall into my hand.

"You're Jacob Keller, aren't you?" the man said. "You know, you're the whole reason I started doing this...youre like my idol."

"You regularly shoot your idols do you?"

"It's just a job, doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Oh, well thats just lovely. Then that means I wont have to like doing this." I said hitting the wrist communicator telling my Raven's Talon to fly up towards the house. I looked at the camera and guided the ship towards the house windows and aimed through them to there the man was standing in the kitchen. The look of shock on his eyes was priceless.

"Now", I said "I don't want to have to tear up this lovely mans house anymore than I already have. Because I'm sure someone in his family is going to want it back after they know he's passed away...so...I'm going to give you two choices here, rookie. One, you drop your weapons where you are, and leave out the back door, the way you came in...or two, you do something foolish, and I let the anti-matter weaponry on my ship turn you to ash and destroy what this poor man worked for his entire life...its up to you, rook."

"Jesus, you really are the best at what you do, you know that?"

"So I've been told."

The man dropped his weapons and held his hands up in the air as he left the house, down the stairs, and off into the distance. I sighed and collapsed into a seated position on the floor breathing deeply. I sat there for a few minutes, catching my breath. With a few pushes of my wrist comm, I landed the ship just outside the house and powered down the lights to avoid anyone noticing the ship at first glance.

I searched the house for anything of use. I found some thread, alcohol in the fridge, a few needles, and some salt. With these, I set to work patching up my wounds. True, it hurt like hell, but it needed to be done. After my wounds were stitched up, I opened the door to the basement and slowly descended into the darkness, weapon drawn. At the end of the staircase was a sharp turn into a finished and elegantly furnished basement. The lights came on as I walked down the steps and up to the safe that was left standing open. A folder was left on top with the words Project Icarus written on the front. I picked it up, along with everything else left in the safe and deposited them into a bag on my person.

Just as I did, a huge explosion rocked the house, shaking the very foundation. My wrist comm. blipped as the dust settled, and words lit up across the screen.

"You may be the best, Jacob Keller, but I'm better."

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You fear oblivion. Yet you forget. The universe remembers every atom of your being. Even dust hums your name in the dark.

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Starlight Research Consortium | The Banished Legion | Astral
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