[dcs_p]As Mace’s ears went deaf with the resurgence of point-blank automatic gunfire
into his midsection, he saw a dark-clad stranger pinned to the bedroom door on
his Dirk sword. He squeezed what felt like eight bursts into the Purifier’s armored
body, never hearing a single round fire off or ricochet. His arms betrayed him
and soon he was hugging himself, unable to feel but keenly aware of the blood
visible in the flashing darkness. He knew the end was coming as his arms
crossed over his vision and onto the Purifier’s distorted surface, marking it with
bright red so that it could not cloak itself from its future victims. He prayed the
others would fare better.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Mark Pike had loaded his assault rifle as soon as he’d heard the gunfire. It was
coming from down the hall, and by the sound of it, at least one person was
probably dead. Mark had never seen this day coming, though he’d had close
calls of similar sort in his days as an independent merc. He had to do what the
situation called for, and that meant clearing the hallway of intruders and
preventing any more carnage by whomever the unknown assailants were.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Mark opened his door slowly. The door across the hall from his was Commander
Strider’s. He was unsure if the Colonel was in the bedroom or not, but Mark had
seen him going out earlier in the evening, less than an hour ago. He hoped that
he was out, but he’d also welcome any help given the current situation. He knew
that Strider had trained hard decades ago as a gunfighter. However everyone
knew that he hadn’t kept up with that since forming his own unit. Paperwork and
Mech-piloting had gotten the better of him, and so to improve his unit he’d had to
give up his old ways. Mark wished he’d trained with the man years ago, knowing
he could have done so if he’d just asked. That’s what I get for being ‘Mr.
Independent’.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]With the door open halfway, Mark saw no signs of danger. He knew this was
probably all a ruse, conjured up to simply get him out of his room and into a more
vulnerable place. Because he felt it could be a trap, he decided the best thing to
do was the unexpected. It was then that he slammed the door and bolted it from
the inside.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Crouching low near the shelves along the wall, Mark grabbed the emergency
beeper on his set of keys and pushed in the code for an infiltration threat. He
hoped the guards would be here soon. If he could hold out for five minutes, he
was sure the battle armor squads would arrive by then.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]But it wasn’t that easy, and if anything his opponents must have been all the more
angered by his approach to the situation. Mark heard the light thump of battle
armor treading just outside his room. So this is it?[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]A knock on the wooden door brought an armored fist through the oak, breaking a
hole in the hardwood as if it were made of Styrofoam. Mark let out an
uninterrupted burst of gunfire directly into the heavily armored claw, splintering
armor and apparently damaging the pneumatic drives for the armor’s pincer. A
muffled cry could be heard from just outside the door.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Suddenly the wall burst into fragments. Heavy machine gun fire entered the
room, shredding everything in sight. Mark dropped his rifle as multiple rounds ran
clean holes through his arms. He cried out in pain as he dropped onto his back.[/dcs_p]