Through The Iris (Iconic Backstory) Act I, Part III

iconic13

Written during Beta Test, as a backstory for the current character "Iconic" on 'Recursion' server.

Act I, Part III:

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As they all reached the hard-line, Iconic voiced his thoughts out loud, trying to make sense of them.
"This was all too easy. I mean, granted, they didn't expect us to be coming so soon, but to only have Three people watching them.... it just doesn't make sense to me. There should've been more of a resistance to us, shouldn't there?"
Koda looked up, thinking a bit on what he was saying.
"Let's just be thankful that we did what we did. Remember, this isn't over. We still have to get to Dryce, and he's supposedly with the Merovingian himself."

The phone rang, making them all jump a little. Koda picked up the receiver, and handed it to Ceres. She did a quick salute, and accepted the phone, holding up to her ear.
Extraction.
Then, on to FrostyJack. He hugged Tess quickly, as the phone rang again. He picked it up, smiling to the all, and nodding to Koda.
Extraction.
As they started to turn away, making for the second part of their mission, Tess's cell phone rang, a shrill beeping piercing the almost mundane silence that was starting to form. She answered, and hung up almost as quickly as she answered.
"I'm sorry, I can't help anymore. Deadbolt just issued an order for us to evac broadcast level, and return to Zion." She exchanged nods with Koda and Jaru as the hardline began to ring again, and picked it up.
Extraction.
And then there were four.
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As they made their way across the city, Skathe informed them that the Merovingian was at the Polyvinal, but it looked like Dryce wasn't. It seemed that Dryce had angered the Merovingian by something he said, as well as his immunity to any of the Merovingian's torture techniques. Therefore, disgusted, the Merovingian had left Dryce with a few of his men, and went to the Polyvinal, to "watch the pretties", as he put it. Skathe explained that he intercepted this transmission to Persephone from the Merovingian himself. There were times that Skathe seemed to impress the hell out of Koda, and now was one of those times. They reached the warehouse within the hour, and started scouting out the area immediately. Jaru took point, with Iconic and Blank flanking him. Koda brought up the rear, making for an almost perfect view of their area.

When they entered the warehouse through the back, they almost immediately noticed the up in protection. Skathe had warned them that there were a lot, but they didn't expect this. There were thirteen on the first level, and seven on the second. Two of the seven were watching over Dryce, while the rest were pretty much just looking bored. This would be a touch one, so they decided wordlessly that stealth was key.

In less than a half-minute, they had used silenced guns to take out seven of the thirteen, and Jaru had fought off the other six, using logic bursts, and swift movements. Jaru was their Martial Arts expert, an had just proved why he was this. Meanwhile, while the three had fought them off, Iconic was devising a plan to take out the Five others outside the room upstairs, when one of them walked into view, noticing them all. Before he could say a word, Koda had come up behind him, and taken a clean shot to the back of his skull, silencing him immediately. One more down. They advanced up the stairs, as quiet as they could on metal grating, when an alarm sounded.
"Shi... they know," breathed Blank, and they hurried up the stairs.

Four men stood against the walls near the entrance at the top of the stairs, ready and waiting for them to enter, but instead a small cylinder rolled into the room. As it ticked away, one of the Exiles yelled out to move, but it was too late. A small Logic Bomb exploded, rewriting their code, and killing them effortlessly. But it also ripped the door off the hinges to the other room, ruining any chance of secrecy. Blank ran on ahead, and out through the other side, away from the whole thing, as the three entered the room.
The room looked like it used to be a nice office, with a picture window overlooking the courtyard and a dilapidated garage. The two men stood in this room, one with his gun trained on him, and the other with a knife at Dryce's throat. All were facing away from the window, and Dryce was badly injured, having dried blood crusted over his eye, but he was alive.
"Drop your weapons, or your friend dies, dearies," barked the man with the knife, as he tightened the blade near Dryce's throat. All three of them, Iconic, Koda, and Jaru started lifting their weapons, as if to drop them down, when the window behind them made a loud crash, as Blank came smashing through it, firing on the guy with the knife first. He doubled over, falling to the ground and impaling himself on his own knife. The other man spun around and started to fire, as the three others opened fire on him, effectively making him do an impression of swiss cheese. He fell to the ground with a satisfying 'thunk'.

Koda helped Dryce up, weakened as he was, and hugged him.
"I owe you one, sis."
She let go, and regained her formality.
"We have a hardline ready to go, but we need to get out of here quickly. The Merovingian will be pissed as hell when he finds out what we did."
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They doubled back to the hardline, taking as quiet and out-of-the-way route as they could, for fear of being followed. When they reached the hardline, it rang quickly, and Dryce picked it up, clearly wanting to get out.
Extraction.
Koda turned to Iconic, looking into his eyes as she spoke, and said:
"Now that this is over, I was thinking that we could spend a little time around Zion. You haven't been shown the full-on tour yet, and I was thinking that we could disappear for a day or two. What'da you say?" She pulled him a little closer, kissing him before he could answer, as the phone rang behind him. They kissed for a moment more, the rest of the crew chuckling and commenting to themselves, and then she picked up the phone, handing it to him.
"You first."
He took the receiver, and went to hold it to his head. As it touched his ear, he looked up, and saw someone standing on the roof, silhouette in the night sky. He heard a pop, and something very loud in his ear.
Extraction.

"What the hell was that?" Iconic yelled over, as he came to.
"Sniper, getting our guys!!! That hardline is dead, he shot it out. They need to get out of there!!!"
Skathe's words had barely left his lips, when the proximity alarms went off.
"What the.... Squidy coming in!"
Iconic had a confused look on his face.
"Wasn't there supposed to be a truce?"
"I guess we're too close to their territory, damnit!"
Skathe abandoned the Operator station, screaming profanities as he did, and ran out of the room, yelling after him:
"You take over, I'm gonna man the turrets. Get them out of there!!!"
Iconic ran to the station, trying to get a signal, but as he did, he noticed that the Neural monitors were going dead. Whoever the sniper was had just killed Jaru. Iconic made the call, trying to reach Koda, as Blank's signal went dead.
"Yeah, what?"
"Koda, you have to get to Wells and Foster! There's a hardline there."
"That's kind of a problem, since this guy's got me pinned down. Get back here, and help me!"
Iconic tried to think how he could do that, but came up with nothing.
"I can't. we've got Sentinels attacking, and Skathe's on the Turrets. He left me behind to get you out."
"There was the sound of gunfire on the other line, followed by a brief pause, then more gunfire.
"Can you contact any other ships in the area?"
There's no time, you have to get to Wells and Foster. You can do it. You have to."
Right as he finished saying that, he heard a scream on the other side, and Koda's readings went dead.
Iconic froze, disbelief starting to eat away at him like acid, and he just stood there.

Skathe had taken down 11 Sentinels before they reached the ship. He'd taken down another four before they started digging into the ship, and another six before he realized that they had only one hope.
"Iconic!!! Charge the EMP, it's out only chance!"
He stopped firing for a second, hearing nothing but silence on the other end, then started firing again, screaming:
"ICONIC!"
"It's just us now..... they're all dead...."
"Iconic, focus! You have to burn the EMP. NOW."
As he finished the last word, a Sentinel got through to the turret, and dug it's arm into Skathe's chest. The last thing Skathe managed to get out was a liquidy "Fuuu..."
And then there was one.

Iconic had managed to get a grasp on himself again, and started charging the EMP. As it charged, he sent out one last message, a distress call to whoever would receive it. When that was done, he flipped the switch, and an electric wave washed through the entire hull, rendering about thirty Sentinals lifeless. When it was all over, everything was dim, and lifeless and cold. Iconic was alone. Now all he could do was wait.
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As Iconic picked up the phone, they all heard a pop, and the phone exploded right before their eyes. But Iconic wasn't there.
"Sniper! everyone, move!!!"
As she finished the words, Jaru slumped next to her, dead. She made a dash for the side, next to a dumpster, as Blank started firing at the building. All she hit was air and brick.
"Geeze, who the hell is this," she started, and then the side of her head exploded, a thick red spray hitting the ground beside her. She slumped down into a lifeless pile, and Koda was now alone. SHe stayed in back of the dumpster, using it for cover, when her phone rang. 'Great, bug me when I'm in a firefight,' she thought, and answered.

"Yeah, what?"
"Koda, you have to get to Wells and Foster! There's a hardline there." She glanced around. No cover at all, except this dumpster. **bleep**.
"That's kind of a problem, since this guy's got me pinned down. Get back here, and help me!"
There was a pause on the other side, and Koda started wondering just what the sniper was up to.
"I can't. we've got Sentinels attacking, and Skathe's on the Turrets. He left me behind to get you out."
**bleep**, she could really use some help here, besides an operator. She started thinking to herself.
"Can you contact any other ships in the area?"
"There's no time, you have to get to Wells and Foster. You can do it. You have to."
She took a breath, and then ran to the right, to the nearest alleyway, firing at the spot where the sniper was. But he wasn't there. He'd managed to get to the other building, and now had a prime shot at her. **bleep**.
As the shot rang out through the air, Koda turned to escape it, hoping she could move faster than a bullet. But this bullet had a different idea in mind, and tore through her chest, ripping through her heart, and coming out through the other side, spraying the ground as it did. She let out a scream, and her body fell to the ground, limp and lifeless. Her phone rolled over to her side, closing as it did, and sat there, also lifeless. The air burned with a smell of gunfire and death. And the Thanaker crew was no more, save for one.
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Thaddeus was relieved, not only had he gotten his target, but he should get a nice bonus for taking out the crew. When he got to Koda's rsi he almost felt regret, but quickly getting that out of his head he gathered the crew for buriel. He new it was just rsi and pointless, but it was his sign of respect.
After he was done burying the last rsi, and was starting to pack up his rifle, thaddeus heard the familiar pop of a silenced rifle. Moving quickly he rolled aimed and shot the rifleman. Grabbing his stuff he ran to the assasin and grabbed him by the throat. WHO SENT YOU. the assasin replied. Merovi... then died. Thaddeus didnt need to here the rest. He knew the merovingian betrayed him.
There was only one thing left to do. He needed to get in contact with that new crew member. Thaddeus didnt know why, but he new he was still alive. Grabbing his gear thaddeus started home, thinking of a way to get that kid to come to him.
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## Broadcast depth
## Incoming Transmission...
## Sender Unknown -
## Message broken.... Trying to read...
## Partial Message Recieved.
## RELAY Initialized

#^is is Ic0n1C uf 7he 7H4n1<8r. 0^r cr#w was just ass4sinated in the Matrix, by an operative working for the Merovingian, a sniper. The machines have just attacked my ship and I just lost contact from Skathe, in the Gunners turret, so 1'm assuming that they got to him. I'm attempting this emergency transmission to any who can recieve. The ship is located near the old Surface and Waste systems, near the Alpha sector. I have no idea why the Machines attacked our ship, but before they got here, Skathe said it might because we were too close to thier territory. 1f anyone can read this, please respond by finding the ship. It might still be in operational condition, but I'm going to burn the EMP in a minute. Plea$e, some0ne r3c^eve thi5 bro4d@#^&......

## Transmission broken.
## Connection timed out... terminated.
## Carrier Dropped.
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End of Act I.