Kal's Fury

Part 2

PART 2
         Steam rose from the gaping hole that used to be solid wall.  The low rumbling and slight swish of air was all that notified Kal and his men that the charges had finished their destructive job.  Not fully trusting that all of the explosives had finished, they approached carefully from cover a few meters nearby.  Smoke blocked the view inside of the breached basement, but it also worked to hide Kal and his team’s advance and eventual entrance.

         From inside of the now open hideout, Kal heard a deep voice he instantly identified as Talis barking orders to his guard.  A multitude of footsteps were clattering inside as the startled men began to organize an ad-hoc defense.

         Nodding to Stern, Kal and several others tossed fragmentation grenades through the breach.  Heavy thuds signaled the eruption of the grenades, quickly followed by screams from the victims inside.  Thick smoke still lingering around the new entrance, Kal waved the first of his men through.

         “Damnit, I want that cannon down here now!  Certo, Jenkins, get that barricade in place!”  Talis’ voice became frantic as he tried to quickly develop a working defense.  Crashes of furniture and equipment being overturned to add as cover clambered and echoed.

         Plowing inside, Kal’s soldiers began firing instantaneously.  Six of Talis’ security detail fell from the onslaught of the first barrage.  Listening to the carnage from outside, Kal took out a cigar from his coat pocket and cut the end off for smoking.  Taking a few deep puffs after lighting it, he motioned to Stern and they followed the men inside.

         A hard caliber round deflected off of Kal’s right shoulder guard, slightly stopping his brisk walk and twisting his body a bit to the right.  Tracking the direction of the shot through the dissipating smoke, Kal raised the gauss rifle to his shoulder returned fire.  A cry of pain emanated from behind some overturned shelves in the distance.

         Kal heard Stern calmly explain over the psycom, “Famtin, Jones, hit that stat cannon on your ten.  They’ve almost got it set to fire.”  A brilliant light suddenly emerged from Kal’s left as the particle stream cannon Talis’ guards were desperately trying to setup erupted from several direct hits.

         Less than a minute later, several more of Talis’ guards were lying on the floor either dead or dying.  Pushing forward, Kal and his team made short work of the surviving few.  Talis and two men were holed up in an office in the back-left corner of the basement.  A large, clear window allowed the two forces view each other unimpeded.  A man standing on the right hand side of Kal took a quick shot at the glass, only to see the shot fizzle in a sparkling energy field.

         “I figured you’d have a safe room, Talis.  Don’t even bother trying to comm out, we’ve blocked all frequency and psy waves.  Surrender now and I will think about letting you live!”  Kal took the cigar out of his mouth so the anger in his raised voice could be heard.  Although Kal was pretty sure that Talis would have sound amplifiers built into the small space, he wanted to fully act out the part.

         “Kal you backstabbing rat!  I told them you couldn’t be trusted!  The Guild will hear about this!”  Talis’ booming voice came out through speakers just above the door to the office.

         “You should have thought about that before you took my son, Talis.  Tell me where he is, and if I find him unharmed it will greatly enhance your chances of living through this!”  Staring Talis down through the glass, Kal lowered the rifle at his side and took a few drawn out puffs of his cigar.

         Laughter erupted from the speakers in front of Kal.  “No one would’ve ever mistaken you for a scholar Kal, but you really are a fool!  You think I would waste my time with a low life nothin’ like your kid?  Or you?  I’m insulted!”

         Glowering, Kal took the cigar once again out of his mouth to prevent himself from biting through it.  He motioned to one of his mean nearby.  The man approached reluctantly, seeing the anger intensifying on Kal’s face.

         “Set charges on all sides of the room.  I want one for each wall.”  Kal spoke loud enough to be sure that Talis heard him.

         Talis’ eyes grew bigger as Kal’s men began to set plasma charges on the walls of the office.  Kal watched with amusement as Talis became panic struck and yelled inaudibly to the two men inside of the small enclosed office.  After almost a minute, and when the last charge was being set, Talis reluctantly walked over to the communication board and pressed the button to active the outside speakers.

         “You win Kal.  Call off your dogs and we’ll talk.”







          “Franklin!  Jaramont Franklin!  He’s top level Guild.  I saw them talking only days ago at the meeting house on Scariot street.”  Blood dripped from Talis’ mouth as he spat the words out.

         “I’m getting real sick of your lies, Talis!”

         “Listen, damnit!  I’m telling you the truth.  He’s been Guild for months now!”

         Kal swung a right that connected directly on Talis’ large jaw.  The pop could be heard across the entire floor and several of Kal’s men winced at the sound.  The big man held in the chair with the electric restraining field lolled his head in response to the vicious blow.  It took several seconds for sense to return in his eyes.

         “Why the hell would my son associate with the Guild, much less talk to that scumbag Franklin?  I want the truth now and if I don’t get it I swear to you I will kill you right here!”

         “Then do it!  If Franklin knew that I was keeping tabs on him, I could wind up in a worse condition than death!  That man is pure evil, and I’d rather take my chances with you!”  Talis spat more blood onto the floor in defiance.

         Taking a few deep breaths, Kal backed himself out of the blind rage threatening to overpower him.  In as even and calm voice as he could muster, Kal spoke to Talis, “Tell me the truth and I will let you go, free and clear.  I just want to find my son.”

         Looking into Kal’s eyes for a few moments, Talis responded, “I just told you the truth.  Look, we’ve never seen eye to eye or liked each other.  You’ve just wrecked my place, killed my men, threatened my life several times, and now the Guild probably wants me dead just for telling you what I have.  But I can understand your motivation.  As much as I dislike you, I too am a father, and I would do anything to save my son.”  The look in his eyes was enough for Kal to finally believe his words.

         “Then where is Franklin, and what is he to the Guild?”

         “I’ll tell you all I know about him on one condition.”

         Peering suspiciously at Talis, Kal replied, “Name it.”

         “What I have to say is for your ears only…”  Talis looked around and jerked his head towards Stern and several others standing nearby.

         Resignedly, Kal pressed a button on the small privacy field device on his belt.  His ears popped as silence enveloped the small area where Kal was standing over Talis.  He nodded for Talis to continue.

         “I will tell you all I know, but you have to promise to demolish the rest of this building.  I want you to make it known that I died during the assault.  I’ll setup a similar incident at my home.”

         Confused, Kal asked, “What about your family?”

         “Don’t worry about them.  I plan on taking an early retirement.  My family and I will travel off-planet.  It’s about time I take on a less demanding trade.”

         “And why should we believe each other?”

         “Everyone knows that your word is solid.  Just promise me that you’ll do this, and on my son’s life you’ll never have to worry about me.”  Talis looked confidently in Kal’s eyes to show him the honesty of his vow.

         “I promise.  You were killed in the assault.  My men and I saw you crushed to death as this building collapsed.  Now tell me who this Franklin is, and where I can find him.”

         “Turn off the res-field and I’ll show you.”  Nodding slowly, Kal reached over and pressed the button on the small metal device next to Talis.  The electric restraining field that was cast over the large man’s abdomen fizzled out of existence.  Kal turned off the privacy field and the noise from the background environment returned.

         Wiping blood off of his mouth and chin, Talis stood up and stretched his body in pain.  Motioning to the monitor on a desk across the room, Kal nodded and followed wearily behind him.  Once seated, Talis attached the terminal cable to the input/output device grafted on his arm.  As the information was feed to the computer from Talis’ thoughts, the monitor came to life and displayed a map of the city.

         “Here.”  Talis pointed to a blip on the screen, informing Kal of Franklin’s location.  “He’s been a top enforcer for council members for at least ten years.  He’s only become known to a few of us about a year ago.  I had my best psy-ops monitor and dig up as much as possible on him, which turned out to be almost nothing.  He’s a very hard man to trace.”

         Kal recognized the point on the map to be in the Industrial district of downtown New Castellum.  If his memory of the area served him correctly, Franklin’s home would most likely be in one of the expensive high-rises located there.

         “I know that area.  What did your operatives find on him?”

         “Well, they were able to track his movement from Guild locations to his residence here.  Unfortunately, besides the fact that he’s been under Guild employ for about ten years, what he’s done or is doing could not be determined.  My guess is he’s an enforcer or assassin.”

         Pressing a button on his own arm’s I/O, Kal downloaded the information Talis had brought up for him.

         “Now where exactly does Trent fit in to all of this?”

         Pursing his lips for a moment, Talis formed a reply carefully in his mind before speaking.  “About two days ago, when asked to present the Guild reports about local L.E. recruitment, I walked into a situation just outside of the council chamber.  Your son Trent and Franklin were speaking to a council member off in a corner.  I saw a mandate chip being handed to your son, and Franklin was congratulating him.”

         Stunned, Kal grabbed the chair next to Talis and sat down heavily.  “A mandate chip?  Are you sure?”

         “Positive.”

         All at once, Kal felt sickened by the possibility that his only son and sole surviving family member may have joined the corrupt organization he swore to get out of.  Being given a mandate chip meant that a person had successfully passed the trials to become a fully fledged member of the Guild.  Looking back up at Talis, he asked, “How is it that I didn’t know about his joining?”

         “You were too busy on the campaign trail.  They sent you to Argent II so they could get you out of their hair.  You may think that you’ve been smooth with playing their game, but they’ve sensed rebellion in you since you’re wife died.”

         “I’ve got to get Trent out of there.  He doesn’t know what these people are capable of… I do.” 

         “It may be too late, Kal.  He may already be in too far.  He may…”  Talis’ words were cut off short.  Alarmed, Kal looked up to find a small hole in Talis’ forehead.  Instantly recognizing the work of a high powered laser, Kal threw himself to the ground in defense.  The backing of the chair he had been sitting in a second ago vaporized as an invisible beam tried to track him.

         “Sniper!  Get down everyone!”

         Kal rolled to his right until he was flush against a wall.  He began feverously checking for windows or openings to the scarred basement.  A man behind him screamed as a large portion of his chest melted and vaporized as a direct hit streamed across it.  Kal spotted the angle of attack as the floor in front of him seared with heat.

         “On your twelve, Stern.”  Kal sent the message over the psy-com to his trusted friend.  “He’s at least a few floors above us, judging by the angle.”

         The men scattered to cover around the outside edges of the basement.  Stern used the scope on his rifle to try and hone in on the attacker.

         “I see him sir, no visible markings or decorations.  He’s using an edge-class laser rifle, military issue.  Location is approximately three hundred meters atop the building to our left.”

         “Take the shot,” Kal replied.

         A smoking trail burned its way towards Kal, stopping a few feet from his legs as Stern finally tracked his target and fired the gauss rifle.  Pushing himself as close to the wall as he could get, Kal held his breath as he waited for confirmation.

         “Target is down, sir.”  Carl Stern scanned the other buildings around the area for another minute before.  “Area is clear.”

         Clambering to his feet, Kal brushed the dust and debris from the floor off of his chest.  He walked over to where the limp body of Talis lay, and pursed his lips.

         “Sir, what’s our orders?”  Carl asked from behind him.

         “The Guild obviously knows that we were here, and they know that Talis talked.  It’s time we pay this Franklin a visit.”  Thinking hard for a second, he added, “Carlson, Jones, set charges on the support beams here and bring this building down.”

         “Sir?” Stern questioned.

         “The less evidence left for the L.E. the better.”  Kal finished his reply with a slight wink.

         “Yes Sir!  The rest of you, head back to the transport!”  One by one, Kal’s team began to file out of the basement while three men quickly moved to set plasma charges on the support beams.

         “Carl.”  Kal beckoned to his right-hand man.

         “Sir?”

         “I want you to send one of our auxiliary units over to Talis’ home.  I want his family on the next transport off-planet.  Have Uri make them some new ID plates and psy-prints.”

         Surprised, Carl failed to suppress a smile.  “Yes sir.”  Turning around, he scooped up his rifle and began to leave.

         “And Carl…”

         Stern stopped once again and turned around to face Kal.

         “Thanks again old friend.”