Born Taken (Broken Angel 0.50)

Lucas tried not to think too hard about this. The mission itself was more important than muddying his mind.

Reaching into his bag, he felt the dense mold of C4 and wiring. Every step needed to be followed to an accurate detail, or they’d all be dead.

Lucas inserted the blasting caps into the crystalline white mold, carefully bending the material to suit his needs. He applied the sticky adhesive and topped it against the thick glass door of the dome. Lastly, he threaded the cables into a small black box.

“Get your men the fuck out of here,” he snarled at the remaining guards.

Quicker than he’d expected, the men came down. “Where’s the money? C’mon, asshole. We played ball.”

None of that mattered. A ploy was a ploy. Killian withdrew a pistol from underneath his jacket.

“Truly sorry about this,” Killian muttered before hugging the trigger of death. Buckets of bullet casings drifted around their bodies, sizzling with the smoke of gunpowder and red mist of fresh alpha blood. The three unleashed a wave of horrid killing.

Soon, the alarm broke through the air, sending shockwaves of panic throughout the area. Any second now, droves of soldiers would descend upon them.

“Lucas, what’s it going to be? We’ve got sixty seconds to get in there,” Vash said.

Lucas punched a code and waited for the correct response tone from the machine. “And we’re good to go!”

Running to the other end of the road, they crouched behind a metal sheet and waited. But as the alarm gave way to penetrating gunfire, Vash frantically clutched his hands over his head. “What the fuck, Xan? When’s this thing going to blow?”

Biting down on the toothpick, Lucas abruptly cursed and squeezed around the butt of his rifle. “Killian, tell me you put a new fuse in the box,” he spoke through his teeth.

Killian shook his head. “Don’t put this one on me, pal.”

“Fuck!” Vash screamed.

As soon as Lucas poked his head out, a bullet dug through the concrete near him. He ducked behind the cover again, praying loudly. “He made darkness His secret place; his canopy around Him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies…”

“Shut the fuck up and get out there!” Killian screamed.

Tumbling into the frantic war zone, Lucas jumped away from the sounds of whizzing bullets and fell against the detonation box. He quickly picked it up, glancing at the levels on the LED screen. “Fuse is fine!” he called out.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Vash darted out from behind the metal sheet. Loosely aiming his rifle, he squeezed the trigger and fired blindly.

He ran toward Lucas, scraping his legs across the rain soaked pavement. “You okay?”

Lucas nodded, but he felt unusually rushed for time. “Yeah, but this should have worked. I don’t understand.”

Killian loaded a second clip and grinned as he took out a guard on the west wing of the dome’s central tower. “What the fuck is the problem?” he asked. “Light that puppy up!”

Annoyed, Lucas hit the side of the box with his palm. Suddenly, the glass erupted in a pulverizing detonation. The sound blistered through their eardrums, knocking the men to the ground.

As Vash watched it all unfold, the scene seemed to slow down. The puddles on the ground dried almost instantly, but before he could close his eyes for the kiss of Death, rough hands pulled him away from the burning rubble.

“Well…” A cold, callous face slithered above his. “Brother…”

A chill ran through his veins before the shock numbed his nerves. It was over.

Chapter Three

“As you know, the old republic’s coalition of armies will forfeit their rule over the seven continents. They will be replaced with certain…small factions. My men, of course,” Cassian said. “Traders. Bounty hunters. We’ll keep the long-lasting institutions, but there will be some changes…”

Rae rested on his lap like a small kitten. Dirt ran through the once shiny strands of hair, and a large red bruise swelled underneath her eye. As she listened to the devastating news, she watched her father, an old man with stress eating at his heart. The wrinkles seemed to reach every patch of skin. She saw his every weakness and knew what fate he’d bestow on her.

Coward.