Chapter 9

Assault on The Control Room

The Shard. The beating heart and nerve center of the city's government. It was viable form almost anywhere in the city, a light blue in color that made it stand out from any other building. It was a constant reminder of the constant oppression, or protection, depending how you look at it, the city was under. The size of it was staggering; As tall as two Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other. It rivaled even the Dubai Tower. It was there that most offices of the government were located, as well as Mayor Callaghan's office and the huge server banks that handled all the surveillance data from the city. And where Kate is, Faith thought grimly, staring at the monolith from one from one of the many surrounding buildings.

She cast a sidelong glance at Asa, standing next to her. His eyes were fixed firmly on the floor. It had taken much longer than it should have to get her. Asa could barely move at first, his body paralyzed with grief. Once the initial wave passed, the shock of losing Merc set in. It seemed unreal, that such a large, important person in their lives could be so swiftly taken away. But now, something else was beginning to settle over Asa: doubt. Doubt in their mission, doubt in his abilities and doubt in himself. She could see it in his eyes, and the way he held himself. Doubt was a poison from the mind. It lead to second guessing and hesitation, both of which lead to mistakes. And in their profession, even a small mistake could kill. But now, as they were about to assault the enemy stronghold, there could be no doubt. She turned to him, "Asa..." She said, not entirely sure what to say to him.

"Yeah...?" His voice was hoarse. He turned to face her, though he didn't raise his eyes from the floor.

"Look...I know this isn't easy." She began, searching for the right words. "I miss Merc too. I know it's hard, losing someone like that, but we can't dwell on it right now. We have to concentrate on getting in there." She pointed back at the Shard. "And we can't do it if we're preoccupied. You need to focus."

"I know," he said, eyes still glued to the ground,"but I can't stop thinking about what happened. If only I hadn't been so useless, just been even a little bit competent..."

"No." Faith grabbed his shoulders, "Asa, you can't bl-...look at me," She lifted his chin, looking him dead in the eyes. Those beautiful, young eyes, they've seen too much for someone so young, she thought. "You cannot, cannot, blame yourself for what happened. It wasn't your fault, there wasn't anything you could have done. If you start doubting yourself now, it's all over. There's already a 99% chance that I'm not getting out of there alive. I understand if you don't wanna come, and frankly I don't want you to. I'd rather you get out of the city, I know people who will look after you. But if you want to come, you have to get it in your head that it wasn't your fault. Don't doubt yourself! You're the most talented runner I've ever met! You have to believe in your abilities, and yourself if we're gonna make it out of there alive. So, what's it gonna be?"

Asa stared at her, not making as single sound as she spoke. When she stopped, he continued to stare, not saying anything for a few moments, before wrapping Faith in a tight hug. Faith held him close, waiting for his reply.

"Alright," he eventually said, "I'll come with you. No more doubt, no more fear. Let's finish this."

They moved toward the Shard on through back alleys and low rooftops, trying to avoid too many people. Faith managed to find access to the underground maintenance tunnels of the Shard. It took a little bit of creative navagating, but eventually they ended up in one of the Shard's many maintenance halls. Down the hallway was a pair of doors. Asa tired the handle on the first one, "It's locked," he announced.

"This one too." Faith said, taking a step back and giving the door a hard kick. It didn't budge.

"Well, damn, I guess we'll have to find another way." Asa headed back the way they came in. "Hey, do you hear that?" Asa asked, tilting his head slightly to one side.

"Yeah...What is that?"Faith walked over to Asa, who was already on his hands and knees, looking for the source. He followed the sound to a dislodged service panel near the floor.

"There's a couple of wires arching down here, looks like some rats musta chewed through them." Asa said, standing back up. Faith nodded, wondering what their options were now. Surely there must be other ways into the Shard, but how many were actually feasible? Faith's eyes wandered until they fell on one of the many pipes lining the walls. Directly in front of one of the locked doors was a pressure release valve.

"I wonder." Faith muttered, giving the valve a small turn. She sniffed at the gas that came hissing out. Yup, that's natural gas, Faith thought, closing the valve again.

"Umm, what are you doing?" Asa appeared by her side, giving her a quizzical look. Faith only held up her hand, looking up and down the hallway.

"There's a good place." She said, hurrying to the other end of the hall.

"What? What's a good place?" Asa asked, a bit exasperated. Faith lead him to the end of the hall, where a grate had been pulled a way to allow access to a small alcove of sorts.

"Get in there." Faith said, pointing at the small space.

"What? Why?"

"Just do it!" Faith gave Asa a little push. Asa begrudgingly crawled in, muttering to himself. Faith ran back to the valve, and giving it a few hard turns, ran all the way back to Asa was, sliding in with him. The gas was pouring out of the valve, hissing like an angry snake.

"Ok, seriously, what the hell are you doing?" Asa demanded, the smell of gas filling the air. Faith only chuckled.

"You'll see." Almost immediately after Faith spoke, the gas met the sparking wires, and a huge fireball erupted, a wall of flame exploding down the hallway. Faith shot Asa a smug look. "That's what I'm doing."

Asa looked at with dumbfounded shock. "Jesus Christ, Faith, have you never heard of subtlety?" Faith only laughed, gabbing him by the hand and pulling him out. The door in front of the pipe had been completely blown off it's hinges. Faith ran down the hallway on the other side, Asa in tow. The door on the other end lead to a parking garage, which was, of course, crawling with blues.

"Shit!" shouted one, pulling his pistol out of it's holster, "call for backup, now!" Faith quickly relieved him of his weapon, knocking him unconscious before turning and shoting his partner twice in the chest, taking his weapon as well.

"Lets go!" Faith yelled, "Stay behind me!" Asa stuck to her like glue as they tore through the parking lot, bullets whizzing through the air. Faith slid to a halt behind a car. "Stay here." Faith handed Asa one of the pistols, "Don't come out until I call you." She tore off toward the remaining cops before Asa could protest. Asa just sat there, huddled behind the car, hands over his ears as the battle raged around him. He didn't understand how people could get used to killing. He'd seem death before, quite a few times actually, and each time it made his stomach churn. Suddenly the gunfire stopped.

"Faith?" Asa called out hesitantly, peeking around the car's bumper. Faith was standing on the far side of the parking structure, three dead cops laying dead at her feet. She motioned him over. "Geez, Faith, you're a real terror." Asa chuckled nervously, walking over to her.

"Hold onto that." Faith ordered, gesturing at Asa's handgun.
"What am I supposed to do this this? I'm a pacifist."

"I know, but they aren't." Faith replied, matter-of-factly, pointing at the corpses. Asa grumbled, but slipped the pistol into his waistband, behind his back. The cold, hard metal was unpleasant. Faith walked over to an elevator across from them and hit the call button. After a moment, the doors slid open and they stepped in. Asa glanced over at Faith, and shivered. There was a look in her eyes, the stare of a stone cold killer. The usual playful glint had gone from them. Asa shivered again. He never wanted that look directed at him.

"Are you alright?" Faith asked. Asa looked back at her. What ever killing instinct that took hold of her had fled just as quickly as it appeared.

"Yeah," He replied quickly, "I'm fine." The elevator doors finally slide open, and Faith took off down the hall, Asa following closely behind. Faith vaulted off a chair at the end of the hall, up onto a catwalk that lead to a door. She kicked it open, and was promptly punched in the face by a guard standing right next to the door.

"Faith!" Asa shouted, catching her before she hit the ground. Faith sat up to see Miller standing on the other side of the room, with two cops standing on either side of him.

"Good work, check them." He ordered, drawing his two pistols as the cops advanced towards them. He took careful aim, the shot both cops in the back of the head, one right after the other.

"You gonna shoot us too?" Faith stood up, Asa standing tensed next to her.

"No." Miller said casually, holstering his weapons. "Right now you're Kate's best hope."

"Weren't these your guys?" Asa asked, looking over the dead bodies.

"No, they're PK's, Pirandello Kruger, private security."

"What's going on, Miller?" Faith asked, following him as he walked across the room.

"Pope's murder, turns out there was a man on the inside."

"Ropeburn?" Faith half asked half stated.

"Yes. You were right about him. I tried to get answers myself."

"But why Kate?" Faith asked, following Millers meandering pattern across the room.

"Because they needed a CPF cop to look like Pope's killer. No time to explain more. Take this." Miller handed Faith an earpiece. "Head for the roof, that's where they've taken her. I'll hold them off." Miller drew both his pistols. "Go, now!"

Faith nodded, motioning for Asa to follow. She kicked open the door at the end of the room. Behind it was a large atrium, swarming with cops.

"Here we go again." Faith said, shoving Asa behind one of the many slanted metal pillars. Faith ran headlong at one of the cops directly in front of her, causing him to backpedal and fire wildly at her. At the last second, she threw herself across the ground in a slide tackle, slamming the man in the groin full force with her foot. The man leaned forward, grabbing his crotch, allowing Faith the perfect opportunity to knee him in the head on her way up. She yanked his machine pistol out of his hand, emptying half a magazine into one of his buddies. Faith continued this groin destroying, bullet spraying spree until all the cops had been taken care of. Asa watched from his cover in silent awe as this was happening. She truly was a killing machine. Asa suddenly started to wonder about about some of those jobs she got. Could they have been hits? No, Asa reasoned with himself, she's not like that.

"Come on!" Faith yelled, motioning him over, "Before more of them show up!" Asa tore across the atrium, toward the open elevator where Faith was waiting. More cops swarmed in just as the elevator doors slipped shut, bullets pinging off the doors as they closed.

"Holy fuck!" Asa yelled, "How many of those guys are there!"

"Not enough to stop us." Faith grinned.

"Yeah, well, I hope you're right..." The elevator suddenly jerked to a stop as a voice came over the speaker.

"Drop any weapons you have, stay were you are, and prepare to be taken into custody!"

"Don't these guys ever give up?" Asa sighed, hitting the emergency escape button, which opened up a panel in the roof of the car. Faith hopped up first, and Asa quickly followed. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me." They were in the main elevator shaft, shared by at least three other elevators. Every now and again, one would come rushing past. "Now where are we supposed to go?"

"Hold on." Faith put a finger up to her earpiece. "Miller says there's an entrance to the ventilation shaft in here somewhere. It'll take us outside, and we can double around back in." The decent through the elevator shaft was truly harrowing. Once, while standing on a thin metal catwalk, an elevator passes so close to Asa that the pressure wave nearly sucked him off the catwalk. They finally made it through the elevator shaft, into the main ventilation chamber. Asa gulped when Faith crouched down near one of the many air ducts that shot off from the main chamber.

"Uh, are we going in there?" Asa pointed at the small, rectangular duct. It was barely high enough for him to crouch in.

"Yeah." Faith said, crouching down and moving into the air duct. She turned back when she noticed he wasn't following. "What's the problem?"

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?" Faith asked, getting a bit annoyed.

Asa shifted around a bit, "I'm claustrophobic..." Faith sighed loudly, closing her eyes. Now she remembered. Asa was very, very claustrophobic. She remembered once Merc locked him his tiny bathroom as a joke, and the poor kid had a panic attack.

"Listen, we've gone too far to turn back now. I know this is gonna be hard for you, but it's our only way forward. Now, come on." She took his hand, pulling him towards the air duct.

Asa swallowed hard, trying to fight of the rising tide of panicked fear. What if we get trapped in here? He kept thinking. We could die in here and no one would ever find us, no one would ever know. Asa swallowed hard, his throat starting to close up. Asa squeezed Faith's hand, which he had refused to let go of since he entered. Faith gave him a reassuring squeeze back, coming to a halt in front of him.

"This is it." Faith whispered, peering out of the grate in front of her. On the other side were two roof tops, and hopefully, a place to get back into the Shard. "Hold on a second!" Faith hissed when Asa started pushing her from behind. She knew he wanted to get out, but Jesus, they can't just go charging around the middle of the enemy stronghold!

"There's a sniper team guarding this area." Miller whispered in her ear. "But there should be a way in the other side. Be careful, Faith."

"Alright." Faith turned back to Asa, who was looking a bit pale. "There's snipers out there, so once we start running, don't stop." Asa nodded quickly. All he wanted was to get out of this metal tube, even if it meant facing a firing squad. "Alright...let's go!" Faith gave the grate a kick, sending it flying. Faith followed quickly after it, Asa hot on her heels. Only seconds after they emerged, the shooting started. Every shoot from the sniper's rifles sounded like a cannon going of. The high caliber bullets whooshed past them, putting holes clean through the massive A/C units that sat on the roof. These guy's aren't fucking around, Faith though, moving onto the second rooftop. Faith spotted one of the snipers, and headed right for him.

Asa watched as the man fired a wild shot at Faith, swinging the huge rifle like a club. Faith caught the rifle, ripping it from the man's hands, sending him to the ground and kicking him in the back of the head. Faith quickly brought the rifle to bear, aiming at one of the other snipers. "Cover your ears." She told Asa, who quickly followed her command. Faith took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger.

The blast from the rifle shook Asa to his bones. He couldn't see how Faith stayed upright, much less aim at the other sniper and fire again. Even with his hands over them, his ears were ringing. Faith threw the rifle to the ground, taking off again. Just one more jump and they were back in the Shard. As she approached the final gap, more bullets started hissing through the air. More security troops had found their way onto the rooftops. Faith leaped onto the balcony on the other side of the gap, hearing Asa hit the ground not a moment after her. She charged through the door, charging down the blinding white hallway on the other side. She came to a stop at some kind of security desk. The only way to keep going was an elevator on her right, with no call button.

"Give me a moment, I'll bring the elevator to you." Miller said over her earpiece. Faith turned to Asa, looking him over.

"Are you alright?" She asked, genuine concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Asa waved her off, walking over the elevator as the doors slipped open. Faith followed him in, turning to face the elevator doors as they shut. Faith stared off into the distance. Miller had just informed her that this elevator lead to the server room, which housed the processing equipment used to monitor the entire city. If they could take even a few of those servers out, it might create enough of a distraction to let them slip out. Faith was so deep in though that she jumped when Asa tapped her on the shoulder.

"Faith," he breathed, "look." Faith turned around, and was struck by what she saw. The walls of the elevator were all glass, and beyond them was the most stunning panorama she'd ever seen. The city was laid out before them, dots and ribbons of lights stretched out in every direction. The horizon was glowing with the predawn light, and just visible in the distance were the hazy slops of the mountains. "It's beautiful." Asa whispered, his nose pressed against the glass.

Faith moved beside Asa, placing her hand on his head and ruffling his hair. "It is...and it's worth fighting for." Faith was suddenly struck by a thought. As close as they were to the top, this might well be one of the last things they see. Faith quickly pushed away that thought, putting her arm around Asa. They stood there, silent, as the elevator continued it's ascent. Faith grinned. There could be a lot worse last moments, she thought. The elevator began to slow, coming to a halt.

"Let's go." Faith turned as the doors slid open, revealing the massive server room. Faith shivered. The air was cool, almost cold here, to keep the electronics from overheating. The glass doors in front of them slid open, just as a pair of smoke grenades landed next to them. "Get down!" Faith yelled, leaping up and over the reception counter. The blues were giving one last ditch effort here. There five of them total, each one armed with either an assault rifle or machine gun. Faith took out the first one she came to, and used his rifle to pick off the other four. She discarded the rifle after the shooting stopped, picking up one of the guard's machine gun.

"What are you doing?" Asa asked, emerging from his cover and walking over to her.

"Cutting off the head of the snake." Faith grinned, pointing the machine gun at the nearest server hub and holding down the trigger. Sparks few wildly, and the mammoth machine started to smoke.

"Warning." A female voice came over the loudspeakers. "Core failure in bank one, core failure in bank one." Faith cackled wildly, putting holes in every single server hub.

"Warning." The voice spoke again, "All core banks have failed, all core banks have failed. Appropriate emergency services have been notified."

"Let's go!" Faith cried, tearing up the stairs toward the rooftop. Her heart was pounding out of her chest. Hold on, Kate! Faith though as she burst through the door onto the roof. She could hear the distinctive clatter of a helicopter on the helipad. She flew up the stairs, onto the platform. There was a helicopter, alright, along with Kate, and Jackknife.

"Hello, Faith." He said smugly, moving Kate in front of him and putting a gun to her head. It was at that moment that Faith realized that Asa hadn't followed her up onto the pad.

"Jackknife!" She hissed. Where did he go? "You couldn't-!"

"Attitudes like that," Jackknife chuckled, "well that's exactly why I could." He growled out the last few words. He started backing up towards the helicopter, dragging Kate with him. Faith followed him, not letting him get any further away.

"Who's behind this?" Faith demanded, keeping her eyes locked on Jackknife, but searching for Asa in her peripherals.

"Let's just say I know who the bigger fish are." Jackknife said in a smug tone.

"Callaghan." Faith said, the pieces starting to fall into place. Jackknife just grinned that smug grin. Faith suddenly saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Asa was sneaking up from the far side of the helipad. "Why us, we're no threat!" Faith took a few steps to the side, forcing Jackknife to turn with her. She could clearly see Asa now. He was sneaking close, with a pistol in his hands. Oh god, Faith thought, this will not end well.

"Classic warfare! Break the lines of communication, shoot the messengers!" Jackknife said in a matter of fact tone. "Without Pope, and without the runners, your clients, those who just won't let go of the old city, get cut off, vulnerable. And this city can clean up the last of it's dregs." Jackknife shoved Kate up against the helicopter, taking a step back and pointing the gun right at her.

"So this is just the start!" Faith kept her eyes on Jackknife, resisting the urge to flick them over to Asa for just a moment.

"I prefer to think of it, as an ending. But still, you did a remarkably good job coaxing out all those lose ends surrounding Pope's...demise. It's why you're still alive." Jackknife swung the gun at Faith.

Asa's entire body was shaking was he approached the three, pistol raised. He could have sworn his heart beat was audible over the chopper. His mind was racing at a million miles per hour. Should he call out to Jackknife, tell him to put the gun down? No, that would just result in a Mexican standoff. Oh, god he couldn't shoot this man, no matter what he had done, no matter what he was going to do. But he had to. Asa decided he would he would shoot him in the arm, injure him, but not kill him. Now he just had to wait for his moment. As the trio continued to back up toward the chopper, Asa edged closer. Jackknife shoved Kate into the chopper, and started to swing the gun towards Faith. That was his chance. Asa pulled the trigger, hard.

The bullet went high. It slammed into Jackknife's temple, breaking out the other side in a fountain of blood, brains and bone. The man fell, as if he were a marionette whose strings were suddenly cut. Asa watched in silent horror as he hit the ground, eyes wide open, but unseeing. The chopper pilot seemed to take that as his cue, and took off in a hurry. Asa slumped to his knees, eyes fixated on the body, and the crimson pool that forming. Blood. Oh, god there was so much blood. The gun dropped from his hand with a clatter. Faith ran over to him, kneeling down beside him.

"I killed him." Asa said, in a hollow voice, silent tears starting to run down his cheeks. "Faith, I killed him!"

"I know," She whispered, putting her hand on his back. "You did what you had to do." Asa didn't reply, just stared at the body until the shock suddenly wore off. He pitched forward, and vomited for all he was worth. All the emotions of the past few days came pouring out of him. All the anger, all the fear, all the sorrow, came pouring out, until there was nothing left. Faith knelt by him the whole time, petting his hair and whispering reassurances. Asa sat up once he was finished, wiping his mouth and giving her the most pitiful, heart breaking look. She wrapped him up an a tight hug.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "for everything."

"Don't be." he said, leaning his head on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault." Faith held the embrace for a few more moments, before standing him up and turning to Kate. The two sisters embraced, before Faith turned back to Asa.

"Come on," She said, walking towards the stairs, "let's go home." Asa nodded, following the two. He took one last look back at the cityscape.

"Faith," he said, pointing "the sun's coming up."

"Yeah," she replied, feeling something stir in her chest, "it is."

Epilogue

Faith sat on a rooftop over looking the city cemetery. She had somehow managed to get Merc down, and buried. She heaved a sigh. She was gonna miss that ape, now more than ever. Their stunt in the Shard had a profound effect on the city. Information freely, people actually communicated without the fear of being listened to, for the first time in years. And it got something stirring. A Pandora's box had been opened. People, some for the first time ever, had tasted true freedom again. And they would want more. Faith grinned. It was only a matter of time.

"So, what now?" Asa asked from his perch next to her.

"I dunno." Faith shrugged. "There's as much instability as there ever was. We're going to be needed now more than ever."

Asa nodded, "They're still going to be looking for us, aren't they?" Faith sighed again. She'd been doing that a lot lately. "Yeah, they won't give up on us." The bounty on their heads was quite substantial. They'd have to be more careful than ever. Faith sent Kate to hide out with Drake, another mission controller for the runners. She would be safe there, for the time being.

"Don't worry!" Asa said, hopping down. "They won't catch us!"

"Oh, yeah?" Faith cocked an eyebrow, "How do you know?"

"Cause!" Asa grinned his stupid, infectious smile, "I just know."

Oh. My. God. It's finally done. To anyone still reading, I hope you enjoyed the ride. I feel I've grown a lot as a writer since I started this. I hope to be much more active now. Thanks again for those who stuck with this from the beginning. There are those who said this day would never come. What are they to say now?