Ren: Chapter Fourteen

Collection: Submissions/the Halleaux
Chronicled by Ren

​Ren led the way to the dining hall, where they all proceeded to load their trays with as much food as they would hold and (in MacEntire's case) several cups of coffee. Together they all walked to one of the circular tables and sat. Now that Marius was comfortable around them, he reverted back to his usual state of being, and much joking ensued. They sat around the table talking and laughing like one big happy family. Marius had never seen Ren laugh unless he was being sarcastic. But there he sat laughing like a maniac and even telling some jokes.

"So then the physicist says-""Michael Ren" Petra's voice screeched from behind him
Ren cringed and stood. He turned to find Petra's face just inches from his own. Her eyes burned with rage and her face was red with anger.
"What were you thinking, bringing them inside this base?" she yelled pointing a finger at the other five
"They have reaffirmed their loyalties to me, I trust them entirely. They have sworn that they will fight alongside the haven fighters and will follow any order I give them. Now I suggest you calm down and stop yelling, you're upsetting Thorn." Ren spoke softly, but with a firmness that could only come from a seasoned commander. He snapped his fingers and the dog (who was apparently called Thorn) jumped to its feet and growled at Petra.
"He is battlefield trained and doesn't like people who yell. It makes him angry, which is not something I recommend doing if you value your limbs. Nothing personal, he just wants you to calm down and talk like a rational human being." Ren said
Petra scowled at him and exhaled deeply. Her face returned to its normal color as she stared at the assembled assassins. MacEntire stood and extended his hand towards Petra.
"The name's MacEntire, call me Grim." he told her
"why "Grim""
"We all had our names as assassins, mine was Grim. It's a mythical dog that haunts graveyards and is supposed to be the warning that death is approaching." MacEntire explained
"I see" Petra said slowly "and you all had these names?"
"yep" Ren's voice came from the inside of a cup of coffee
"Well then, I suppose you better make introductions"
Ren stood once again and looked at Petra with something that could only be described as boredom.
"You already met Grim" said Ren before pointing to the man to his immediate right. "That's Warlock, because he can make himself disappear like magic. Sitting next to him is Mars, the most dreaded man on the field of battle, on his right is Altair, the flying one, and to his right is Fanghur, the viper, she doesn't speak English very well."
"Okay and they can fight?" Petra asked
"Yes, as a matter of fact they can."
"Excellent bring them to the debriefing after breakfast so we can start looking for Logan"
"We'll be there" Ren smiled evilly
Petra walked off and Ren resumed drinking his coffee when someone put their hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Daphne standing behind him.
"Oh, hey, what's up?" He asked
"Just wanted to see if you were ready to go find that, um, thing, we talked about?"
"Apparently we are required to attend a debriefing before we go on a manhunt, if you'd like I could come and fetch you on my way." Ren explained
" That would be great, I'll see you then. By the way, Mira has proved herself quite the vicious killer. You should stop by and monitor her progress later."
"Very well" Then turning to the group he said "I think I'm going to go rest before we go to the meeting. Marius, can you show them around?"
"Yeah, I can take care of it." Marius responded
"okay, see you guys later." Ren left the chow hall and went to his room. He sat on the bed with a hot towel over his eyes, deep in thought. He inhaled the smell of burning incense and sighed deeply. He could have sat there for forever just like that. He pulled the towel off of his eyes and walked to the bathroom. Sliding back the mirror revealed a cabinet full of small jars. Ren searched around until he found the one he was looking for. It was short and made of glass with a green lid, labeled in an alternate language. As he twisted the lid off he thought about what little time he had left to gather enough allies to defeat the authority. He found the thought so depressing he considered just laying in bed all day. He reached in the jar and pulled out several small green leaved and popped them in his mouth. He smiled as the spicy taste of mint and menthol spread across his mouth and into his sinuses. Suddenly there came a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" Ren called
"Me" came Marius' voice from the outside "We have a big problem"
Ren walked swiftly to the door and pulled it open.
"Inside" Ren commanded
"I've just seen Logan, he's here, he knows who we are, and he's stolen my pants" Marius said in a rush
"stolen your-" Ren began
"My pants, yes, it's a rather long story, but the point is, he's been seen and I came to you because if a raise a true alarm, we'll be hard pressed to find him.
"True" Ren said "What's our twenty on the Soulless?"
"Soulless are down in your lab waiting for you"
"Good" Ren said shortly "Fetch Daphne and bring her to the lab, then tell Petra that we won't be attending her staff meeting."
"Got it" yelled Marius as he raced around the corner
After Marius was gone Ren chuckled to himself.
"Good, more action. It's been more than two days since the last time I picked a fight with someone. This should be fun"
Ren retrieved the canvas sack Grim had given him and donned the black armor and belted on the black sword. The double edged hand-and-a half sword sported a triangular shaped blade made from solid obsidian, honed to an edge so sharp Ren could shave with it. The obsidian had been covered in a resin to keep the blade from dulling or shattering. He put on the helmet and walked out the door locking it securely behind him.
He ran down the halls to his lab and slid the door open where his fellow assassins, Daphne, and Marius sat waiting.
"Attention on deck" Grim yelled
everyone in the room rose to attention as Ren entered.
"At ease" Ren shouted “Okay squad, this is our situation: The trespasser in the base has been sighted and needs to be captured and brought to me for interrogation. He is a robot so take extra caution. You will all be armed with an Arc rifle and EMP grenades. We will communicate through use of these."
Ren held up several small earpieces attached to wires.
"They go in your ear and provide a means of two-way communication. We're going to search in pairs to cover more ground. Grim, you have the crash bag, right?"
Grim lifted a large, tan backpack with a medical emblem on it.
"Right here, sir" he said
"Good. Warlock you're with Mars. Altair, you take Fanghur. Marius, cover Grim, and Daphne, you're watching my six."
Ren passed out the earpieces and opened a crate revealing about sixty arc rifles. Everybody picked one up and checked the sights and turned the weapons on. Ren stopped Daphne as she reached for one.
"I have something a little more suited to your skills."
Ren walked over to a workbench and picked up a compound bow with a scope and a quiver full of arrows.
"These arrows are charged with electricity, they'll stop a regular human or a robot, they're not picky when it comes to targets. They also seek infrared heat signatures and have a target lock capability."
Daphne took the bow and slung the quiver over her shoulder.
"One more thing, as not to raise an alarm our code name for the target is 'Rabbit', so if anyone asks, we're hunting Rabbits. Ren announced "You guys might also want to turn on your night vision.
Ren walked over to a panel on the wall and popped it open. He put his hand on a switch.
"Going black in four, three, two, one. Blackout status"
He pulled the switch and the power went out. They turned on their night vision and stacked up along the wall in pairs. After turning on the flashlights on the rifles Ren slid open the door and they left the lab to go hunt Rabbits.