Ren: Man in the Walls

Collection: the Halleaux/Submissions
Chronicled by: Ren

​The pairs ducked into the hallway and went their separate ways. Ren and Daphne took a lone corridor, keeping their heads down as they moved.
"Ren, what is the meaning of this" Petra's voice came over the radio
"Petra, what are you doing? This is a restricted frequency" He asked

"Trying to figure out why you cut power to the entire base. Mech almost killed himself tripping over a table." she shouted
"I cut power to make it easier to find our Rabbit. Don't worry, just stay where you are and relax. Take a nap, enjoy your break, and leave the stress to us professionals."
"The commander of the Haven Fighters does not simply take a break because some fool decides to cut power to the entire base." Petra yelled
"I hate to interrupt your little conversation, but I've got something." said Grim
"What is it?" Ren said sharply
"We have movement in a hallway up ahead and a faint heat signature"
"What's your twenty? We'll move to reinforce, the rest of you stand by and stay alert" Ren commanded
"We're in the main hall leading to the cafeteria"
"Got it. We are en route" Ren said, signaling Daphne
Together they slowly worked their way towards the cafeteria. They met up with Grim and Marius around the corner from the corridor.
"Grim and I will take point position, you guys cover us from behind" Ren ordered
They crept down the corridor watching for any disturbances. The sound of a gun being loaded echoed from the end of the hall.
"Logan, surrender now, put the weapon down and no one needs to be hurt. Ren shone the flashlight in that general direction revealing the person at the end of the hallway. It was not a robot, as Ren had expected, but a woman in exo-armor. She was quite clearly not a robot, and also quite clearly armed. Her handgun was aimed at them and she fired three rounds in their direction. Ren hit the floor as just in time. He heard the bullets whiz over his head. There was a gasp as someone behind him fell to the ground. The woman ran off and Ren jumped to his feet to follow her.
"We have bigger problems right now" Marius yelled behind him
Daphne lay on the floor gasping for air. The shoulder of her shirt was ripped and she was beginning to bleed where a bullet had obviously grazed her. "Sandman, we have our Rabbit cornered. Requesting permission to engage." Altair spoke over the radio
"Altair, do not engage."
"He's charging us" Altair yelled, there was a sound of impact and some far off clanging noises.
"Barzul" Ren spat
"REN" Marius yelled "We have to get out of here"
"Petra this is Sandman, we have a Haven Fighter down. Grazed by a bullet on the right shoulder, if you want to come down and help or something you are clear to restore power and join us." Ren said "Let's get ready to move her, we don't have much time."
Ren grasped Daphne’s forearm and lifted her to her feet. Together, he and Marius helped her to the cafeteria.
"Grim, get the crash bag open." Ren ordered.
They arrived at the cafeteria and sat her down on a table. Ren pulled on a pair of nitrile gloves while Grim opened the bag and handed him a flashlight and a wooden dowel wrapped with leather. He inspected the wound and made sure nothing major had been injured. Once that was done he directed the flashlight at her eyes and checked her consciousness.
"Grim, we’re going to need a lot of gauze, a hypodermic needle, and some alcohol. We're going to start an IV drip and get her on some fluids" Ren explained to Marius
Grim passed Ren a strip of latex, which he tied around her forearm near the elbow. Ren took the needle from Grim and slid it into one of the veins in her arm. Once the needle was in he slid the IV tube through the needle before pulling it out. Heconnected it to a bag of fluids and handed it to Marius saying "hold this up". Ren handed Daphne the dowel wrapped in leather saying “Put that in your mouth.” Daphne put it in her mouth and bit down on it. She nodded, indicating she was ready. “No matter how much this hurts, I need you to hold still. Squeeze my hand if you understand my instructions.” Ren explained. Daphne squeezed his hand profusely. Ren took a large wad of gauze and sprayed the alcohol on it before pressing it to the wound. Even through the dowel he heard her gasp in pain. She squeezed his hand so hard it started going numb from lack of blood flow, but true to her word, she held as still as one could hope.
He dipped another wad of gauze into a package of celox and packed it into the wound. He wrapped more gauze around her shoulder to apply pressure and looked up at Petra who was helping another Haven Fighter along.
"I found him in the halls on my way here, looks like a nasty slash, Fanghur isn't far behind me, looks like Altair's been hurt." she informed him.
Ren helped her carry the injured man to another table and set him down before he looked at the injury.
"It's a slash wound alright, but it looks like it missed his artery. We should be able to wrap it up and he'll be fine. Marius, help him out over here."
Fanghur limped in, helping a barely conscious Altair walk. Grim helped them to a third table where Ren and Petra walked over.
"Fanghur, what's his status?" Ren asked
"Broken ribs and leg for sure, possibly broken nose and concussion. He's in rough shape." she spoke in a thick accent
"Grim, take care of him"
Grim pulled off Altair's helmet just in time for him to vomit blood all over the floor.
"That's a definite concussion, possibly brain damage" Ren corrected.
He pulled Fanghur aside, away from the people and asked her.
"So what happened to you guys?"
"We met Logan. He's fast, he's strong, and he was teleporting all over the place. It was like trying to fight fifty people at once. I'm not even sure you could win a fight against him." she said quickly
"Never tell me the odds" Ren smiled
Later that day Ren and the four of the Soulless (Altair was resting from the events of the morning) attended a meeting with Petra and the rest of the commanders.
"We need to know as much as we can about this person who injured two of my soldiers." Petra said angrily
"Your person was female, about five and a half feet tall, Authority spy, well trained, but with poor aim as far as handguns are concerned." Ren listed
"How do you know she was Authority and not Haven?"
"Haven Fighters use Aeon Darts, what I extracted from Daphne's neck was a real bullet. Haven Fighters wear uniforms;this person was wearing Authority A-16 Infiltrator exo-armor which is obviously not available to Haven Fighters. Lastly the only people I have ever met who had similar training are the soulless and a few of my uncle's personal guards." Ren explained
"So we have an intruder, a spy, and the entire Authority to deal with." ValJean clarified
"That about sums up our week" Ren sighed
"How depressing" Marius said
"I think we should divide the work. I'll look for Logan and our spy, Petra and Marius can prepare for our encounter with the Authority, and Mech can investigate who hacked my computer and who uploaded a virus onto his." Ren proposed
"What do you think I should do Mr. Ren?" Asked ValJean
"The same thing you always do: sit in your study and only come out when there's a crisis." Ren stung
"Well played, well played indeed" ValJean nodded
"I think it's a good idea, that way there is less stress and we all keep busy." Petra spoke up
"Then it's settled, you all have your jobs, get to work." ValJeanresigned
They walked out of the room and Ren saw a figure covered from head to toe, a hat pulled low over his face. Ren acted on instinct and tackled him. His hat fell of revealing the face of a robot. He vanished from underneath Ren and appeared a little further down the hallway.
"Logan!" Ren yelled
The robot turned and smiled. He waved at Ren and walked towards him.
"What do you want, Logan?" Ren asked
"A proper fight against the best the Haven Fighters have to offer: you" Logan spoke slowly
He vanished and reappeared in front of Ren. Logan threw a punch at his face, Ren ducked and grabbed his fist. There was no doubt this robot was strong, it took all of Ren's strength just to hold his fist in place. He reached into his armor and pulled out a small cylinder. Releasing Logan's fist he rolled between his legs. Ren opened his gauntlet and opened a file called MPS. As the software activated Ren's helmet slid into a different view. He could no longer see where Logan was, but where he was going to be. Logan reappeared with Ren's fist closing around his throat. Ren applied pressure and began to choke the robot before slamming him into the floor. Ren pulled a metal ring off the cylinder as Logan rolled from beneath him. Logan slammed Ren into the wall so hard it left a dent. Ren slid down the wall, apparently unconscious. Logan stood over him and drew back his fist to end him. Ren lifted his head and smiled, he held up the cylinder which was now clearly a grenade.
"Gotcha" Ren dropped the grenade on the ground
There was a burst of light and a shockwave and Logan collapsed on the floor. Ren stood up and patted down Logan's body, checking for weapons.

Logan woke up sitting in a chair. He raised his head and ran a systems scan. As he was checking his system's functionality he noticed a new file on his hard drive called Before You Stand Up.exe. Upon opening the file he saw that it had been uploaded by Ren while he was shut down.
Dear Logan,
I would highly advise you not to stand up. Understanding that ropes would be pointless to restrain you I wallpapered this room with EMP mines and Arc grenades. If you so much as stand up, they will all activate simultaneously and you will fry. There is a table on your right-hand side. On that table is a remote with a single button. When you wake up, press the button and it will call me. It is best that you deal with me instead of any of the others. I am a warrior and will thus respect you for your strength and ability as another warrior, the others will not. I look forward to our little chat,
Ren
"Great" Logan thought. Having no other choice he reached over, picked up the remote, and pressed the button. There was a beep and five minutes later the door opened. Ren strolled in casually, a faint smile played upon his lips.
"Morning, Princess" Ren joked "Did you have a nice nap?"
"What kind of joke do you suppose that to be Ren?" asked Logan
"Look, I'm prepared to cut you a deal." Ren told him seriously
"What kind of deal?"
"The kind that gets you out of here without being destroyed and sold for scrap metal." Ren replied
"Sounds like a good deal so far, what's the rest?" Logan inquired
"I let you out of here; you have to help me with a little project and back the Haven Fighters in the conflict of the century." Ren explained
"Sounds good." Logan nodded his head
Ren pulled a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button. The room went dark as all of the assorted explosive devices powered down. There was a click and Ren's face appeared through the darkness, a lighter in his hand. He tossed Logan a cloak.
"Put this on and follow me, as quietly and inconspicuously as possible."
Logan donned the cloak and followed Ren, keeping his head down so his face could not be seen. They walked the halls and corridors until they got to Ren's room. Once inside, Ren shut and locked the door tightly behind them.
"Lift the bed" he directed Logan
Logan grasped the end of the bed and heaved, lifting the end about three feet off the ground. Ren grabbed a pry bar from a nearby shelf and set to work. Placing the edge on the floor, he used the bar to lift one of the tiles revealing a large gap under the floor. Ren jumped down into it and moved aside.
"Get in here" Ren called
Logan set the bed down and slid under the bed. Once Logan was in, Ren slid the tile back into place with a soft plunk. He pulled out his lighter and lit a torch on the wall. They were standing at the bottom of a short staircase that took them back to ground level. At the top of the staircase was a narrow corridor that ran both ways.
"Where are we?" asked Logan
"Welcome, my dear robot, to the inside of the walls." Ren replied
They walked down the corridor which was blank save for the torches on the walls and the occasional staircase leading down, most of which were labeled in permanent marker. They were labeled thing such as "Mech's room", "Defense systems control room", and "Computer room". There were also several staircases still in progress. Some were nearly finished; others were merely an alcove in the passage. Finally they arrived at a staircase marked "Lab". They walked down the stairs and emerged inside Ren's lab from behind a work bench.
"This is where we will undertake out little 'project', so get comfortable" Ren said