Skeletons of the Past Chapter 9

Collection: Age of Youth // the Halleaux
Chronicled by: Ghasty

​Three people in their twenties stood facing a man wearing a commander’s Authority uniform. The person on the left had tanned skin, long black hair partly covered by a beanie, and brown eyes whose color almost bordered on black. She wore a black version of the Authority uniform with a pair of welding goggles around her neck. A rifle was holstered on her back and an Apache pistol was holstered on her left side.

She was codenamed Mictecacihuatl. The figure on the right had dark skin, black hair shaved into a buzzcut, and light brown eyes. He wore a dark purple version of the Authority uniform, with a blue scarf wrapped around his neck. A semi-automatic pistol was holstered on his right side and an array of knives was attached to his left side. He was codenamed Grim. The figure in the middle had fair skin, dyed red hair tied up into a bun, and gray eyes. She wore a dark blue version of the Authority uniform. She had a repeating crossbow holstered to her back and a knife holstered to her right side. She also wore a leather belt containing vials of different types poison. She was codenamed Dullahan.
“Harbingers, you might be wondering why you three are gathered here today,” the commander said, “you three are well known for how well you dispose of targets. We have need of your services.”
“And what do we get out of it?” Dullahan asked.
“The Authority will pardon you three for your past actions, and any future ones you might commit.”
“What exactly do you want us to do?” Grim asked.
“We want you to track down and … dispose of five prison escapees,” the commander answered.
“And who are these escapees?” Mictecacihuatl asked.
“Aileen Eochaidh, Lacea Elmstone, Lukas Kenway, MechLaughlin, and Xanthia Sanna.”
“Where can we find them?” Grim asked.
“We don’t know that, but we believe they are headed to wherever the Haven Rebellion has moved their headquarters. If you encounter any rebels you are also authorized to … dispose of them too.”
“How do you want us to prove we did the job?” Dullahan asked.
“What ever way you find necessary.”
“We understand,” Mictecacihuatl said, speaking the mind of the group.
“Good, now get to it.” The Harbingers left the building that contained the commander’s office and went towards the jail. At the jail they found tire tracks leading out of the city into the dunes outside. They followed these tracks for a while, mostly because of their constant zig-zagging, until they came upon a large structure, this structure was Roanoke Base.
“This must be the place,” Dullahan said, grinning.
“What’s the situation with guards?” Grim asked.
“There’s quite a few,” Mictecacihuatl answered while looking through her goggles.
“Hopefully the darkness will keep them from seeing us,” Dullahan said. The three crept slowly towards the base, with Mictecacihuatl keeping an eye on the guards. They came near the garage and Mictecacihuatl peered into it. Only four guards were in the garage.
“There’s four of them in there,” Mictecacihuatl informed.
“Use the tranquilizers,” Dullahan commanded. The three readied the tranquilizers and aimed at three of the four rebels. The Harbingers pulled the trigger and hit their respective marks. The fourth rebel noticed his three fellow rebels drop. He ran deeper into Roanoke Base. This rebel was Jehan. The three got up and started to chase after him, but were soon confused by the maze of halls. Jehan continued running until he came upon Ren and Lukas. Jehan had to stop to catch his breath.
“We’re under … attack … three figures … in Garage,” Jehan managed to get out in between gasps. Ren cursed under his breath.
“We are under attack, I repeat, We are under attack! Enemies have been spotted in the Garage!” Ren yelled into the walkie-talkie.
“What are we going to do now?” Jehan asked, finally catching his breath.
“We’re going to the Garage.” Ren started to run down the halls towards the Garage, with Lukas following close behind. Jehan paused for a moment before following after them. As they rounded the bend the three came face to face with the Harbingers. Ren drew a revolver holstered on his side, aiming at Mictecacihuatl, Lukas drew his revolver aiming at Grim, and Jehan aimed his blunderbuss at Dullahan. Each of the Harbingers had their guns trained upon the people who trained their guns upon them.
“Your guns won’t harm us, we aren’t scared of ‘em,” Dullahan said with an air of supremacy, “what are your time-freezing bullets compared to real ones?”
“Only one of us is using aeon darts,” Ren corrected, “do you really want to take that chance?” A sour look spread across Dullahan’s face.
“It’s not worth it,” Grim whispered to Dullahan, “none of them are our marks.”
“We have the authority to kill any of them,” Dullahan said, “why just stick to the five?”
“I wouldn’t suggest that,” a voice came from behind them. Behind them stood Aileen, Mech, and a third rebel. This third rebel was a young woman named Zenobia. She had darkened skin, frizzy brown hair tied back into a bun, and brown eyes.
These three had their guns trained upon the Harbingers.
“I would suggest putting your guns down and putting your hands in the air,” Mech suggested, “unless you want things to turn … ugly.” A look of contempt came upon Dullahan’s face as she looked at the three people in front of her. Grim was the first to set his gun down. Immediately, Zenobia set upon Grim’s wrist a pair of handcuffs. Zenobia also confiscated his knives. Mictecacihuatl soon followed suit and Mech put handcuffs upon her. Dullahan still stood there, gun aimed upon Jehan. She was outnumbered four to one, with Aileen, Jehan, Lukas, and Ren still aiming at her. She decided that she was going to go down swinging. She pulled the trigger with a hand that was shaking, sending a bullet into Jehan’s left shoulder. Aileen immediately shot her in the back with an aeon dart. Jehan doubled over in pain clutching his shoulder.
“I’ll get you to the Garage,” Aileen reassured, “you with the armor, take the woman with you to wherever the other two are going.” Aileen began to start to carry Jehan to the Garage before Lukas stepped in to help her carry him.
“Are you sure you can remove that bullet?” Jehan asked through the pain.
“I performed a splenectomy on Mech, I think I can handle a little bullet in the shoulder,” Aileen reassured annoyedly.
Ren and Zenobia led the two Harbinger capable of moving down to the Holding Cells. Another rebel came to help carry Dullahan down to the Holding Cells. This rebel’s name was Antonin. He was a young man with slicked back black hair, tanned skin, and brown eyes.
Ren went to open the door but found it locked.
“That’s odd,” Zenobia remarked.
“I know,” Ren responded, “Petra’s the only one with a key, and she’s nowhere to be found.” Ren put a pair of handcuffs upon Dullahan.
“You two stay here,” Ren commanded, “make sure they don’t get away.”
“Understood,” the two said in unison. Ren ascended the staircase to the Garage to look for Petra.