Chapter 340: Rules of Engagement
Jace frowned as he looked at one of the various news broadcasts that were on the array of screens. It was about a research facility that had been ransacked nearby. Usually he would not care less about some rioters tearing apart a facility. Especially when it was happening nationwide. With the remaining government and military officials being split already between two different groups. The ones who were prioritizing the safety of civilians and the other that was trying to grab up power for themselves.
But this particular facility was the location where the Vexical Family Registry and the Hex Family Registry were being kept. Then on the list of things that went missing from the military police who came in afterwards, the Registries were both included on the list of missing items. That means that the Registers were in the wind again. This time they did not have a good lead on where they were either.
He looked over at Prince Cassius who was duck taped to a chair. He had a bruised and bleeding face from being punched multiple times. He was not in risk of death, but he was not feeling good. He was looking lazily in the distance.
He had been just as uninformative as before. But they still needed him for information and as much as Jace wanted to, he had to hold off on torturing information out of him. They could not make a mess when they might have to extract at any moment. But it was approaching the time they would be leaving soon.
The door behind him opened and he looked back over his shoulder. Nila was walking in and looked over at the unconscious prince. "No one appears to be coming our way. I think it is about time to move to orbit. It has only been a day but the nation is already undergoing a revolution. The Victorium generally regards such an event as an internal issue. So we will likely be pulling out and guarding their borders until they resolve their issue. It is the process we do when a nation we are in the midst of conquering has a shift in morals or government."
"I know. I read up on Victorium rules of engagement and war time laws." Jace agreed and pulled the electricity from the room. Causing the screens to go dark. The republic had only pulled the electricity from the building that was all they had done after their surprise attack. So he had just been supplying power to the building. "Get everyone up onto the roof of the building. I am moving the Hollows now." Jace ordered.
He moved to the door and pushed the Prince through. He began stirring awake as he was pushed through the dark hallway. "Fortunately it is night time, so there should be less eyes on us." Jace pointed out as they walked through the hall. Arriving at Uti and Ulin who were stationed near the center of the building, they were on break at the moment.
"Uti, Ulin. Time to pack up." Nila ordered. "We are heading to the room." Then she turned and ran down the hall going the opposite direction and Jace could hear her giving an order to Jul’an and Rook who were guarding that entrance.
Jace passed by Vana and Charlie who were guarding the front entrance. He moved to the doors under the confused gazes of the two while the Hollows that were at all three entrances were moving toward the stairwell he was entering. One of them actually opened the door as he rolled the prince in.
Once he was in the stairwell he picked up the chair with the prince and walked up the stairs. While the prince gave a muffled squeak in shock. Jace began walking up the stairs as he heard Nila pass the order to Vana and Charlie.
He arrived at the roof exit and walked through. The pair of bodies were still up here. No one had touched them so the blood had dried while the bodies had begun their decomposition process. He looked for a good spot on the mostly flat roof. There were a few mechanical devices and a metal walkway. But there was also an emergency landing pad. Which would work perfectly for their purposes. He walked up onto the walkway and moved to the landing pad. Staying off it until the ship arrived.
"Asana, we are ready for pickup. Do you need our location?" Jace asked and then heard some static followed by shuffling.
"No, sorry. We will need a few minutes, so make sure the landing zone is clear. They have had a few days to set something up." Asana reminded him.
"Okay. We will check the area for possible snipers or anti-aircraft weapons." Jace told her before turning to his squad which were coming out of the stairwell with his last two Hollows. His first one was already standing next to him. He had gotten used to using them for long deployments. According to the others the hollows were even displaying some of his habits as he looked around or guarded a position. "Asana is nervous about enemies, take a look around." Jace ordered as he passed the now conscious and restrained prince to his Hollow.
Jace then turned to observe the rooftops. He listened and immediately picked something out. "I am taking out the one that appears to be the leader."
Bang!
There was a flash with a gunshot and Jace’s head involuntarily twisted back as a bullet slammed against his head. The others were surprised as they realized his shielding flashed momentarily before shattering. Then they all reacted by getting behind cover quickly. "Jace, are you okay?" Vana called out from cover looking over to see blood dripping onto the ground.
Jace was completely caught off guard as his visor had broken. He took a moment to process what happened. A bullet had moved so quickly it had burned through his shielding and then deflected off his visor.
His forehead was bleeding from one of the shards of visor cutting his forehead. But otherwise he was fine. He could still hear the sniper that shot him. "Damn, he just took an anti-mech round to the head and is still standing. What? Yeah of course I shot him. Fuck you orders- I am- what is he doing?" Jace pulled the railgun from his back and loaded a round and then charged it up as he aimed directly at the sniper.
"Cover your ears!" Vana called out immediately.
BOOOM! VROOM!
There was a flash of blue as the railgun fired and the sniper along with the roof he was on disappeared in a blue blast of energy. It continued far out of the city and slammed into a hill making a hole in it. The entire city’s power went out following the blast as Jace put the railgun on his back again. He then looked back at his squad.
"Are the rest of you okay?" Jace asked.
Vana gave a shaky answer. "Yes. I think so. But warn us next time." She pointed out.
"Yeahh... sorry." Jace scratched the back of his head and then spun and looked at the prince. He was still alive but he was bleeding out of his ears and unconscious. Then he looked forward as he could make out the electricity of their ship landing. Then the invisibility disabled as the rear ramp lowered. "Let’s get on the ship." Jace ordered as he crouched down and picked up the bits of visor that fell off before joining the rest of his squad on the ship. No need to leave behind state of art technology unless he had to.