Chapter 63

Termination 8

-:-

Theo walked through the chaotic street of…. Whatever the name of the city was.

The city was a typical example of what happens in the Alkebulan Continent.

It started out as something amazing due to the help of western countries such as the Commonwealth and Allied Kingdoms, then it went to shit when they were left to their own devices.

Rife with corruption, infighting, civil wars and everything in between, the city’s bright future was all but forgotten.

Hell, even the name of the city was repeatedly changed every time a new mayor/warlord usurps the old one.

As stated earlier, it was the chaos you’d expect from Alkebulan.

And in that chaos, a fully armed Theo calmly walked the street.

His cover was blown right from the get go, thus there was no reason to hide.

If he did followed the original plan, he might end up revealing the Hassan-i Sabbah garrisons that have silently solidified their hidden network within the city.

For the sake of future campaigns in Alkebulan, this must not come to pass.

As such, Theo boldly let his presence known with the Hassan-i Sabbah following him in the shadows.

As you’d expect of the masters of stealth, Theo couldn't spot a single hint of them even with his spy drones working at maximum capacity.

The only sign of their presence was the continuous reports being announced in the coms.

“BC 44418910 Report: 36 wolves from point A has moved towards Theodore Lorne”

“BC 98329825 Report: A group of vampires are using sewer route 10 to move to the warehouse district.”

“BC 29030937 Report: Feng Shui practitioners remains at tower 148. Combat Group 9 has a clear shot. Request: Fire order”

FYI: BC= Battle Clone

“No. Not yet. Does anyone have eyes on our 3 primary targets?” asked Theo

A second of silence later, the oldest and most experience battle clone in the city answered

“BC 10912 Report: Primary 3 has been spotted at west bridge. Currently heading to Theodore Lorne’s location. Suggestion: Let Primary 3 initiate conflict with Theodore Lorne. While distracted, All BCs in the area strike in unison.”

“As expected of you Old Man. You know your stuff. Everyone, follow Old Man’s instructions and get ready for a fight. Remember, under no circumstances are you to reveal yourself unless I say so. Keep the fight at range and stay hidden.” Said Theo

“”””Response: Affirmative””””

The one Theo called Old Man was a 128 year old clone that has been one of the founding members of the spy network Jabir has placed in Alkebulan.

Despite his age, he looked not a day over 60 and has done nothing to degrade his physical abilities.

Old Man could also easy speak like a normal person, but chose not to when working as a Hassan-i Sabbah.

All in all, in the few short days he has known Old Man, Theo has grown to like him quite a lot.

As Theo walked through the city, many of the civilians eyed him with great suspicion.

And rightfully so.

Theo was about to start a fight on their hometown and their many experience of sudden gunfights erupting in their neighborhood has made them very good at spotting such things.

With this in mind, the local populace has began silently evacuating to whatever wall was thick enough to stop bullets.

Smart. Very smart.

Theo continued on his relaxing walk towards his destination: tower 148 where the Feng Shui practitioners were being housed.

Or at least that’s the illusion he’s giving to the otherside.

And as he expected, the other side was going to do their damn best to protect their powerful surveillance apparatus. Based on the reports streaming through the coms and the feeds from the spy drones, Theo was literally surrounded on all sides.

Perfect.

Another 20 minutes later, Theo finally met his enemy face to face.

In a recently abandoned park that was sandwiched between many 5 story tall buildings stood Theo on one side with Primary 3, Jacob Quile. Surrounding Theo was a large number of people comprising of the Quile shapeshifters, Valalya Kingdom spear wielders, local army soldiers and what seemed to be a small number of cultivators.

A quick estimate puts them around 500+

Theo was surprised how effective this simple batting strategy was.

“You…. I know you… You’re the Boss. That evil villain from Vermilion City, correct?” asked Jacon Quile

Was he the leader of this group?

Really?

They actually let a teenage brat lead this massive army?

…. But then again, Theo didn't have the right to condemn anyone since he was in a leadership position himself….

With a small smile and a light hearted chuckle, Theo turned on his voice synthesizer and spoke.

“Let’s be clear on a few things. First: I don't call myself ‘The Boss’. That’s something a certain asshole doctor cooked up. Second: I am a mercenary. I don't do things because I want to. I do it because I’m paid to do it. Don't call me a villain because I do a lot of work for the good guys too.” said Theo as he followed a script he wrote for himself.

FYI: the second part of that script was technically a lie since he’ll do an extremely dangerous job for free if it was in line with his beliefs

… but money is nice…

Tee hee

“Then you are just an honorless thug that does it for money!” roared Jacob

“Er… I thought that was obvious with my explanation. Why did you make a redundant comment?”

“YOU BASTARD!”

Jacob attempted to lunged at Theo, but was held back by his comrades.

One of the Valalya female warriors stepped forward and spoke to Theo.

“The Boss. You have no business in this lands! Leave!”

“It’s your side’s fault that I’m here you know? If you just agreed to Nosferatu’s request, they wouldn't hire me out of desperation” replied Theo in an exasperated manner.

“Give an innocent girl to a madman?! Don't be stupid!” roared Jacob

“Then you just doomed thousands of innocent lives by not listening. Not that I care, but it is my job.” said Theo.

“You are outnumbered and out matched! Leave now or suffer the consequences! This is your last warning Boss!” said the Valalya spearwoman

“Let me make a counter offer. I have you surrounded and outmatched. Surrender Bella Sway and no one gets harmed. Don't and… well… let’s just say many will die even if I peacefully leave.” replied Theo in a cocky manner, thus goading them to attack.

Naturally, it worked like a charm.

“Regret your foolish decision” said the the spearwoman as she raised her weapon.

The circle of people began slowly closing in on Theo.

“You’re mistaken…. And I hope you wont kill yourself in guilt later on.” said Theo.

With his favorite Beretta ARX160 assault rifle fitted with twin drum 100 round magazine in his hand, Theo thought nothing of ammo consumption and unleashed hell.

He fired at wide arcs in an attempt to hit as many people as possible.

Normally he would try to spare as many as he can, but there's hundreds of them here. There’s no way he can aim carefully in this situation.

And besides, it would probably take more than a single bullet to take these guys down…. Unless it’s a headshot of course.

Due to the sheer number of opponents, it didnt even take 5 seconds before someone entered melee range.

With his mechanical left arm, Theo backfisted a Quile wolf that was about to bite his head from behind. At the same time, he blew the brains off a spearwoman before unleashing another bullet arc at his enemies

Despite Theo’s best attempts, his was inevitably overwhelmed.

A wolf caught him by the side and bit him right at the center of his body. While the jaw force was strong enough to cut a man in half with ease, Theo’s power armor did a phenomenal job of keeping him in one piece.

However…

“MOTHERFUCKER!” Theo screamed in agony as his pelvic bone was crushed in an instant.

He delayed the activation of the Ankh’s auto omnigel injection until he could free himself.

He shoved the gun into the wolf’s eye and pumped it full of led.

With the dead wolf loosening its bite, Theo fired his grappling hook to the top of a nearby 10 story building and pulled himself towards it.

He immediately activated the Ankh and endured the mind breaking pain of the omnigel’s healing process.

For his parting cheapshot, Theo threw all of his grenades as he went up.

At the same time, he spoke to his coms.

“At the moment of explosion, fire one shot only!”

Not a second later, the chorus of grenades rocked the park, taking out quite a bit of Theo’s attackers.

And hidden within that bombastic serenade was a storm of bullets that targeted the enemies far from the blast area.

This simple trick made the explosion much more powerful than it was supposed to be without revealing the Hassan-i Sabbah.

As Theo reached the top of the building, he took a quick look around the battlefield.

The enemies on the bottom were obviously not pleased with what he has done and had every intention of chasing him down and ripping him apart.

On the other hand, the buildings were perfect for Theo and the Hassan-i Sabbah.

“Listen up my invisible allies, time for the next phase of this battle.”