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8

The door to the Communications Building for the Intelligence Department's compound slammed open, startling the security clerk and his two guards. In stepped a blonde haired Sharlin, a Bympyr and black Guarden in the uniforms of Clan Wolf Marines, and two burly human Clan Security Guards. These last two brought everyone to their feet, as they represented the authority of the Clan Master. The Sharlin took a quick look around, saw the doors that led to the rest of the building, and moved over to it, followed closely by the four males. The guards stepped forward to block their path, but were stopped short by the glare of the two Marines. The clerk then noticed that every single one of the strangers were armed. The Sharlin had a pistol in a shoulder holster. The Bympyr had a pistol in a holster on his left hip, a large combat knife right in front of it, and a energy shotgun strapped in a special holster on his right thigh. The Guarden had a pistol strapped to his right hip, and some sort of rifle across his back. Both of the humans had pistols strapped to their right hips and assault rifles strapped to their chest.

The clerk stood up and moved to stop their entry. "Hey, you can't come in with-"

One of the Clan Security Guards moved from behind the group and moved the clerk out of the way. The female Sharlin moved over to the door, passed her ID card over the identification pad, and the door opened with out the Sharlin having to input one single security code. The clerk blinked in surprise. The only people who could do that were members of the Imperial Palace. Which meant the Sharlin had to be a Free Knight. And if she was here without an appointment... The Clerk and the guards exchanged looks.

Sophie, Axel and Roy moved down the hall at a quick, measured step, giving anyone watching the impression of them not being in a hurry, despite the actual speed in which they were really moving. The Clan Guards broke off and moved to the two exits that their quarry was most likely going to try and use. Sophie, as the representative of The Sapphire Prince's authority, was going to be the arresting officer, and she had brought Axel and Roy along to enforce the seriousness of this action. That, and they would respond harshly to any threats of physical violence. The investigators knew only of the single target, but there could be others that were in collusion with this one clerk. They were going to get this person one way or another, as far as Sophie was concerned.

As they approached the elevators that led to the second floor, many of the employees took one look at them, and retreated into their offices. Others, staring at the weapons on the Marine's hips, made for the front door. As Sophie walked by several office doors she heard the faint click of locks being turned. That did not bode well for their quarry coming quietly. She glanced up at Axel, who gave her a faint nod, showing that he had heard it as well, and had come to the same conclusion. Axel pulled the shotgun off his thigh, and Roy pulled out his pistol. Both of them readied their weapons their weapons, but did not prime them yet. Sophie un-holstered her pistol, checked it, then re-holstered it. Unlike the weapons the two Marines carried, Sophie carried conventional weaponry, though the bullets she used in her ten-millimeter pistol could put a cyborg down. Not that she really needed it. Her other abilities, combined with her physical aptitude, more than made up for the lack of weapons. In close quarters, she was frightfully dangerous.

The doors of the elevator opened, and the single occupant quickly got out of the way. Roy entered first, followed by Sophie, and then Axel. Sophie moved to the back of the elevator, allowing the taller, and bulkier Marines to hold the front. Roy hit the buttons and the elevator began to move. Axel and Roy exchanged looks, and both knew instinctively what to do. They had worked together for a long time. As the elevator came to the second floor, Sophie heard the click-clack of the shotgun being primed, and the slow rising hum of Roy's pistol charging up. When the elevator dinged and opened its doors, Axel was the first out, his shotgun raised to shoulder height, but not placed to it. Roy moved out behind him, pistol raised up in front of him, tracking from one side of the hall to the other, covering Axel as he moved in a half crouch. Sophie followed at a more leisurely pace, her hands at her sides, looking for all the world to be unconcerned. As they walked down the hall, everyone in the hall disappeared, and several doors clicked closed.

Adam Sterling leaned out of the door closest to the end of the hall, glanced at the advancing figures, and jerked back out of view, swearing. The two out front were obvious Marines based on the uniforms they wore, but the blonde haired Sharlin was a mystery. She was dressed in a green pull over shirt, and a blue coat that was cut in such a way that it allowed her dorsal fin to stick out of the back. A black belt with a silver buckle held up a pair of tight slacks, that had a tail hole sewn into it, the tail itself swaying from side to side in an extremely lazy fashion. Of the three of these strangers, the Sharlin looked the most vulnerable, and that worried Adam. Sharlins by themselves were dangerous, especially in close quarters. Their physical strength, flexibility, and natural weapons, of which the teeth where the most obvious, made them nasty opponents. But they were also cautious. This one was acting very non-chalet, and that made Adam very suspicious. He looked at his two companions and shook his head. The three of them stood up and began to move towards the back of the office, and the hidden staircase to the third floor. They all stopped when a female voice came out from the hall.

"Adam Sterling! In the name of the Crown to the Sapphire Throne," called out Sophie, "come out and surrender to the lawful representatives of his justice. Any resistance will be seen as conformation of acts of treason, and will be dealt with harshly. I, Azurine Sophie Deepwater of The Order of The Blue, speak on the behalf of The Prince. All loyal citizens of the Empire are to remain under their desks until said person is in custody."

The three clerks exchanged looks as the rest of the office moved to obey the command. One of them mouthed, "Oh shit." And they all shared the sentiment. If a Free Knight was here, how much of their plans were already known, and how much more of their plans would be revealed if they were captured. They had to act quickly, and they had to get out of he building. A gunfight with a Free Knight and two Marines would be considered an act of suicide, and would be disastrous to the cause. The pistols that the Marines carried alone were strong enough to punch holes thru a person in battle armor, and the ammo that the Free Knights used was rumored to be able to punch holes into MECHs. While the three of them, and the eight others on the floor, had weapons, they had no armor, nor anything else that could stop the weapons arrayed against them. Adam motioned for his companions to move towards the staircase.

Then they heard the sound of the door across the hall unlock, and the sound of a pistol clearly being drawn.

"Oh shit," Adam said out loud, and shoved his companions towards the stairs. A moment later, there was a resounding boom as the shotgun spoke.

Axel, who had remained out front, had stopped halfway down the hall as Sophie had delivered the ultimatum. As the last door on the right opened, he clearly heard the sound of a pistol being cocked. He responded accordingly. He blew a hole thru the door, and the person behind it. Quickly, he moved up, and kicked the door all the way open. There was another person on the other side, a pistol half raised, his eyes wide with shock. Axel did not give him a chance to use the weapon. The shotgun spoke again, hitting the man dead center in the chest with a large emerald green bolt of energy. The blast lifted the man off his feet and sent him flying over four separate desks, landing in the middle of a lane, a large hole burned into him. There were a few screams, but no one moved out from under their desks. Axel made a few hand gestures to Roy, who only nodded, and then proceeded into the room, the shotgun sweeping back and forth.

The door on Roy's right sprang open, and three men with pistols in their hands moved to attack him. Lightning quick, and without turning, the pistol in Roy's right hand swiveled and spoke. While not as load as the shotgun, it was louder than the conventional weapons his assailants were carrying. The first burst hit the lead man in the upper right chest and right shoulder, tearing the arm off at the shoulder joint, and sending the man spinning to the ground. The second man got it a little lower, opening up the right side of his chest cavity, blowing his insides all over the man behind him, and spinning him in place to stare at the back of the room with vacant eyes. The third man, still recovering from being sprayed by the remains of his co-conspirator, took the next burst dead center in his torso, knocking him back over a desk, where he landed prone on the floor. Roy glanced at Sophie, saw she was unharmed, and still in the place where she had stopped, her face passive, and then moved into the room, his gun tracking from one side of the room to the other.

The doors on either side of Sophie burst open just after Roy had entered the other room, and the two men in them opening fired, the one in the left hand door firing first. Sophie had disappeared just before the two assailants had opened fired, and instead the left hand gunman hit his partner across the hall, knocking him backwards in a spray of blood. The body slammed into the door jam and the wall just inside the doorway, and slid down to rest in the middle of the doorway, leaving a large streak of blood behind, his vacant eyes staring at his partner in surprise. The gunman in the left hand door looked at his dead partner in surprise, then looked up and down the hall, wondering where the Sharlin had gone. Suddenly, the Sharlin's tail swung down from the ceiling, smacking the man in the chest, and sent him flying back into the room, like a stone from a sling shot. Sophie, who had jumped to the ceiling and clung there using her claws on both her hands and feet, dropped back down to the ground. Spinning to her right, Sophie brought her fist up into the stomach of a third assailant, who had not realized that she could move as fast as she did. She did not even bother to use her powers, as her natural strength was more than enough to handle these unarmored opponents. The man crumpled like a rag doll, the blow picking him up off his feet, and throwing him over two desks, landing him on top of a third. A woman shrieked, stoop up from under the desk, looked at the man in shocked terror, and then ran further back into the room. A co-worker grabbed her and dragged her under a desk.

Sophie glanced down at the man who had been shot. He was quite dead, the front of his shirt riddled with bullet holes. Sighing, she walked into the room and collected the man who she had punched. Slinging him over her shoulder, she walked back across the hall to take a look at the person she had hit with her tail. She found the person partially imbedded into the side of a filing cabinet. Sophie winced. She had not realized she had hit him so hard. Or rather, her. Now that she had a better look, her assailant turned out to be a woman. Dumping the man unceremoniously at her feet, Sophie checked the pulse of the woman. She was still alive, though it was likely she had a few broken bones. She hoped that the two Marines had not killed their quarry, but if he was foolish enough to aim a weapon at Axel or Roy, they would not hesitate to blast him into oblivion.

There came a stamping as Roy and Axel retraced their steps, responding to the gun shots. Sophie glanced at her watch in surprise. Only a few minutes had past since the beginning of the fight. She had forgotten how fast combat could move.

"Sophie!? Sophie!?" Axel's urgent voice came from the hall as he looked for his fiance. Roy appeared in the doorway across the hall, looking down at the dead man.

"Over her, guys," Sophie called out. Roy looked up, but Axel was the first through the door, a look of concern on his face. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her. She scowled at him for a moment, forcing him to remember that she had been trained for these sorts of situations, and her career was based on the possibility of violence. He gave her a sheepish grin as a way of apology, which she accepted with a grunt, and waved them both over. The Marines moved over and looked down at the two people in front of Sophie.

"They're still alive, though the woman might have a few broken bones. Don't have her moved till the paramedics get here," Sophie said. She looked up at Axel. "Any sign of our quarry?"

"No, Ma'am," Axel said. "It's possible that there is an exit we don't know about and he used it. Or he might be hiding somewhere else in the building."

"We still haven't searched that last room on the left," Roy said.

Sophie thought for a moment. "Call the Security Guards up here to watch over these two. I'll call for some paramedics, if the security staff hasn't already. Then we're going after him."

Roy looked at her. "He could have quite a lead by then."

"That's why you're going after him," Sophie said. "We'll wait for the Guards. Find him, and capture him if you can. If you have to shoot him, try not to hit anything vital."

"And if he has more friends," Axel asked.

Sophie's eyes never left Roy's, her face set.

"If they resist," she said, her voice suddenly very cold, "kill them."

Roy nodded and holstered his pistol. Unstrapping the rifle, he expanded it to its full length and moved out of the room. He moved down the hall quickly, his feet making no noise, even in his heavy boots, the rifle at the ready. The rifle was designed for sniping and was not an assault weapon. The nice thing was that it was incredibly accurate, and in Roy's hands, could respond to just about any situation. As he came to the last door on the left side of the hall, he noticed it was cracked open. Placing his back to the wall, he kicked the door open with the sole of his left foot and then glanced in. No response. He heard a few gasps of surprise, but no one moved. Raising the rifle, he moved into the room, the rifle swinging from one side of the room to the other as he looked for any enemies. None appeared. A few of the employees popped their heads out from under their desks out of curiosity, but upon seeing him, quickly returned under them.

Moving quickly, but cautiously through the room, he made it to the back part of the office area. Here a small hallway led off to the right to two large conference rooms. The door to the right hand room was ajar. Looking in, he saw what looked like a small recess in the back of the room, and what looked like a open, concealed door. Stepping up to it, Roy quickly scanned it for booby traps. Seeing none, he pushed the sliding door all the way open. On the other side was a staircase that spiraled upward. Roy looked up the stair well and smiled. The hunt was on.

* * * * * *

Adam moved through the concrete tunnel at a half run/half walk pace, the pistol in his hands pointed down and cocked, ready to be brought up and used. His two friends and co-conspirators where doing much the same thing. They had taken the hidden stairs to the third floor, taken the emergency stairs to the fourth floor, and taken the hidden 'emergency' exit in an unoccupied office. This set of stairs led down to this tunnel that led underground for almost two miles before it came up inside a parking lot. There, two unmarked cars waited for anyone who might need to get out in a hurry. The parking lot owners had been well paid to ignore the vehicles, as well as the hidden door that had been built into their structure. There were other such escape routes, but they had been made for the higher ups, and required security codes to open them. The one Adam and his friends were using had been built without the knowledge of the Intelligence Department's heads, and was designed for anyone who was a member of the conspirators. The trio was close to the end of the tunnel now.

There was a loud crack from far behind them, and a brilliant blue bolt of energy smacked into the side of the wall, less than a foot from Adam's shoulder. He was sprayed with cement shards and dust. He at first thought the shooter had missed, as he or she was so far back down the dimly lit tunnel, as the shooter could not be seen. But when one of his companions turned to shoot back down the tunnel, Adam knew that it had been a warning. Another brilliance blue bolt of energy hit his companion's head dead center, blowing a large hole thru it. The man's body was thrown backwards, skidding across the floor, and leaving a trail of blood and burned brain matter behind it. Adam's other companion stared at the body in shock, and Adam had to drag him a little further down the tunnel before he regained control of it again. They ran even harder now.

Adam ran up a short flight of stair, and popped a code into the keypad next to the door at the top. It opened agonizingly slow for Adam, who kept looking over his shoulder back down the tunnel. When it was finally open, he ushered his friend through the door, punched the code that would close the door, and then blasted the keypad with his pistol. He made it through the door right before it closed all the way. His friend was waiting on the other side. Adam grabbed him and pushed him towards the nearest of the waiting cars, which Adam unlocked with the remote. His companion went around to the drivers side as Adam quickly climbed into the passenger side door. It was then that a voice broke out, echoing through the garage as if through a PA speaker.

"Karlic Kanson, in The Name of The Sapphire Prince, stand too and surrender. You're under arrest!"

* * * * * *

"Roy, what's your position," came Axel's voice in the ear piece in Roy's right ear as he ran down the tunnel. He had taken too long to line up the shot when he killed that man, and now he might have lost the quarry. He had seen the door open and close through the scope, and he saw one of the two remaining men fire at something. But he was too far back to really stop them from leaving. There was no light next to the door on the far end of the tunnel, but there had been when he shot the warning shot. He got a good look at Sterling then.

"Roy, come in," came Axel's voice again.

"I'm in a tunnel heading north-north-west. Entrance on the fourth floor, sixth office. Three targets spotted. One eliminated."

"Did you kill our man," came Sophie's voice.

"Negative. There was enough light to identify all targets. Sterling was smart enough to concentrate on running. They passed thru a door up ahead. I'm still in pursuit."

"Roger. Keep on him, Roy," Sophie said.

"Roger that."

* * * * * *

A few yards from the car stood the tallest Guarden Adam had ever seen outside of the Marine Corps. A female covered in onyx black fur, slender with a large bust, standing six foot nine, was standing with legs apart, and arms crossed over her chest to one side of the ramp that led up to the next level, and out of the parking lot. She wore a pair of low rise, tight fitting black jeans. A long sleeved, crop top shirt that fit so snugly to her frame that it left very little to the imagination, covered her torso. The outline of her bra could even be seen from where the car was parked. He waist length, crow black hair was tied up into a loose, low pony tail. Glowing crimson red eyes looked down her wolf like snout at the two men, a wide smile filled with sharp, dragon like teeth on her face. The Guarden did not appear to have any weapons on her, and she stood with the confidence of a predator when it knew its prey was trapped.

The two men looked at each other in confusion. Adam looked at his friend as if the ask, 'what now?' His friend started the car, and swallowed what little moisture was left in his mouth. Adam had known his friend was using an alias, but the name the Guarden used was a Technolon name. What was going on here? Two Free Knights? At least two Wolf Clan Marines? What had he gotten himself into this time. Then came another sound. The one that both of them had dreaded. It was the sound of the rifle that had shot at them in the tunnel. Turning in their seats, they watched in disbelief as one round cut through the lock on the door, and a foot of concrete, then three more brilliant blue blasts knocked the hinges of the door out. The door slid to the ground, then tipped over into the parking lot. Out stepped the Marine Guarden, the rifle raised to his shoulder as he swung it from the men to the stranger and back, trying to figure out what was going on.

That was enough for Adam's companion. It was now or never, and he was not going to wait fro one of them to react and come after the two of them again. He gunned the engine, aiming for the space to the left of the female Guarden. To everyone's surprise, she calmly moved in front of the car, bringing her arm back, as if to punch the car. The smile on her face broadened. Adam's friend floored the accelerator, and both of them braced fro the impact of the Guarden's body against the car. Roy shouted a warning, knowing that even if he shot out the tires, it was to late to stop the car. Adam looked up as the car barreled toward the female, and saw the muscles on her arm bulge with power. The realization hit him, too late. The female gave a bark of laughter and swung her arm, punching down and forward.

Her fist impacted with the hood of the car, and Roy watched in amazement as it crumpled up like a cardboard box. He saw the engine burst out of the bottom of the car, the top part of the engine crumpled like used tin foil. The car stopped dead in its tracks, the ruined frame cutting into the pavement, sending chunks of asphalt and metal flying as the rear end tilted up towards the ceiling. The window cracked, and partially fell out. The car came close to standing on its nose, hovering in the air for a moment, and then came crashing back down to the parking lot floor with a load crash. Oil, brake fluid, and other liquids began to pool on the floor under the car. Roy watched with his jaw gaping open, his eyes wide in disbelief as the stranger walked around to the driver's side door, and pried the door off the wrecked vehicle with her bare hand, as easily as if she had torn a piece of paper. Even Esther, who Roy considered the strongest person he knew, would have had a hard time with that door out of her armor. The strange Guarden tossed the destroyed door over her shoulder contemptuously, almost hitting Roy, and reached into the car. With a simple jerk, she tore the seat belt off the man, and pulled him bodily from the car.

"What the Hell is going on here," came Sophie's voice, commanding and powerful as she used her powers to amplify it.

Roy turned to see Sophie exit the tunnel, her pistol raised before her, ready to use, and looking very much like an undercover cop by her stance. Axel came out right on her heels, the shotgun raise to shoulder level. The look on his face mirrored Roy's, as they exchanged looks that said everything. If this went south, they were going to be in deep trouble. Sophie seemed to be a little less concerned with the stranger, and more concerned with their target, as she approached the ruined car quickly, the pistol still raised, and partially ignoring the female Guarden. She glanced in at Sterling, who was out cold, a large bruise forming on the upper right side of his forehead, but still breathing. Only then did she look up at the stranger, who was still standing there, the other man dangling from her left hand. A look of complete surprise was on the Guarden's face, giving Roy a good look at her crimson, cat like eyes, and a mouth full of dragon's teeth.

"Sophie," the stranger gasped in a strangely feminine voice that held a light Scottish accent.

"Malice," Sophie asked, a perplexed look on her face as she lowered the pistol. "Sarah, what are you doing here?"

Sarah watched Sophie holster the pistol, and looked over her should at the two Marines, who still had their weapons aimed.

"I'd lower those weapons if I were you, boyo's," Sarah said, her face suddenly serious.

"It's OK, guys. She's a Free Knight," Sophie said. The two Marines looked doubtfully at her, shared a look, and reluctantly lowered their weapons.

"Roy, Axel," Sophie said, "I'd like to introduce you to Sarah Reigns. Code name, Malice."

Sarah dropped the unconscious man unceremoniously on top of the car, and turned full to face the Marines. Sophie came back around the car to join them. Both of the Marines got the distinct impression that some sort of mega-predator was sizing them up.

"Hello," she simply said. Both Marines only nodded. She then turned to Sophie.

"Azure, are you after the same man," Sarah asked.

"We're after Adam Sterling. That man." Sophie pointed to the man still in the car.

"Huh. Interesting. What's he wanted for?"

"Treason. Yours?"

Sarah gave her a large toothy smile. A cold feeling went down both Axel's and Roy's spines at the sight. She thumbed at the man on the car roof.

"That's Karlic Kanson. A Technolon infiltrator. We stumbled across some of his team a few days ago after they had attacked on of your Marines. The cyberization was not like anything we use, nor did it match any of the USF's Special Operations equipment. After doing some digging, we found out it was Technolon technology. I was called in two days ago, I assume after you filed your report. Heard about it, but I hadn't gotten to reading it yet."

"We?"

"September and myself. He was visiting a friend when he saw the fight with the Marine."

"Wait," said Axel. "Are you talking about Sergeant Velks?"

Sarah shrugged. "Don't know. Didn't get his name."

Sophie rubbed the top of her snout with a sigh. "So there are three of use working different sides of the same case, then?"

"Looks like it. Maybe we could pool our info?"

Sophie looked back at Axel, who shrugged. She sighed again.

"Might as well," she said, reluctantly. "But understand on thing here, Malice. We're not the only ones working here. Don't go off on one of your purges! Got it!"

The smile on Sarah's face was beyond wicked, leaving a cold feeling in the pit of their stomachs, and a sour taste in their mouths.

"I'll try," Malice said, her eyes glowing brightly.