[Dark Elite_H2]

GUARDIANS, THIEVES, AND INDUSTRY--The battle for Last Legs (cont.)

The water gates came to a creaky close, and water began to pump out of vents in the walls. The water rose with the buoyency of the boat following steadily. The vents came to an abrupt halt when the water touched the top color of the vents, and the front gates opened quickly.
"Ok! Listen up! That Steef is wanderin' 'round 'ere still, fellahs! And Sekto is still keepin' an enormous bounty on its head if brought to 'im! Happy huntin'!" a Wolvark announcer said over the loudspeakers of the facility. The gates opened to a series of lone docks nearby a crane station and two longer walkways to an electrical outlet hooked up to a square elevator. The loudspeakers feedbacked inside loudly, making them two cringe back from the sound.
"Oh! And there's also another companion of the Steef aw well! Sekto is offering a bounty on it as well...Wow! Even larger than the Steef! A whopping one-million moolah! Damn! Din't know he had that much..." the Wolvark mumbled back out in the distance of the speaker.
"What!?" Umi nearly screamed.
"Damn," Stranger blinked in amazement. "That's a lot'a moolah fer jist a human..."
"That's my head they're wagering on, Stranger! My HEAD!" Umi pointed to her head.
"'Dun worry, Umi," Stranger looked to her. "I won't let them get to yer. Even if it wastes my life," Stranger nodded promisingly. Umi's lip quivered in fear of the announcement, but nodded to him as well, and turned back around to the gun turret, her mind flashing back to the announcement constantly. He pulled up to the first dock, and stopped the boat, and climbed up on it. Wolvarks stood on each of the docks that were separated from themselves except the beach to the crane station.
"Easy company! Report upfront to the elevator!" a Wolvark leader shouted. It turned to the first walkway to a mass squad of Wolvark guards. "Unlock the green lock!" it shouted. A grunt nodded, and ran up the ramp to the outlet, and shoved down a switch handle roughly. A loud buzzar toned through the hollow space of the moat and docks outside. The grunt nodded to the leader. The leader turned to the sencond lonf walkway.
"Unlock the blue lock!" it shouted again to the second squad of Wolvarks. Another Wolvark ran up away from its squad, and pulled the last lever down. Another tone ringed through the murky darkness, and a blue light cutted through the shadow. Both green and blue lights shot out weakly, then the wide sliding door opened, inviting them in.
"Ok! Get yer asses in to there!" the leader shouted, winding its arm over its head. A group of Wolvarks behind the leader ran by it in to the elevator, pushing ans shoving their way inside. It deactivated the locks, and the elevator door shutted. A loud clank sent the Wolvarks up, ridding of their presense.
"Ok! Guard those two locks! Make sure no one uses that elevator!" the Wolvark leader shouted. Two snipers on opposite sides of two crane stations nodded, slapping on their infrared goggles, and glossing their sniper rifles, keeping a keen eye out.
“Hmm…” Stranger hummed thoughtfully. Umi looked to him, waiting for something to come to his mind. He dropped his arm from his chin. “It’s gonna be ‘ard, gettin’ through those morons up there…” Stranger said. Umi nodded calmly to Stranger, trying to stop herself from bringing up the mind-crunching words of the Wolvark’s announcement. They kept themselves hidden behind stacks of wooden crates populating the entire island, keeping contact away from the Wolvark officers. He held Umi behind for a moment, loading on one Bola Blast spider, and kneeling down over the crate. He could hear the grunting of a Wolvark behind a tall box. He shot the Bola Blast right at the crate, shattering it in to small splinters, but raveling the Wolvark in a shower of pure white web. The Wolvark laid unconscious upon the dock. Stranger leaped across, and quickly got rid of the body before anyone else noticed.
“Get ter the beach, Umi. I ‘ave ter, get one more punk over ‘ere,” Stranger nodded to Umi, then turned to the last dock, further beside the crane station. Two Wolvarks stood hidden behind lessly populated crates. He could be easily seen. He loaded on two Bola Blasts, keeping any limbs from peering out to the Wolvark’s sight. He leaned oppositely of the Wolvarks, out near the water on his left. It was difficult to keep his weight from making him fall down in to the water. He made sure he was on target, then shot out one Bola Blast, and held fire back behind the crate. He heard loud angry growls muffled under a cloth of web, while the other mumbled suspiciously around. It would be a matter of time before the Wolvark escaped from his web, and figured out where he was. He shot the second Bola Blast to the other, and caught it unnoticingly in a tangle next to its partner. Its head swung heavily over the deep watery trench, whining fearfully pulling itself away from the water. Stranger leaped over to the last island, bountying the first one nearby, then grabbing the one near the water. Umi stood nearby a thick wire that attached to a half-broken crane. He jumped over on the cement beach, allowed Umi on his back, and climbed up the wire. It moved with Strangers climbing, which made it difficult to balance, and jump over the barbed wire fence.
“Yer gonna have ter go first, kid. Yer weighing me down,” Stranger said. Umi nodded, and climbed up to his shoulders. He strengthened his grip on the wire, as Umi supported herself on his shoulders. She balanced by holding on to the wire, concentrating on the barbed wire. Stranger grunted heavily under Umi’s weight.
“Hurry up, Umi. I can’t hold much longer…,” he growled. Umi crouched a little, then leaped off of Stranger’s shoulders. She kept her legs split over the wire while she flew. A rip caught her off balance, sending her to land on all fours. She grunted in pain, turning over to her right shin. A barb caught her pant leg, ripping an enormous cut in her pants, and a bloody gash as long as the rip in her leg.
“I’m fine…I’m fine…” Umi shoved the pain away. Stranger grinned at her determination. Even pain itself couldn’t stop such a spirit. He jumped from the wire over the fence, and right behind Umi. His head slowly bent up to the crane station, seeing the two Wolvark snipers perched on the platforms next to the cranes. He grabbed Umi, and put her aside behind covered boxes. Splinters showered from the edge of the crate through the holes of the fence, hissing with a hot laser shot that blackened the wood that broke off. He heard the malicious chuckle of the Wolvarks laughing at their demise.
“C’mon, Steef! We just wanna kill yer, and be the richest bastards in the entire dam!” they laughed.
"You son of a bitches..." Stranger growled, hugging Umi tightly near his chest. He pulled around with his bow out, and shot a few rounds of Stingbees to the snipers. He heard a quick jolt of a yelp, then a chuckle.
"IS THAT ALL YER GOT, YOU LOUSY BEAST!?" the Wolvark cackled. The second sniper sidewinded on his platform to the Steef, clear in its view. It lit its rifle, keeping his goggles pressed by the butt of his rifle.
"Hastala vista, pecker head," it mumbled. Stranger growled, watching the fuse of its laser rifle go lower in to the rifle. He snapped his arm up above the Wolvark's head, then shot a quick round of Stingbees to a rope attached to a crane with flat heavy crates dangling over its head. The Wolvark held off its attack, looking above itself. The rope cut to its last strand, and the crates tumbled down.
"Oh...son of a bi-"
Its partner heard the splatter of the crates squish its friend. It gazed over to the second platform, the roared in fury.
"YOU STUPID BEAST! I'M-A KILL YER, AND SEND YER TO THE FLEECHES!" it screamed, shooting randomly at the boxes Stranger hid behind.
"Stay 'ere, kid. I'm-a put that thing out'a its misery," Stranger whispered low, setting Umi down right next to him. He stood wobbly at first on his legs, then bent his hind legs. He leaped out over the Wolvark's shot, and ran brutely around. Bullets pinged off the cement base, shooting small granite pieces in to his legs. He charged up the ramp to the left side of the crane station, to the ranting Wolvark shooting randomly around the crate yard. He pressed his back against the wall directly beside the officer growling and muttering to its self.
“Where did tha’ Steef go ter this time?” it grouched.
‘Right ‘ere…’ Stranger grinned.
He jumped out to the Wolvark, holding his bow out right at its head. Rabid Fuzzles and Super Stingbees growled at the Wolvark. The officer spun around, but already was too late to save itself. The Rabid Fuzzles flew out to the Wolvark, springing in to action right when it hit the blue overalls. Cloth and flesh flew among the cement base. The Wolvark teetered right at the edge to a near five-foot drop. The Wolvark waved its arms to maintain balance, but couldn’t pull it off. Stranger laid one last Fuzzle right in front of it. The Fuzzle pounced upon the Wolvark, sending a shove right to its death. The Wolvark screeched a shrilly death scream. A crash of broken bones silenced it immediately. Umi crept her head over the crates hidden, blinking at the crushed corpse laying almost directly in front of her. She looked up to its perch, seeing Stranger walk back down the ramp cutting up to the elevator.
“You alright, kid?” Stranger asked.
“Yeah,” Umi brushed a strand of hair from her face. Stranger looked apart from the split to each lock up the ramp of the elevator. Still, a mass of Wolvarks on each.
“Well’p…jist gonna have ter, do one by one then,” Stranger relaxed his shoulders down.
“Which side?” Umi asked. Stranger shrugged.
“Take yer pick,” Stranger said. Umi grinned playfully.
“I’ll take the ugly one,” she nodded.
“All o’ them ‘r ugly,” Stranger chuckled.
“I know,” Umi smiled.
“Fine,” Stranger laughed. “I’ll choose,”
He took a roulette in his mind, darting his neon green eyes to each side.
“Hrm…” he grumbled. “That side,” he pointed left.
“Good choice,” Umi patted his arm.
“Why?” Stranger raised a brow.
“Those are all the ugly ones,” Umi smiled. Stranger let out a loud laugh.
“C’mon, kid,” he ruffled her hair, and ran up the ramp, sharply darting left to the walkout to the blue lock.