The Dark Edge Chronicles - Hardwire

Fallout

Dee jerked as the building behind them was ripped apart by a massive explosion from within. Just in front of her, with her gloved hands on his back, was Jean Chretien, Canada's Prime Minister. He had insisted on being the last one out of the building as the delegates made their way to the rear entrance to the grounds. The gray haired politician shuddered as the shockwave rolled over them then threw a fearful look over his shoulder at the ruins of the building they had just occupied, his eyes wide.

"Mon dieu!" he husked softly.

"No stopping, Mr. Prime Minister," Dee commanded tightly, giving the man a good shove in the back. "We have to keep moving or the terrorists will discover our location!"

Nodding, Chretien staggered on, keeping up with the other delegates that were just being pushed back into motion by the rest of Dee's tiny team. Together they ran into the darkness and away from the conflagration that now consumed the convention center with hungry tongues of ravenous fire as Dee and her team searched every shadow and looked over their shoulders at each step, hoping against hope that the Brotherhood wouldn't notice they were gone.

A low pitched hum was what dragged Jeriko's attention back to Ravage who had, somehow managed to complete his mission and destroy the convention center despite the tiny creatures inside his body eating him alive. As her eyes fell onto the Brotherhood hardwire once more, she quickly saw that the energies that he had pulled into his body had made the slender psionic glow from the inside. A glow that was noticeably darkened in several areas via the work of her tiny soldiers.

It was the activity of the energy now being barely held in check inside Ravage's body that had caused the low pitched sound as it surged along his neural pathways. Pathways that continued to degrade under the influence of her creations. Even as she watched, several tendrils of bioenergy escaped the confines of his nervous system to ripple along the surface of his body.

With an almost palpable pull on her senses, Jeriko found her eyes rising to meet the slender hardwire's. And, as their eyes met, Jeriko felt a chill travel down her spine as Ravage slowly smiled.

"You and your allies may have won this round, Jeriko," the slender hardwire rasped over the sound of the wild energies raging through his body. "But the Brotherhood is big, bigger than you can imagine. And determined. They won't wait long before they try again. You won't be so fortunate next time!"

Then, with a visible pulse of light, the slender psionic exploded. With its release, the energy that Ravage had been building inside his body lashed out in every direction, scything down both friend and foe in a wild rush of power as it consumed Ravage's flesh so completely he ceased to exist.

"Burn me to ash!" Jeriko hissed as she dropped to one knee to let the wave of energy wash blindingly over her, her shields just enough to hold the wall of destructive force at bay. And then it was gone, leaving even greater darkness in its wake than had existed before.

Agony grimaced as she turned away from the window.

"Sir," she husked softly, "the destroyer team has succeeded in destroying the convention center. But the newcomers have virtually wiped them out."

"Ravage?" Martin asked taughtly from the room's far corner, having retreated there when the Storm Wolves had appeared out of the blackness to launch their counterassault.

Agony slowly shook her head.

"Dead, sir. In an explosion of his own making."

"Merde," Martin hissed, his expression stony. Then he was reaching for his holo-communicator. "We need reinforcements. This city must be destroyed in order for the Brotherhood to find success here."