Old Acquaintance

Jagger injected himself with a syringe and let out a sigh of relief. With an inquisitive look in his eyes, he took a seat in front of Dunkel and Admiral Jack. While Dunkel put up a confident expression, the admiral, on the other hand, wiped the sweat off his forehead with a trembling hand. 

[Dunkel] - "How are you feeling, mein freud? "

[Jagger] - "Although I do not appreciate the numb feeling in my limbs, I must thank you for the drug, doctor. "

[Dunkel] - "Always at your service! I prefer a strong leader over that fool Arthur. "

[Jagger] - "Cease your false formality, doctor Dunkel. You are nothing but a hypocrite, serving the ones that manage to stand at the top of the food chain. "

[Dunkel] - "That is indeed who I am. But rest assured, mein freud, since no one in this world could top your might. I shall serve you even if it means my death. "

Said Dunkel with a stern voice. 

[Admiral Jack] - "Dunkel, you fucking snake. You created a monster and now we can't contain it. "

Whispered Jack in a pool of cold sweat. 

[Dunkel] - "I prefer serving a powerful master rather than cooperating with a lowly peasant. "

[Jagger] - "Admiral! "

Jagger's words echoed through the conference room and snapped both Dunkel and Jack to attention. With a sombre look on his face, Jagger stood up and walked toward the admiral. 

[Jagger] - "I have been looking for my prey but my efforts are rather unsuccessful. Seeing how you are a man with influence, I suppose you can pull some strings to help me. "

Said Jagger as his vexing regard shot knives through Jack's soul.

Jagger's stare reminded Jack of a hungry wolf who hadn't eaten for days. There was a thirst for blood in Jagger's words. He's waiting to feast and if his hunger isn't satiated, anyone could become his prey. Although Jack wanted to show defiance in the face of Jagger's aggression, his courage immediately evaporated when Jagger deposited a charred finger in front of Jack.

[Jagger] - "Death by fire is the most painful of deaths as every single one of your nerves touched by the flame triggers extreme pain. Just ask the guards earlier. So choose your words carefully admiral. "

Said Jagger as he pointed at the piles of ashes by the room's doors. 

[Admiral Jack] - "I'll send every single man I can after her. I'll find her! "

Said Jack in a panic. 

[Jagger] - "Remember who is your master, Jack. Bad dogs get euthanized. "

[Dunkel] - "May I offer you some relevant information, my master? "

Said Dunkel abruptly.

[Jagger] - "Make it quick! "

[Dunkel] - "We found her from the news. This footage is from the Toronto National Bank. "

Said Dunkel as she showed the recording of Kadyn inside the bank fighting the robbers. 

Like a shark who just smelled blood, Jagger grinned with excitement. 

[Jagger] - "Find her and report back to me! This is a test of your loyalty, Dunkel and Jack. If you fail me, you will take her place and I shall squash any semblance of humanity out of your miserable minds. "

Said Jagger in a cold voice before walking away. 

The cold wind blew across the street as the heavy snowfall slowly covered the city in a layer of white. Anyone still outside in this terrible condition appeared as miserable as ever. While battling against the intense frozen wind, they often had to walk blindly under the fierce snow which offered little to no visibility. 

After settling inside a hotel room, Kadyn finally breathed a sigh of relief before collapsing onto her bed. She moved through almost the entirety of Canada in the span of one month in her effort to stay anonymous. All this travel was done by foot, rental vehicles and occasionally trains to avoid attention. By this point, Kadyn was beyond exhausted but her determination to find a suitable place to raise her children pushed her forward. 

She will have to keep moving by tomorrow morning. Her goal is to find a small town that is nearly invisible on the map to start her new life. After sleeping for about 3 hours, she was abruptly woken up by heavy knocks on her door. Reluctantly, Kadyn walked to the door and peeked through the eye hole to see a pair of police officers. A chill ran down Kadyn's spine as she backed off from the door. 

Another set of heavy knocks shook her out of her stupor before she stuffed her pockets with a few essentials from her bags and suitcase. With a forceful push, Kadyn opened the windows before being bombarded by the heavy snowstorm. Unfazed by the challenge ahead, Kadyn jumped out of the window from the third floor and landed in a huge pile of snow. 

Without losing a second, she immediately rushed onto a random bus that just happened to stop not far from where she landed. Luckily, considering the conditions, the bus was mostly empty as Kadyn took a seat by the window. At this point, she was beyond defeated as she had to leave everything behind except for Mike's coat which she wore under her winter coat. 

The sheer stress and fatigue caused Kadyn to burst out crying with her head pressed against the seat in front of her. Every time she thought things would be better, they somehow managed to get worse. After taking a few sniffs out of Mike's coat, Kadyn raised her head and looked at the silhouettes outside of the bus' windows. Although impossible, she wished that Mike was one of the few unknown figures wandering the street. 

As the bus sped through the empty streets, Kadyn suddenly noticed a police car driving paralleled to the bus. At first, she tried to act casual but she suddenly noticed a long tube sticking out of its window. Acting fast, Kadyn entered her acceleration mod just in time to witness a slowly expanding flame before a cone-shaped object smashed through the bus window. 

Kadyn's eyes widened as she saw the rocket-propelled grenade gradually expanding as it was about to explode. Without losing another second, Kadyn smashed through the bus door on the other side as the explosion followed her out of the window. Upon exiting acceleration, Kadyn rolled on the sidewalk before plowing into a pile of snow-covered bushes. She swiftly crawled out of the snow to see the burning wreck of the bus a few metres away from her. 

She didn't have the time to process what happened before several police cars surrounded her with all sorts of military grades weapons such as anti-tank missiles and assault rifles. Kadyn stared at the policemen before she abruptly realized that they weren't Canadian police but American; judging from the American flags on their uniforms and vehicles. 

[Kadyn] - "Oh this is just bloody great! Invading a whole country to find one individual. Fucking America, everyone! "

Yelled Kadyn at the police officers. 

[Police chief] - "Drop to the ground, you are surrounded! "

Screamed the police chief into a megaphone.

At this moment, Kadyn finally had enough as one of her eyes turned purple while the other one turned red. In an instant, all of the policemen's gears malfunctioned before Kadyn extended both of her wrist blades, eyes filled with thirst for blood. Just as Kadyn prepared to commit a slaughter, her system suddenly intercepted a radio communication. 

"...Cybernetic Warfare Tactical Force, 20 seconds away from the scene! "

Upon hearing the transmission, Kadyn immediately began to run away from the scene. Soon, military-grade helicopters appeared atop Kadyn's head. 

[Agent] - "Suspect located! In pursuit! "

One of the heavily armoured agents stepped on the side of the helicopter and aimed a high-calibre sniper rifle at Kadyn's infrared silhouette. All over Kadyn's glasses, laser warning signs glowed amidst droplets of sweat. 

[Kadyn] - "Come on, Mike, assist me in reliving the madness of my younger days! "

Screamed Kadyn before suddenly stopping in her tracks. 

[Kadyn] - "I've ended entire companies of mercenaries before! Seattle police force, more like another Wagner Group. What's one more private military off the list? "

Yelled Kadyn as both of her irises glowed with a crimson red light. 

The first shot came and Kadyn easily slashed the bullet in half. The second shot came and Kadyn taunted the agent by catching the bullet between her blades. 

[Agent] - "Ugh! That bitch is taunting me! Lethal force authorized! "

Mubbled the agent as he lowered his rifle. 

[Pilot] - "Roger that, commander. "

The helicopter suddenly swung around and aimed its rockets at Kadyn. This came as a shock to Kadyn as behind her, stood a residential block full of people. 

[Kadyn] - "Those lunatics! Are they going to really... "

Before Kadyn could finish her sentence, a rain of high-explosive rockets collapsed upon her. Her eyes quickly calculated a path for her as she entered her acceleration mod. To Kadyn, the rockets were suspended in the air like a ramp she promptly used to reach the helicopter. Once inside the helicopter, she slashed her blade across the face of one of the agents but he swiftly dodged her attack. 

To Kadyn's horror, she was surrounded by five agents all equipped with some kind of acceleration device. While some of them fired at her, others charged her with melee weapons. But despite the fact that they are equipped with acceleration devices, they lack the combat capability of a military-grade assassin model like Kadyn. In a cramped space like the inside of a helicopter, Kadyn isn't stuck there with them, they are stuck here with her. 

Kadyn immediately executed some insane acrobatics which allowed her to dodge all five attacks at the same time before she sliced the arms off the first agent that approached her. With a swift kick, she dispatched him off the platform before she turned her gaze toward the two others who were a mere few centimetres away from her. 

With a loud battle cry, Kadyn squeezed herself between the two men and used their bodies to tank the shots fired by the two other agents before shoving her blades into both of their spines. With their spines and accelerators destroyed, Kadyn could hear the slowed screams of the two agents as they fell overboard. 

Kadyn slashed her blade across the face of one of the two remaining agents but his headgear was able to protect him from harm. The second agent fired at Kadyn but his weapon was abruptly cut to pieces by her blades. The first agent suddenly raised up and charged at Kadyn but she immediately sliced him in the face, again failing to kill him. In the last second, Kadyn was able to react and disarm the second agent who almost was able to stab her in the belly with a knife. 

With this near miss against her children, Kadyn angrily stabbed toward the second agent who was desperately trying to escape. With a loud crunch, Kadyn's blade impaled the agent through the helicopter's hull. Meanwhile, the first agent rose up again to attack Kadyn but this time, with a third slash on the same spot on the agent's face, Kadyn's blade exited the wound with a massive splash of blood which travelled in slow motion in the air. 

[Pilot] - "What's going on back there, commander? "

To the pilot who wasn't in an accelerated state, the whole fight only lasted about 3 seconds. When the pilot turned his head, he saw one agent fall out of the craft with a massive gap in his helmet while the other was dead, impaled on the hull with an indescribable expression of fear on his exposed face. 

[Kadyn] - "Off the bloody plane, cazzo! "

Said a bloodied Kadyn with a killer look in her predatory red eyes. 

Without hesitation, the pilot jumped out of the craft without wearing a parachute. During this time, Kadyn sat on the pilot's seat and turned on the anti-air missiles' guidance lock. With a savage pull on the control handle, Kadyn swung around the helicopter before locking on all the other helicopters in the vicinity. 

With a cold look in her eyes, Kadyn spammed the launch button and liberated twelve missiles on the four other CWTF helicopters. Caught completely off guard by the attack, all four crafts were hit before bursting into balls of inferno and exploding upon hitting the ground. 

With any threads temporarily out of her way, Kadyn disappeared into the cloud with her helicopter. For now, she has to find a place out of sight and remain low while the authorities look for her. If moving into a desolate place didn't work, she had to be even more creative with her next hideout. 

To be continued...