Eleven AM, Ward 36, Cooper Street, Cooper's Steel and Iron Warehouse
In its heyday some five decades ago Cooper's Steel and Iron had been a major corporation and had a hand in the construction of Houston Six and Seven... now however it was an abandoned eyesore sitting in a failing industrial district filled with scores of structures belonging to long defunct companies. On the wide, barren street a collection of Civil and Federal Security cars are spread out, with some two dozen uniformed police, tactical officers and six Federal Agents on scene, armed and bearing down on the warehouse where beyond barricades, and abandoned vehicles a collection of criminals with illegal firearms fire wildly out of windows.
A quarter after the hour a black sedan arrives behind the others, parking neatly by the curb and shutting off. A man just shy of six feet, with broad shoulders, dress shirt, black tie, and a tactical vest climbs out of the driver's seat. A cigarette hangs from his lips, and a black automatic rifle from his hand. This is Senior Agent Marcus Hollander of the Federal Security Office in downtown Houston Seven. He looks displeased, and his direct subordinate Agent Angela Perkins realizes this the second she hears his matter-of-fact voice behind her.
"Agent Perkins, is there a particular reason why half my office is tied up out here out here fighting a handful of Bolyar Boys with black market pop guns?"
Angela Perkins knew the tone of voice, it was only slightly different from his normal tone but the slight edge of disapproval came through the racket and chatter of nearby automatic gunfire perfectly. "Sir, CivSec requested our assistance with a raid." She responded.
"Agent Perkins, CivSec has their own strike teams, what possible need could they have for us?"
Perkins fires several rounds at an exposed figure in one of the lower windows, trying to formulate a response that wouldn't get her knocked down to Junior Agent. "Word is they have a Syndicate body in there and are trying to sell it off to the highest bidder." It was the truth, and the best she had to offer.
"Agent Perkins you understand just how asinine that sounds, right?"
She did. A Syndicate body would make any Federal Agent's career, and for as long as the organization had existed, they only ever managed to secure one man. "Yes sir, but Central was adamant about the accuracy of their information."
"I would be shocked if a single man in that building that had even -seen- a Syndicate man, let alone killed one."
A CivSec tactical team sits pinned behind an abandoned storage container, the old steel shape staving off the small caliber rounds for the time being. They are yelling something back and forth that nobody can hear over the din of gunfire going both ways. This was a sloppy operation, but there was so little activity in this ward that you could knock down a building in pursuit of one man and nobody would bat an eye.
Unseen by anyone yet, an unmarked van races down the street past city and federal vehicles, weaving between them with considerable agility. Agent Hollander takes his rifle off of safe and fires a pair of shots into one of the windows higher up on the building. "I take it we're not leading this charge, Agent Perkins." Hollander puffs out a cloud of smoke as he surveys the scene behind dark glasses, while his agents continue to pepper the building. Bullets strike the concrete barriers around him harmlessly and he just scowls at the building and its occupants.
There is the sound of a vehicle accelerating, and the surprised cries of police personnel as they scramble out of the unmarked van's path. It hurtles down the street to the building and plows through the sealed doors, disappearing into the warehouse. The gunfire pauses for just a moment.
"Why hasn't CivSec established proper control on the area?"
Perkins watches with a confused look on her features, as they hand't quite planned on an escape attempt. "I don't know, s-"
The building explodes. Almost literally the entire building is consumed by a tremendous explosion as fire, smoke and debris pour from the windows and doors. A wave of glass rains down on the security and federal officers on the street. The roof of the warehouse collapses in on the building and huge plumes of black smoke pour from every opening of the structure. After a few moments of earth shaking noise a dull, ringing silence sets in. The gunfire had stopped.
"Well I'll be damned." Was all Hollander had to say.
No comments:
Post a Comment