Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 476: Swan Song
Jace fired another barrage of bullets towards Marcus' voice and he dodged down under some metal. "How are you filling the air with electricity?" Jace asked as he slowly walked over to another grouping of crates that was closer to the area Marcus was held up in.
"Haha! What makes you think I would tell you how I do anything?" Marcus asked right before there was a dinging sound followed by a grenade landing next to Jace. He immediately kicked it away towards another pile of crates.
But the following explosion sent out burning bits of plasma that forced Jace out of his position. He ran forward toward Marcus' position but as soon as he ran out of cover he regretted it as he ran past a barrel that was labeled as high explosives.
He saw the gray laser slam into the barrel and then the barrel exploded in a magnificent fireball that sent him flying forward into the partially dismantled drop ship. Slamming into a wall before falling to the ground with a groan of pain.
As he pulled himself up he tossed aside his now destroyed and mangled assault rifle. But before he could pull out his magnus he was being hit by a gray bolt of energy. His HUD immediately sent up warnings and alarms as he lost his armor's shielding. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
He spun to look at the source and was in time to see Marcus kick him in the chest and send him flying through a metal wall towards the side of the hangar. Jace blinked in surprise before pulling himself up and looking at his adversary.
Marcus looked the same as the last time he saw him. But his eyes were red which was a step or two beyond just bloodshot. There were visible red veins running throughout his body. He could also see some blood leaking out of his ears.
"Let me guess… you are wondering what I have done with myself. Well like you, I decided to evolve. So I have absorbed substantial amounts of nanotechnology into my body." He ended his words with a leap forward followed by a punch that Jace caught.
But Jace could feel the shockwave move throughout his entire body as he was moved back against the wall behind him. As he materialized his knife he had to roll to the side to avoid another punch that dented the wall.
Jace stayed crouched and watched as he pulled his fist out of the dented wall. "Well… that is concerning. I do not suppose… you want to talk about this?"
"I do… but not with you." Marcus answered with a shrug. "Although I must say. I have a high amount of respect for you. You are honest with yourself and those around. Unlike everyone else. They are all keeping secrets on top of secrets. But you… you only follow orders and kill at your own leisure."
"Thank you." Jace answered as he slowly backed up.
"Unfortunately I need you to draw out Dahlia Dakota." Jace flinched when he heard that and looked straight at Marcus' face.
A wide smile grew on Marcus' face. "That is right. I know everything." He talked much quieter this time. Probably so the others could not hear them. "From the fact that Salem is your deep cover spy. To the fact that Dahlia Dakota is actually Dahlia Dakota. One of the Princesses of the fallen Vexical Empire."
Jace flipped the knife in his hand as he side stepped danced with Marcus. "This source code must be something the ancients accidentally left behind."
"It is. But you should be more concerned with the present at the moment. If I know all of those secrets, imagine what else I might know?" Marcus licked his lips but in doing so revealed the bleeding gums of his mouth.
Jace had seen enough to know when a person was dying of drug addiction. "What are you taking?" He would not beat around the bush for the time being.
"Just some muscle enhancements to increase my abilities. The Imperium works in diverse fields of development. You would be surprised what we found in their territory. But for you it means a stronger opponent." Marcus answered before reaching out a hand. When he did, Jace felt the knife yank out of his hand and fly to Marcus who caught it and looked it over.
Jace blinked and looked at his now empty hand before dematerializing his knife and bringing it back to his hand. Marcus looked frustrated. But Jace discreetly sent a signal for the rest of the team to evacuate the ship.
Marcus looked around suddenly and frowned. "Smart. You figured out the reason why I was delaying. You know telekinesis is such a strangely fulfilling power. You want to know why?" Marcus asked with a tone that Jace was not really liking.
"No not really, but why do I have a feeling that you will tell me anyways?" Jace asked as he slowly backed up.
But suddenly he was frozen in place as Marcus reached out a hand. His nose began bleeding as Jace struggled against the hold on his body. Marcus then reached out and the partially dismantled ship floated along with all the debris. Then they suddenly flew towards Jace.
Jace cursed under his breath before pulsing his electricity throughout his body and on top of his body which broke the hold that was on him. Getting a raised eyebrow from Marcus. But Jace ran towards the debris and slid under the larger dismantled ship before launching himself up and over a group of debris before landing and facing Marcus.
But before he could go on the attack the wall he was by before broke open and space pulled out the debris and pieces of scrap. Marcus looked unbothered as the void of space tried to suck him out. Instead he was using hand motions to manipulate more of the room.
Jace's HUD restarted and his indicators began working again. He could see that the rest of the squad made it out of the room. They were probably still making their way out of the ship. He activated the magnetic component of his boots and now he had two free hands so he quickly digitally attacked the ship systems and forcefully activated the emergency depressurization systems.
An atmospheric barrier appeared in the destroyed wall of the hangar that leaked out into space and they along with the air stopped being pulled out. Before Jace could adjust he felt a large force slam into his back. He felt a pain arc up his back as he was thrown on the ground. He disabled his boots magnetic component and moved away from his previous position.
He then pulled himself up and took a breath and relaxed before electricity began arcing off his body. "Finally." He could hear Marcus mumble as he jumped forward and tried to punch Jace.
But Jace calmly swayed. Flinching in pain as the new back injury was still in the midst of healing. He sent a palm strike into Marcus' chest and sent him careening up and slamming into the ceiling before falling back down.
Jace leaped backwards as a heavy amount of telekinetic energy slammed into the ground and caused the metal to creak. But as Marcus landed on the ground an arc of electricity traveled along the ground and up into his body. Causing him to scream in pain.
Stunning him as well. Long enough for Jace to kick him towards the atmospheric barrier. Marcus tried to block it with one of his arms but there was a loud cracking noise as his arm broke and a boom as his kick broke a sound barrier.
Marcus flew over before rolling and slowly stopping just before the barrier. Jace began walking over as Marcus slowly pulled himself up into a crouching position. He looked down at his arm and whistled at its mangled state.
It was twisted and purple with a bone sticking out of his elbow that was bleeding profusely. "You really stopped holding back. I suppose it makes sense why you waited for the others to start evacuating the ship. That amount of air pressure from that kick alone could kill normal people." Marcus chuckled as he groaned in pain as he stood up on shaky legs.
"What do you think you were going to do?" Jace asked as he stood across from him. He could tell that Marcus was slowly losing consciousness. The combination of the drugs, the nanotechnology that was trying to save him, along with whatever else he had swimming in his body, was making him exhausted.
"I think that I wanted revenge. Even if it was in name only. I would ask if you knew what it felt like to watch your own mother lose her mind and kill herself. But we both know your mother just ran away. Hehehe…" Marcus cackled as he attempted to provoke Jace.
Jace raised an eyebrow before he pulled out his magnus. "Any last words?" Jace asked.
"It was an honor to be killed by you, Jace Hex."
BANG!
