Kriegbrand

I sprinted down the sidewalk, my eyes scanning the crowded streets of New York for any sign of refuge. Bullets whizzed past my head, shattering windows and sending pedestrians screaming for cover. I darted between two parked cars, using them as cover as I returned fire with... nothing. I was unarmed.

Were these ordinary guards or some of Stiff's mercs on security duty? Why were they armed and firing in the middle of New York City? These questions swirled in my mind as I ran, my military training kicking in. I had survived firefights in the desert, but this was different. This was urban warfare.

As I turned a corner, I wished for a weapon. Any weapon. And then, somehow, a Beretta was in my hand. I didn't question it, took time to thank my powers, just gripped it tightly and kept running.

I spotted a building ahead, a nondescript office complex, and made a beeline for it. I burst through the door, slamming it shut behind me just as the guards turned the corner. They pounded on the door, shouting curses as I took the stairs two at a time.

I hit the rooftop door at a dead sprint, flinging it open and emerging into the bright sunlight. The guards were right behind me, their footsteps echoing off the skyscrapers.

I sprinted across the rooftop, leaping over vents and dodging air conditioning units. I vaulted a low wall, landing hard on the adjacent rooftop. The guards followed, their footsteps closing in.

I spun, Beretta at the ready. I dropped to one knee, firing three quick shots that sent the lead gunman stumbling back. The others returned fire, bullets ricocheting off the rooftop as I rolled away.

I sprang to my feet, sprinting towards the edge of the rooftop. I launched myself off the wall, clearing the alley below and landing hard on the next rooftop. The impact jarred my teeth, but I kept moving.

The gunmen followed, their shots wild and erratic as they tried to keep up with my parkour. I darted between chimneys, using them as cover as I fired back.

One gunman fell, clutching his leg, but the others kept coming. I vaulted a skylight, using the momentum to carry me across the rooftop. I landed hard, rolling to absorb the impact.

As I came up, I spotted a narrow ledge running along the edge of the rooftop. Without hesitation, I leapt onto it, my toes finding holds in the crumbling brick.

The gunmen hesitated, unwilling to follow. I took advantage of the reprieve, firing three quick shots that sent them scrambling for cover.

I edged along the ledge, Beretta clutched in my hand, as the city sprawled out below me. I could see the Hudson River glinting in the distance, the sun setting over the skyscrapers.

For a moment, I forgot about the gunmen, forgot about the danger. I felt alive.

And then a bullet whizzed past my ear, shattering the spell. I spun, firing back as the gunmen emerged from their cover. I edged along the ledge, using the wall as cover, as the battle raged on.

The gunmen were relentless, but I was determined. I had survived worse odds in the desert, and I would survive this.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, my chance. I launched himself off the ledge, clearing the alley below and landing hard on the final rooftop.

The gunmen followed, but I was ready. With a swift kick, I sent the lead gunman tumbling off the rooftop. The others hesitated, and I took advantage of the momentary confusion.

With a few swift shots, it was over. The gunmen lay scattered across the rooftops, defeated. They were dead. A single instinctive moment of hesitation had cost them their lives.

I stood tall, Beretta still clutched in my hand, as the city sprawled out before him. I felt alive. I felt invincible.

But as I looked down at the Beretta, I wondered... How did I get it? How did I finally create an item perfectly suitable for the situation? Had stealing the briefcase leveled me up? If so, what other secrets and discoveries lay hidden in this new level?

I took a deep breath, the adrenaline still pumping through my veins. I knew I had to keep moving, and had to find answers before more guards showed up.

With a final glance at the rooftops, I turned and disappeared into the night, ready for whatever came next.

*

It's been two days since I stole Stiff's briefcase. I wasn't sure if he knew it was me yet, so I'd been laying low. It was why I had a baseball cap and a black jacket on. Both items I'd found in the subway's lost and found.

I wish I had easy access to my powers that didn't have to be fight or flight situations, I thought as I entered a low-key diner. Immediately I stepped in and Mindy waved me over from a table at the back.

I hurried over to her and sat down. Mindy looked around to see if we were being watched and then she placed a phone on the table. It was a burner phone. The first android burner phone I had ever seen and it was Stiff's. This phone, two printed invoices, and sixty thousand dollars had been what I found in Stiff's briefcase.

I'd given everything to Mindy and told her where I found it and her eyes had gained a bitter shine, in fact they were still shining. For the past two days she had been investigating and it seemed like she finally had found something.

"It will take me a long time to trace the invoice, but at this point that would just be reassurance for what I've already found out from the burner phone," she said, double tapping the phone and turning it on then going to his messages which she started showing me. "He had been in communication with a terror group, the Kriegbrand. It means army fire. They are freelancers who commit acts of terror for anyone who can afford them. They contacted Stiff as Stiff still sells military grade weapons. Apparently, a client wants them…"

She looked around and leaned further towards me and began to whisper. "...a client wants them to bomb the UN building in Geneva with American military dynamite."

"What?" I whispered, harshly, as my eyes widened. I stared at my friend in disbelief. "You can't tell me Stiff went for this. I know he's rotten but I never thought he'd have gone this far."

"They offered him three hundred million dollars. It was in the invoice. The cash was just a request. Apparently, that's how Stiff does businesses like this. He asks for a bit of payment in cash so he could use it to implicate the client if he's ever betrayed. Most assume they are giving him clean cash but he'd still find a trail back to them if he's diligent enough," she said, even as her face looked like she seemed to have swallowed something bitter. "And you and I both know how diligent he can be."

I nodded. "So what did you do with the money? Can we use it to open an investigation on him?"

She looked at me like I'd lost my head then began chuckling. "Don't tell me you believe that?" She asked, in between bouts of hysterics.

"Okay, okay I know that even if we catch him impaling the mayor and even record him there's little chance of him going in for it," I said, raising my hands in surrender. "Still, you can't blame me for hoping."

She nodded. "He's powerful. I was able to trace some of the calls he'd made with this phone to Congressmen, generals, business tycoons, and all sorts of powerful people. I'm gathering it all, let's continue to do that. One evidence might not do him in, hell a collection might still not, but at least we'd be able to leverage a collection of enough significance against him."

"Blackmail?" I asked, quirking a brow.

She nodded. "A mountain load of it."

"So what did you do with the cash?"

She grinned at me and spread her hands on the table, a tell tale that she was excited. "So I realized that we might as well get ourselves set up nicely if we were going to war with Stiff. I purchased a house for us in New Jersey, nothing much, just a twenty thousand dollars duplex. The rest I used to buy shares for both of us in major corporations."

I sighed but gave her a nod. It was a nice plan, and showed just why Mindy was the strategist of us both. I still felt unclean using Stiff's dirty money but I was done living in alleyways and attics and the investments will see to funding for our campaign against Stiff.

There was just one thing though.

"Why in New Jersey?" I asked her.

"Do you think I'd spend Stiff's money here in his city?" She gave me an incredulous look.

Ah, that sounded reasonable.

*

That evening found me on a plane heading to Europe. There was a UN conference on Friday and Mindy had managed to help me prepare and arrange a flight out of the US to stop Kriegbrand from carrying out their plans, under a fake name.

I was going to stop that bombing no matter what. Who knows, this may just be my debut as a Bastion.