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Generations
Five Generations - One Eternal Combat
— by Lee'Mon
The
following is the opening chapter from the story "Generations"
by our own Lee'Mon. The story, unveiled in parts, attempts
to expand on Quake III Arena's story by explaining the origins
of many of the characters, as well as how they found their
way into the Arena Eternal.
The story will be unveiled here at PlanetQuake, one chapter
per week. The end of the story presents a special epilogue
that takes the story beyond Quake III Arena, and into Generations
Arena, a project by WireHead Studios.
Regardless, the story presents an excellent glimpse into the
Q3A universe. So sit back, and enjoy the tale!
Previous
chapters:
-
Chapter 1
- Chapter
2
Five
Generations - One Eternal Combat
Part I: The Earth Soldiers
Chapter
3
Epoch: Early 21st Century
Location: London Ruins
Mynx took off full-speed across the rooftop. With her usual
catlike agility, she leapt the distance between buildings.
Ducking behind a stairwell, she took a moment to catch her
breath.
It was hard to believe all that she'd been through, all that
she'd witnessed. Here she was, almost a hundred years after
her trek through the Nazi fortress and her exposure to the
regenerative formula, and she hadn't aged a day. She'd taken
full advantage of it, becoming one of the most notorious freelance
agents in history. She gave a weak smile as she remembered
the tales of soldiers whose shots didn't slow her down. According
to the rumors, she was a ghost, a mirage, or even some form
of deity.
However, she had paid for her near-immortality with a lifetime
of combat. The bloodiest battles of the century...the Middle
East, splintering Europe, Tokyo's subways...all seemed to
erupt with her in the thick of it. As a result, she found
herself fighting to stay alive against overwhelming odds.
Whenever she fled to try to find peace, she found herself
disposing of assassins sent after her.
She'd fought, she'd killed, and she'd had more than her fair
share of close shaves. But she'd managed to stay alive...up
until now. Admittedly, being pursued should not have been
a cause for great concern. But there was one fact that was
striking cold terror into Mynx's heart.
She couldn't figure out who was chasing her.
She'd dodged, she'd weaved, she'd doubled back over her own
steps. Still her adversary pursued her, and still they remained
out of sight. The longer she fled her opponent, the more scared
she became. Whoever was after her was as least as good as
she was...and maybe better.
Mynx removed her pistol from its holster. Even if she'd met
her match, she wasn't about to finally die by running away.
She was going to have to take a stand.
Taking a deep breath, she ducked out from the stairwell and
ran back the way she came. She leapt the distance between
the buildings, this time intentionally falling short. She
grabbed the drain pipe attached to the building with her free
hand, locked her feet around it, and slid down to the alley
below.
Landing softly, Mynx immediately took off running. As she
rounded the corner, she suddenly came face to face with her
pursuer. Acting reflexively, she quickly brought her pistol
up to his head, only to see that he already had his machine
gun trained on her heart.
She stared into his eyes, and immediately recognized the face.
Another assassin, one that'd come into his own in the past
few years. Despite the appearance of his considerable girth
and leather-clad apparel, he was quick-witted and just as
agile as Mynx. She knew he was the one man that would be one
step ahead of her. "Hossman."
"You're
a tough bird to follow, do you realize that?" Hossman laughed.
"I can see why they've had trouble finding someone capable
of taking you out of the picture."
"They?"
Mynx asked.
"Now,
you know it wouldn't be prudent of me to tell you who my client
was," Hossman said. "To be frank, I'm not sure I could explain
it to you if I wanted to."
"I
had a client like that once," Mynx replied. "You have no idea
what kind of trouble you've gotten into."
"Oh,
I fancy I know exactly how much trouble I'm in," Hossman smiled
weakly. "But what's done is done, eh? Not exactly any going
back now."
"I
don't supposed there's any way either of us is walking away
from this..." Mynx trailed off.
"Not
likely. If I don't bring you in, I'm as dead as if you pull
that trigger."
"I
understand. Honestly, I've had enough fighting for more than
one lifetime. Death would be blissful at this point." Mynx
tightened her grip on her gun. "But I'm not going to stand
here and die when I have every capacity to pull this trigger."
"Of
course. I wouldn't have you any other way." Hossman gave her
a weak smile. "Shall we dance?"
"Let's."
Mynx smiled just as weakly, then closed her eyes as she pulled
the trigger.
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