Free Silence by Tyler Vance

into the crevices
outlining the dusty street. The ground was plaited, half-dried
concrete. Rebar poked out, twisting outwards like grasping
tentacles. The air hung still and heavy with the scent of dried
sweat.
    Sheikoh crouched in the shadows of
late afternoon, his hand on the comforting handles of his pistol
and electroblade, the latter humming softly. He was in his element,
invisible in the dark and he knew it. He gripped the hilt of his
pistol a little bit tighter and silently waited for the men to
appear in his line of sight.  
    His eyes were locked on
the path the men would have to walk to follow them. There was a
flicker, and a clank, barely perceptible in the shadows of the tall
buildings. It looked like the suits had thrown something down the
alley. It looked like a little, thumb-sized toy, rolling across the
concrete with sharp, metallic clinks.
    Sheikoh instinctively made to dart
behind the iron carapace of a nearby cart, but his attention was
stolen for half a second. His face twitched towards Indigo, who was
shouting something like;
    “ FLASH GRENADE!”
    A thoughtless second later, Sheikoh’s
vision exploded into a sheet of blinding white light.
    Indigo ripped his thick arm from over his eyes, glanced at
Silence. Then cursed vehemently. He could see that the kid had his
weapons drawn, but from the dazed look on Silence’s face, he knew
that the thief was out of it for at least a couple of minutes. It was
looking to be a firefight and now Silence was little more than
deadweight. Indigo watched the kid stumble towards the
wall.
    Briefly he considered
settling his score with Silence, Interim’s greatest criminal, the heartless kid
that’d stabbed Colli in the throat. Silence was all but useless
now, blinded. He cursed again. He knew that firing on Silence would
give away his position. Besides, he needed the kid alive. Damn flash grenade, he
thought savagely. And damn that kid. Most
useless criminal prodigy I’ve ever met. Indigo ducked into cover.
    Silence was going to have to look
after himself.
    The foreboding hiss of plasmafire
echoed, and Indigo’s face hardened with focus. The four guns
streamed down the street, firing their weapons with astonishing
accuracy.
    A jet of blazing light hit the wall
inches from Indigo’s cheek and exploded in shower of sharp dust
that bit into his skin. He flinched to the side, his head half
exposed and then threw himself back behind cover. Silver-green
whirls of plasmatic energy sizzled through the space he’d just been
a second before.
    Plasmafire battered his wall like
raindrops. Those spiraling bolts of green destruction ripped the
alleyway apart. Indigo had never seen anything like it. He whipped
out his assault rifle and ducked out of cover, blasting one of the
men in the face. Then he threw himself back behind the wall. Just
in time to see two green streaks tear furrows where he'd just
been.
    His mouth curved into a
feral grin. One down, three to
go.
    It didn’t seem to have
helped him in the slightest though. If anything the relentless
suppressive fire increased . Molten concrete bulged
outwards like it was trying to punch him. He watched his cover
shudder under every blast. Cold sweat ran down the back of his
shirt. They hadn’t seen Silence, either that or they didn’t
consider the kid a threat. All of their plasmafire now pummeled the
rapidly dissolving section of wall shielding Indigo. The scorching
concrete wasn’t going to hold for very long. If something didn’t
change fast, he was a dead man. Each of his breaths suddenly felt
precious and fleeting.  
    Guess this is it, Indigo realized. His chest leapt with chemicals
and electricity. He knew that he’d never been the kind to go down
hiding. He just didn’t think he’d die so soon. He took a deep
breath to steel himself. Then he jumped into the center of the
street firing wildly screaming insults at the top of his
lungs.
    A gut-ripping explosion of crimson
light rendered his words unintelligible. It