cover.

“What’s going on here?” he asked, pointing one gun at Balto’s hiding place and the other at Jenna’s, “Jenna, what are you doing with him? Are you turning traitorous on Steele?”

“Star, I’ve been on America’s side from Day 1!” Jenna shouted back, pulling out her handgun, “I never really was a researcher and I sure as Hell don’t like Steele!”

“I knew it! I knew something was wrong about you!” Star shouted and fired off a round, chipping the concrete pillar Jenna was behind and firing once at the metal crate Balto was behind, “I’ll take you both out and bring your bodies back to Steele! I’ll be promoted and revered as a hero in his eyes! No more hitting Star!”

“Give up Star, it’s two against one!” Balto shouted back.

“While it may be, I’ve got enough handguns to take you two down five times over!” Star said, firing off one more shot from each gun.

“Right…” Balto said to himself, “Private First-Class Star, master of handguns…”

Balto poked his handgun out briefly and fired four random shots, all of them near Star, but all missed. Star laughed and focused his attention on Balto, emptying his SAAs on Balto’s crate. Jenna took this moment and fired, striking Star in his shoulder. Star cried out and dropped his revolvers, pulling out a Glock and firing five shots at Jenna, missing every one.

Balto then popped out and shot, hitting Star in his leg. Star yelped and fell to his knees, pulling out a Beretta as well and shooting at both of them. Balto sighed and shook his head.

While he may have more guns, he’s overexcited and wasting ammo like crazy! Balto thought as Star kept firing off bullets one at a time.

“You can’t win! I’ll be the best and Kaltag won’t get to hit me anymore!” he said proudly, still shooting off blanks at his unseen foes.

Balto shook his head again as he heard Star’s guns click empty. He popped out the side of the crate and shot Star in his other shoulder, Jenna doing the same except hitting his other leg. Star fell backwards and dropped his empty guns, quickly pulling out two Smith and Wesson’s. He sat up and fired them off repeatedly, using half of their bullets in a matter of seconds.

“You… can’t… beat… me!” Star said, his words broken by his gunshots.

After a few more seconds, Star went dry. His guns clicked empty and he tossed them to the floor. As he reached around his belt for another gun, he found he had one problem- he had no more guns left. A look of panic spread across Star’s face as Balto and Jenna came out and slowly approached him. Star tried to scurry away, but had nowhere to run to.

“Out of ammo, Star…” Balto said as he finished his approach, “A fatal mistake of a trigger-happy gunslinger like you…”

Star whimpered slightly as Balto and Jenna loomed above him. Balto placed his boot on Star’s chest and held him down as he aimed his handgun at Star’s face. Balto shook his head slowly, his eyes judgmental.

“Game over, Star…” Balto said and pulled the trigger, silencing the dog permanently.

“Think he’s in a better place?” Jenna asked, staring down at the body of Star.

“Better than if he was still with Steele…” Balto murmured, walking over to the elevator and opening it, “Coming?”

Jenna nodded silently and followed Balto inside the elevator. Jenna pressed the 4th Floor button and the doors closed, the elevator lurching upward. Balto and Jenna stood in silence as they ascended to the fourth floor, the bridge to the other building. Suddenly, the elevator stopped on the 3rd Floor- and the doors opened to reveal a single guard.

Balto grabbed the poor guard and pulled him into the elevator, Jenna quickly pressing the button again to shut the doors. Balto slammed the guard into the metal wall twice before giving him a quick blow to the side of his face, knocking the dog out. He stowed his handgun, took the soldier’s M16 and made sure it was fully loaded, smiling in satisfaction when he saw it was.

The elevator doors opened and both agents stepped out, guns raised in ready. Before them, a large corridor led to another building off in the distance, connecting the two facilities. Balto lowered his rifle and motioned for Jenna to follow, both of them beginning to walk down the very long hallway-bridge. About halfway, they began to feel nervous.

“Strange… There’re no guards here…” Jenna said feeling slightly unnerved.

“Hmm, I wonder why that is-” Balto began and saw two black boxes, one on either side of the hallway. As Jenna stepped forward, a red beam was seen as her foot broke it in half and a beep was heard.

“JENNA! GET BACK!” Balto shouted and grabbed her shirt, pulling her back as a large explosion shook the hallway, sending the two dogs flying backward.

Balto hit the ground and grunted as Jenna landed on top of him. A section of the hallway shook and crumbled, falling down to the ground from the explosion. The two agents stared in amazement and panted slightly. Balto sighed in relief as he let his head fall back to the tiled floor. Jenna glanced back at him and lay back on his chest, giving him a soft smile.

“You saved my life…” Jenna said softly, staring into his brown and gold eyes, “Thank you, Wolf…”

“No problem Jenna… Only doing my job…” Balto replied, staring back into her amber eyes, but quickly snapping out of it, “Well, the bridge is out… Probably Nikki’s doing… So, what now?”

“Well, there is an underground passageway that’ll lead us to the other building. It’s on the third basement,” Jenna explained, “Hoping that it hasn’t been rigged as well… But Nikki isn’t the brightest dog out there… He probably thought that explosion would’ve killed you… Good thing you had me, right?”

“Yeah…” Balto said, smiling at her, “Well, we can head down there as soon as you get off me…”

“Oh, sorry…” Jenna said, blushing and quickly climbing off of her teammate.

“It’s alright…” Balto said to her and climbed to his feet, “Alright, B3 you said, right?”

“Yep! Let’s go,” Jenna said, grabbing her dropped handgun and walking off back toward the elevator. Balto grabbed his rifle and carried off after Jenna.

            Steele felt the tremor of the explosion from his new office. He smiled in satisfaction, picking up his wine glass that was standing on his desk. He trusted Jenna’s word, but when he went to taunt the agent some more, all he found were a bunch of bodies and an empty cell. He’d ordered Nikki to rig the bridge with C4 and was glad that the pesky agent was done with, once and for all. He chuckled darkly and took another sip of his wine. Everything was working perfectly to his plan… or at least it was now, now that the agent is dead.

Pressing the intercom system set up on his desk, Steele spoke through to one of his top-four teammates. This time, he was speaking to Nikki.

“Excellent work, Nikki. If I no longer see that agent, you’ll be getting a raise…” Steele said, grinning evilly.

“Thanks boss,” came the voice of Nikki through the system, “I told yous I wouldn’t let yous down.”

“Well, we’ll see if your handiwork paid off… Steele out,” replied Steele, before pressing a different button, switching his contact to Star, “Star, have you located any trace of the agent?”

Nothing but static came through the intercom. Steele pressed the Talk button again and narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Star, did you hear me? I asked if you saw that agent. Yes or no?”

Static again. Steele was now getting annoyed and slightly worried. Pressing the button again, he let his anger slip out.

“Private First-Class Star, do you read me or not?!?!” he shouted through the speaker to his comrade. Just then, the double oak doors opened and a grim-faced Kaltag walked in, striding up to Steele’s desk.

“No, he doesn’t read you…” Kaltag said gravely, “He’s dead.”

Kaltag tossed Star’s gun belt along with his various assortment of handguns onto the desk. Steele just stared at the guns for a moment before shifting his gaze up to Kaltag.

“How?” he asked, unwilling to believe that one of his elite soldiers had fallen.

“Apparently, we’ve underestimated that agent…” Kaltag replied plainly, his eyes not leaving Steele’s for a moment, “He’s disabled our cameras, so we have no idea of what went on. All we found was his body, a single round put right through his head…”

“That’s impossible. Star survived for six days on his own, just with those guns and now you’re telling me he’s dead?!?!” Steele asked, raising his voice, “I refuse to believe that one agent was able to defeat a military trained soldier who’s mastered every type of handgun ever made!”

“Do you want to see his body?” Kaltag asked, keeping his cool, “It’s the most gruesome, the most disturbing, the most down-heartening-”

Just then, Kaltag realized Star wasn’t there to interrupt him anymore. He sighed sadly, his ears lowering in sorrow for his lost friend. Kaltag saluted Steele before walking out of his office again, closing the doors behind him. Steele pressed Nikki’s frequency and spoke to him again.

“Nikki, change of plans…” Steele said neutrally, his eyes flashing with anger, “I want you to rig that underground tunnel with as much C4 as possible. That agent has just killed Star and I’ll be damned if I let his death go without being avenged! Now make sure there’s enough explosives down there so that agent never sees the light of day ever again!”

Angrily, Steele sighed and clasped his hands across one another, leaning back in the armchair situated behind the desk. Thoughts flashed through his mind of Star being killed, but he quickly shoved them away. He wasn’t