An annoying sensation was pressing against Marcus' resting consciousness. It quickly grew into a piercing pain that made Marcus gasp and open his eyes wide. A moment later a scream left his mouth, but his ears couldn't hear it, as he was falling at rapid speed towards the surface of the planet. Wild panic grabbed his mind, he turned and screamed until Xeen shouted in his mind.

MARCUS! Calm yourself! There is enough time to act and you are strong enough to survive the fall. Marcus latched on to the thoughts of Xeen and forced the panic down to start thinking.

He was falling towards the Channel between England and France and he was still very far up. Marcus could see far into France and England, but with every second he came closer to a painful reunion with the surface. What happened, Xeen?

You lost consciousness and I had to wake you up forcefully. Beyond that, I am not sure myself. From the evidence in front of us, I would say somebody or something destroyed your plane. Look there is debris falling with you.

Marcus fought down another wave of panic as he remembered the people on the plane. He turned his head and still saw some smoke and large pieces of the plane falling towards the water beneath. They are all dead Xeen! The people on the plane, they are dead!

Yes, I know Marcus. And if we do not want to join them we need to concentrate on the water impact.

Marcus pushed his emotion into a dark corner and let pure, rational thought guide him. There would be a time for emotions later. Horrible, violent emotions.

He was already falling at terminal velocity and as silly as it sounded, he was confident he would survive the fall. Slowly, he controlled his fall and moved into a good position for the impact and pushed Carapace to max. The surface of the water came quickly closer and soon only water filled his field of view. This will hurt like hell, Marcus thought.

Marcus punched through the surface of the water and sank several meters before Carapace reacted and caused a massive shock wave in the water. The liquid was pushed back only to crush down on Marcus half a second later, which caused Carapace to react again. For several seconds Marcus got crushed and thrown around until he was smart enough to deactivate Carapace. For a short moment Marcus saw only water and darkness before he managed to orient himself towards the surface. He swam towards the light and seconds later he broke through the surface, gasping for air.

The impact had been far less painful, than he had expected, a testament to his toughness. For a short while he swam on the spot to gather his thoughts and let his heartbeat slow down. A simple truth was crawling into his mind, and white hot hatred was born from it. They had tried to kill him, and they didn't care who else was on the plane.

I fear that is the most likely explanation. I am sorry Marcus. I know how much this hurts, it has happened to me too in the past. But now you need to think about your survival and get out of the water, you are an easy target here.

Marcus agreed and started swimming towards the closer shore, which was France. On the way, he made a list with groups who would want him dead and also had the resources for this attack. And of course, who had no qualms killing hundreds of innocent people.

It was a very short list.

The large screen in the common room was filled with the breaking news about the plane crash over the English Channel. An attractive blonde moderator repeated the same few details again for all the viewers who had just joined. Unknown cause, explosion, potential attack, European Army in alert…

The common room was filled with fear and panic. People were talking with pressed voices, tears were falling. Janette ignored all of that, her whole world right now was her phone, lying in front of her. They had heard about the exploded plane ten minutes ago and it happened another fifteen minutes earlier. She watched her phone, as if just looking at it would make it ring. Minutes moved by, people talked, Janette didn't listen. He was tough. He wouldn't die from the explosion. He wouldn't die from the fall. He was tough. Janette's mind repeated in loops.

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The phone showed an incoming caller 'Unknown' and before the first 'ring' had sounded Janette had already taken the call. "Marcus!" She said instantly and his voice made all nightmares go away.

Marcus finished his call with Janette and gave the phone back to the nice man from the food truck. Finding somebody who allowed him to make a call had taken much longer than swimming to the coast. But he couldn't blame the people, his clothes were torn and wet and overall he looked more like a mad man than anything else. "You want some hot food?" The man said in broken English and with a thick French accent. "No money," Marcus said, but the man laughed and gave him a serving of what looked like a Kebab.

Marcus took the hot food thankfully and sat down on a small stair. He slowly ate the Kebab and tried to calm himself further. He wasn't good with phone numbers and he only ever had learned one, Janette's. She had forced him to memorize it in the past and she hadn't changed it all these years. The Colors were informed and they would come and get him as soon as possible. He just had to wait.

The sky had darkened and thick rumbling clouds threatened the world with rain. Children were hiding behind a nearby corner and peeked at him. People walked by and gave him weird looks. Cars were driving through the small village with roaring engines. The roaring came quickly closer and Marcus' heartbeat started to rise. It was too soon for help to come and they wouldn't come with cars anyway.

Marcus, A large number of class holders is approaching quickly. Ten no, twenty of them. They spread out! Marcus was already on his feet and started running towards the edge of the village.

They are already in front of you. The whole village is surrounded.

How did they find me so soon? The phone call? "Don't use normal phones." is what Kim had said, Marcus remembered. They watched Janette's phone?

Who are they? Until now he had suspected the organization of the Source, but this felt different.

They are coming closer! Prepare to engage. Marcus sprinted down a street and a shadow moved from a small alley. An armored person charged at Marcus, swinging two swords. The face of the man was hidden beneath a dark helmet but his movements were that of an expert. Marcus didn't even try to avoid the attack and Burst charged right into the attacker. They connected at the same time, and lightning blasted through Marcus' body from the blade that pierced his shoulder. It wasn't enough to make him stop and Impulse Hammer hit the man in the chest and threw him against a wall.

Marcus was about to follow up when something hit him in the back, burning his clothes and skin. The momentary distraction was enough for the first attacker to get back on his feet and try to strike Marcus again. Realizing he couldn't stand here and fight, Marcus Burst jumped onto the next roof and started running. His pursuers followed him, deftly climbing and jumping onto the building and soon Marcus saw another killer on a nearby house, holding a massive rifle in hands.

He dropped down from the roof and followed a small alley around the corner and suddenly stopped. A second later the man with the two blades came around the corner and met Marcus' fist. Even in this situation the man managed to sink one deadly weapon into Marcus' chest, not deep, but the shock hurt a lot. Marcus made him pay, by moving his head through the nearby wall.

MOVE!

And he started running again.

After passing through two more alleys Marcus found himself suddenly on a small plaza. Four more armored attackers rushed towards him and all he could do was keep running. He made two steps and found himself face to face with a young boy on a bike. The youth looked dumbfounded and just stared at Marcus, who tried to move around him. It started to rain death. Heavy armor piercing bullets filled the air, bouncing off Marcus' Carapace and tearing holes into walls, the street… and a small boy on a bike. Marcus saw the chest of the child explode in blood and all thoughts of flight left him.

Marcus turned and saw the heavy gunner on the rooftop. With a scream, he Burst jumped and reduced the distance in a second. His fists turned the child murderer into gore and a kick made one of his companions fly from the building into the streets, head first. Marcus' rage hadn't cooled as a deadly wind moved over him and a knife pierced his throat and guts. Half blind through pain, Marcus saw the Accelerator ramp up her deadly speed. Impulse Hammer from one of his legs broke the roof and made both of them fall one story down.

Surprised and shocked by the sudden fall, the woman with the deadly knife had to get her footing back, but instead she got Marcus's palm against her shoulder. Her body went halfway through the wall before Marcus gave her a kick that made her and a good part of the wall fall down onto the street below.

You can't stand still, far more are coming!

Marcus turned and jumped up to the roof again. He parkoured over roofs in the opposite direction from his previous escape route. His hope to confuse his opponents quickly faded, as he saw several of them following him. These bastards are all of medium level, well trained and know about my weak points, Marcus thought while he ran a gauntlet of pain and death. More and more black clad killers were on his heels and Marcus could feel the noose closing around his neck. Distant thunder echoed over the battlefield, a prelude to his execution.

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