Chivalry: Prologue

Extraction

Belfast 2016

Robert walked down the street with the Lance open and over his head as rain drops hammered down on top of him.
The Hammerd Swine was one of the oldest pubs in the area but it looked like it had been built only a decade ago.

Robert went into a pub that Sean O'Brian was using as a safe house.
looks normal enough, Rugby on the TV, guys playing darts on his  six and a loud row is taking place roughly at 3 o'clock. Robert knew better though, during the  early 1990's this pub was a safe house that the IRA used to store heaps of C4,Robert lead a covert operation to secretly rig the building with semtex. Sure C4 makes a bigger boom but semtex greatly reduces the risk of collateral damage. In the end the pub simply caved in ,it looked like the place gave in to old age ,as far as the press was concerned several high ranking members of the IRA were killed by an old pub. Robert began scanning the room coming up with a strategy.

(Sean and his men are probably upstairs and Mac's probably in the basement. These guys are probably carrying lightweight automatic weapons ,the bulge at their waists looks like Mac 10 submachine guns. At least two of 'em have lost fingers coz they gripped the things like mongs. The bartender probably has a double barrel shotgun stashed somewhere close by, he could probably just take cover behind the bar and grab it. Sean's men upstairs would have assault rifles or even an LMG because they don't have to worry about hiding their weapons if no one can see 'em. According to Intel Sean likes to stand out so he'll have an expensive weapon, but he's not one for rifles, reckon he's got a 44.Magnum or something. All this doesn't really matter, the IRA haven't been active for well over a decade so I'd wager they're pretty rusty.)

"You're not from around here are you ?" The Bartender looked at Robert strangely not surprising a man like Robert doesn't fit in but the bartender knows everyone in his area by name and the lack of an Irish accent was a dead giveaway too. "I'm here on business." Robert said coldly.
"And you thought you'd grab a drink, must be stressful business." The man stared him down whilst pouring  a pint of beer.

Robert knew he had to clear the ground floor first and the bartender's shotgun would be the fastest way to do it. Maybe he might have a bit of fun with Merlin's umbrella or 'Lance'. He won't be able to bring it along often because it doesn't rain every day, so why not have a little fun with the thing. Preventing a full on fire fight would make escape and evasion from the police far easier.

He got up with the Lance in hand twisted the handle and stabbed the bartender in the eye. Before the other men downstairs could draw their guns Robert lunged towards them and disarming them quickly keeping the Lance close to his body. Sean's men were striking Robert at all angles a few of them even had knives which were now jammed in Robert's ribs. Robert fell back on his training to stay alive, he used short but deadly movements with the Lance focusing on vulnerable body parts such as the throat the gut and even the groin. The lack of discipline that Sean's men had definitely showed the simply tried to pile on top of Robert and they weren't planning on changing their strategy when that clearly wasn't working. Robert could feel the effects of his new wounds and the effects of old ones reopening, he started to get light headed and he knew he'd fall to the ground if he didn't dig deep. So with all the strength he had left to decapitated all four of the men in one short rotation of his whole body with the Lance.

Robert quickly opened the umbrella and dashed up the stairs, the rest of Sean's men weren't making it easy their Ak-47's were keeping Robert at bay, the rounds wouldn't take long to tear the Lance's bullet shield to pieces, Robert ran through the men with the Lance and by the time he was done they were all lined up on the Lance's blade like a kebab. Robert Pulled the Lance out and scanned the room for Sean but with no luck.

Robert took a earpiece out of his pocket and put it in his ear.
"Gunivre I cleared most hostiles in the pub but there's no sign of Sean but I can still extract Scourge, Look are these elaborate codenames really necessary a simple Alpha or Bravo would've worked just fine." Robert said.
"Yes Lancelot,yes they are." Gunivre said sniggering.
"Your enjoying this way too much." Robert said trying not to laugh.
"They're so archaic aren't they, what wasn't Arthur thinking, I guess this is his way of expressing his boyhood fantasies  of knighthood." Gunivre said and they both started laughing.
"Look Scrooge is gonna be pissed if I don't hurry up." Robert said and cut communication.

Robert shot the hinges off the door and kicked it down. Mac was flat on on the floor right next to a chair with crocodile clips clipped to the legs, he looked like hammerd shit.from the looks of it he hasn't slept in weeks and his smell wasn't a pleasant one.
'Rob is that you." Mac was struggling to talk, Robert helped him up
"Come on I'm taking you to Camelot." Robert said and Mac nodded, he could see Sean's dead body on the floor, Sean was Probably distracted by all the commotion and Mac saw an opportunity to strike but he didn't have enough strength to even stand after that. Robert noticed that Mac's hands were covered in blood and then he looked at Sean's mutilated skull and then he wished he didn't.

Camelot

Robert was treated but he's still a mess, as for Mac well he's on a operating table.
"Robert it's good to have you two back." Alister said
"How was the meeting" Robert said curiously.
"Good actually, I managed to get senior members of MI6 and MI5 to secretly support Chivalry behind the backs of their agency chiefs and the Commander of the SAS has finally given his support as well, it was no easy task I assure you especially when our new prime minister and the new heads of MI5 and 6 have scrapped all assassination programs on British soil as well as the soil of our allies to keep important trade alliances but when I told him The Iron Lady himself signed up he was eager to help, he did say he couldn't send any of his active troops because they're stretched thin budget cuts and all, but he's more than happy to lend a few instructors to help you with training the new Knights ." Alistair said whilst smoking.
"Let him know I appreciate it,all I've gotta do now is recruit some misfits from the regular forces and we're all set." Robert said but he could still feel the tool field duty has taken on his body,even seeing the medical team at Camelot and taking painkillers haven't helped much.
"The bad news is I have to negotiate with several anonymous donors to fund us because it seems that members of parliament believe assassination is a relic of the cold war and drones can do all our dirty work."
"seriously,well we knew MP's lived in a bubble complete with a silver spoon to shove up their arse but c'mon" Robert said in frustration.

"I get you'd like some R&R but there's no time, according to Mac this Rabbit hole goes much deeper Sean and his men were working for The Court" Alister said sternly
"The puppet masters of conspiracy wonderful, why would they fund a terrorist attack, Last time I saw Pine he was all about bringing stability not chaos." Robert said calmly but he knew this was bad news with a capital b.
"What makes The Court so dangerous is what we don't know about them, who knows what Pine's planning all we have is the man who hired Sean O'Brian, Mikhail Duskin also known as The Widow Maker." Alister said very seriously.

"Okay this is just getting even weirder, I mean C'mon The Widow Maker are awful codenames a thing now." Robert was trying to lighten the mood but he knew Mikhail Duskin was the real deal.
He's statistically the most deadly man alive, Robert came to blows with him on the operation code named Soviet Surprise in which Robert was almost killed by Duskin.
Since then operatives from all over the world have been ordered to kill him but these attempts result in catastrophic failure. The SAS,SBS,Seal Team 6, Delta Fotce,CIA,MI6 and even the Mossad have sent their best,. Let's just say ther're a whole lot more unmarked gravestones now.

He didn't always work for Pine, he was once the Pride of Mother Russia, much like Robert he joined the army as a teenager and joined Spetnaz (Russian special forces ). By the time he was 22 he was recuited by the KGB during their final years  and became their top assassin in just 3 weeks. What he was doing in the years after The KGB's disbanding and the formation of the FSB are a mystery but only a fool would assume he was staying clear of bloodshed. Ultimately he was forced to leave the FSB in disgrace all because of who he chooses to spend his nights with but nevertheless he's still a force to be reckoned with.

"Look if anything happens to me." Robert said clearly thinking about Isobel
"I'll look after her Rob I promise." Alistair said sincerely.