| From: | ANGLISS BRIAN EDWARD <angliss@****.Colorado.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Hell Hath No Fury.... |
| Date: | Fri, 28 Jun 1996 18:43:01 -0600 (MDT) |
+++++ Include Communications/Camera Download +++++
+++++ Drake is driving out of Redmond, alone. His attention is suddenly
drawn to his rear-view mirror: a murderous-looking, blacked-out Jensen
Interceptor is closing on him... fast.>
CD: Oh, drek....
+++++ He flicks switches to activate his cruiser's lights and siren, and
you hear and see the acceleration as he floors the gas pedal. The black
Jensen continues to close: Drake activates his helmet radio. +++++
CD: Monty, I could have a problem here, can - (an ear-piercing
screeching warble cuts off his words and he throws the mike away)
Dammit....
+++++ Drake drops two gears, engine howling, and takes a corner: his
tires squealing as the cruiser drifts wide, the back end fishtailing
as he puts power back on. Fifty yards back and closing, the Jensen
rounds the curve without apparent effort. +++++
CD: Fragging piece of drek cars... (he weaves through a group of
bikers, scattering them and forcing the the Interceptor to go wide
around them) ...race an Interceptor in this, sure, and take a knife to
the gun fights while you're at it. You're gonna have to work to get me,
Lilith. Fraggit, I could use my old T-bird right now.... You'd be eating
my dust already, wondering if that engine had fallen out.
+++++ The Interceptor is gaining again, and Drake sheers off to the side,
down a road half-blocked by rubble: his Patrol-1 copes, the Interceptor
seems slowed by the terrain and Drake manages to open some distance
before the rubble clears to the usual potholed Redmond blacktop. +++++
CD: Caught you there, didn't I? You're pretty good, but that car's
designed for desert roads, not urban jungle. Problem is there's not
enough rubble, and I'm a little out of practice....
+++++ Drake stamps on the brake and the Interceptor closes fast, as Drake
works gearshift, brakes and steering, swinging his car through a full
one-eighty and laying rubber away: the Jensen shoots by to one side, not
slowing. +++++
CD: Uh oh... what the frag are you up to? (He tries the radio again, but
it is still jammed). Okay, SOP is to investigate jamming...air unit,
probably ten minutes or so minimum. Not soon enough. Frag. (The Jensen
emerges from a side street less than a dozen yards behind Drake and
closing the distance rapidly) DREK!
+++++ The Interceptor is pulling alongside, its windows opaque. Drake
throws the wheel over, trying to sideswipe it, and the InterPol cruiser
seems to bounce off the Jensen's side as it eases ahead, then begins to
force Drake's car to the side and to slow down. +++++
CD: Cute, Lilith, really fraggin cute. What the frag do you want? That
tank's got enough firepower to trash this peice-of-drek, so why don't you
just kill me?
+++++ The two cars come to a halt. Drake eases out of his car, as the
Interceptor's door opens and Lilith rises into view. +++++
LD: Commander Drake.
CD: Lieutenant DiAnnio.
+++++ Lilith stalks around the Interceptor to face Drake directly, holding
his eyes and regarding him with pure hatred. In her left hand she
carries a sheathed katana. +++++
CD: How can I help you, Lieutenant?
+++++ Lilith draws the katana and tosses the scabbard aside, taking a
classic kenjutsu stance. +++++
LD: You may die, Commander, in a manner far more honourable than you
deserve.
CD: Not today, I think.
+++++ Suddenly she is a blur of motion and razor-edged steel, and Drake is
twisting aside, dodging the first cut and the second lunge clattering
over his armour. Drake whirls and turns, bringing his spiked tail up and
around, as Lilith leaps over it, slashing at his head. The two exchange
blows at blinding speed for nearly a minute, Drake unable to hit Lilith
and the woman's katana seemingly unable to harm Drake, despite her
striking him and penetrating his armor jacket several times. They draw
back, staring at each other: Lilith's eyes roving over Drake, looking for
weak spots. +++++
CD: Lilith, there's something you should know-
+++++ Again she is attacking, though this time with a flying kick that
seems to surprise Drake, hitting him squarely in the chest and knocking
him back several paces: she appears as surprised that he remains on his
feet while she falls aside and rolls away, Drake kicking the sword from
her hand and closing in on her....
Her legs swing around with her usual speed, Drake trying to move aside
and failing as her feet smash into the backs of his knees and he falls
backwards, arms and tail flailing for balance: then he is very still, as
Lilith crouches over him and the cavernous muzzle of a .44 Magnum Desert
Eagle fills his vision. +++++
LD: There's a pilot's saying, Drake, that if you're not cheating, you're
not trying hard enough. Listen to this sound, Drake.
+++++ Lilith lowers the hammer of the pistol, slowly, then eases the
safety catch on. +++++
That's the sound of someone giving you your life back. I held your life
in my hands, and I'm returning it. I thought I wanted you dead. I was
sure I wanted your blood on my hands, your flesh tearing under my teeth
and claws. But now, without Jason, I don't really care any more, and he
made me promise I would not kill you.
+++++ She lifts the pistol away from Drake's face: her blue eyes are
cold, dead, and completely animal, all humanity absent for the moment.
You can see the feline predator beneath the human skin with a frightening
clarity. +++++
Go. Live your life. Enforce your precious human law. If it says
Zicahuata should live and Jason has to die, then it's a crock of shit
anyway, and you deserve everything - _everything_ - it brings to you and
your kind.
+++++ The humanity seems to flood back... and she looks small, young and
totally lost. She rises to her feet and walks away, holstering the
pistol and reaching down to pick up the katana. Drake rises slowly to his
knees, gathering his legs beneath him, and leaps at Lilith's back with all
the sudden energy and speed of a compressed spring releasing. Lilith's
feline instincts sense instant danger as she spins, bringing the sword up in
to defend against the sudden, unanticipated attack. But Drake's flying
body impacts Lilith before she's prepared for the assault and they both
fall to the road, Drake's arms wrapped and pinning Lilith's to her side,
his tail entwining her legs. Lilith is suddenly a mass of writhing,
dappled fur, her hind legs driving against the asphalt - the battling pair
roll over as she flails and twists, trying to break free, trying to rake
her hind claws into Drake's guts - and then Drake's fangs close on her
neck from behind, and then release again. Lilith is suddenly very still,
and after a few moments Drake is clutching a human woman again. +++++
CD: You gave me my life, I've given you a lesson. Never turn your back
on an enemy, Lilith, and don't assume that just because you've read my
dossier that you know everthing about me. The battle's never over until
your enemy says it is. Besides, you of all people should know that legs
like mine give me unmatched speed and leaping ability, even without the
cyberware and bioware. But I'm not your enemy, Lilith. Opponent, always,
but not an enemy.
+++++ Drake, using his tail, flicks the katana out of her reach: then
with his great apparent strength, keeps Lilith's arms pinned and removes
her pistol from the holster, tossing it far enough away that Lilith won't
be able to retrieve it fast enough to hurt him. He then sits up, gathers
his legs, stands, and releases her, then turns to walk back to his
Patrol-1. +++++
CD: Lilith....
LD: (breathing hard, and in some amount of pain.) Yes....
+++++ Drake turns around slowly, facing Lilith again armed with her
katana. +++++
CD: I let him go.
LD (staring fixedly at Drake's eyes): Say that again.
CD: I said I let him go. Jason's at Haven, or somewhere in that area.
+++++ long pause +++++
LD: Why?
CD: A lot of reasons. He could have killed my men, and he didn't. He was
carrying frags, APDS, and all the lethal tools of the trade, but he didn't
use them. He used stun ammo and flash grenades, and the men he came into
contact with he knocked out. He might have escaped if he killed my men, but
he didn't.
Tagit, Halbert, Long Arm, even Monty, they'd all be dead now. And Monty was
the one who put the APDS round into Jason's leg, which is how I got him.
Monty didn't even notice the orange stain on his helmet where one of Jason's
rounds hit. He'd be dead or a fraggin veggie now if Jason had been firing
APDS. And Jason'd still be free.
My men are my friends, Lilith, maybe even my family. Ever since a hit team
from Ares slaughtered my wife and daughter after killing their way through a
team of 10 of the best Special Branch men I ever had working for me. Men
like Monty.
Ares thought killing my family would devastate me, and it did. Does. It
nearly drove me to become a criminal, Lilith. But I clung to my job
instead, and it kept me reasonably sane. If anything, the death of the
only people I've ever loved strengthened me, instead of distracting me
from my pursuit. I got the woman I was investigating, and then I arrested
the team that killed my family, and they're all serving several
consecutive life sentences in UCAS prisons.
My men are my family, and Lynch tried his damndest not to kill my family,
even when could have. He sacraficed himself for my family.
Maybe I let him go because he deserves a better chance than fraggin Aztlan.
Maybe because I respect him. Maybe because he's got titanium balls. Maybe
he just deserved to go free. Maybe because I like his style. Maybe because
he and I are two sides of the same coin, and because I could have walked his
road just as easily as I walk mine. Maybe because it seemed like the
right thing to do at the time. Or maybe I'm just full of drek and I don't
really know why the frag I did it. What matters is that I did.
+++++ Drake bends and studies his thigh, through a rip in his fatigues:
the Kevlar is cleanly sliced, and a deep gouge crosses the scales, though
it doesn't seem to have penetrated the flesh beneath +++++
CD: Drek, that'll need some repair.... That's one fraggin blade you
have. I've fought trolls with a combat axes who didn't do as much damage.
LD: Late fifteenth century. It was forged in Kyoto, by the smith
Muromachi. Its name is "Yukaze", the best translation is "Breeze of
Evening". It belonged to the warlord Takeda Shingen for a while. So,
Drake, what now?
+++++ She picks up the scabbard, examines the katana's edge minutely,
sheathes it. +++++
CD: What do you mean?
LD: You're still under Section 96a. Jason still has however many
warrants outstanding. And, you being InterPol, he can't exactly leave
your jurisdiction. Are you just going to surround Haven and starve him
out?
CD: I relieved myself of duty. After all, I broke the laws I'm supposed
to uphold, and as such must face a full disciplinary hearing and possibly a
criminal trial. Deal with Lieutenant Montoya from now on: he's in charge of
Special Branch for the duration of my suspension. As for 96a, IA's
investigating that, and Monty's more sympathetic toward Jason than I can
ever be. Hopefully I'll be able to purge that from him before I go to
prison....
++++ Lilith simply nods, and walks away. Drake sighs, heavily, as the
Interceptor pulls away with a scream of its supercharged V-12
engine. +++++
CD: Goodbye, Lilith. <mumbling> Damn.
+++++ End Communication/Camera Download +++++ ]<<<<<
-- Trideo Pirate <18:41:57/06-28-57>
